De buitenlandsche pers over Ajax.
The Game in Holland.
Record of the Ajax Club.
CLUBNIEUWS DER A. F. C. AJAX
5i
Wij ontleenen aan „The Sportsman" d d. 15 Maart
1919 (een Londensch dagblad aan de sport gewijd)
het volgende artikel over onze vereeniging. Terwille
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Dutch football has improved considerably dur
ing the war, compared with what it was five
years ago. We should not like to say that it
has already reached the high standard of Eng
lish football, but if it goes on as it has done
these last few years, England will have to reckon
with it when it comes to the supremacy of the
football world.
On Mar. 9 Ajax, the Amsterdam First Divi
sion club and champions of the Netherlands over
1917-1918, again won the championship of the
Western Division of the Netherlands F.Aand
no doubt will repeat hér last year's performance
by also winning the championship of Holland
The Club, which was established Mar. 18, 1900,
started as a schoolboys' club, and has won all
possible Dutch football honours. After going
through all the divisions of the Amsterdam Foot
ball Association they entered the National Or
ganisation in 1902 and reached the First Division
in 1911, but went down to the Second Division
in 1914, to be promoted once more in 1917
Though just promoted, they finished the season
by winning both divisional and national cham
pionships. In 1917 they won the Netherlands
Football Association Cup.
The season, playing with the same team as last,
they have been far too strong for their rivals, as
will be seen by the appended League table, win
ning nearly every match by a three goals margin,
and up till now five teams failed to score against
them either at home or away. Their youngest
victims were the H. V V still trained 'by War-
burton, who were beaten oy 5-2, the same result
as in the first encounter between the clubs .Onley
this team and Sparta (Rotterdam) have won the
distinction of having had a lend against the
champions. Without boasting, we think that
Ajax is about the strongest Continental team at
present. The man to whom Ajax is largely in-
depted for their success is Jack Reynolds, the old
Manchester City, Sheffield Wednesday, and New
Brompton player, who has been with the club
since 1915, and is liked by everybody.
The Ajax Club runs at present 16 teams, and
has a membership of over 1200 working and
honorary members. Besides sometimes a veterans'
team takes the field. Years ago Dutch football
players called themselves veterans when they
had reached the age of 22 or became engaged
to a nice Dutch girl. Nowadays the age limit has
been raised to 301
To show that the football fever has come over
the Dutch, the average gate of Ajax has been
this season between ^400 and ^500; most times
the gates had to be closed. There are two big
stands 011 both sides of the playing field and
terraces behind the goals.
The local rivals are the Blauw-Wit Club,
which plays in the Stadion, and stand a good
chance of being runners-up to Ajax. As you
know, Stephen Bloomer has been training them
for a while. But no doubt what you will not
know is that Stephen has had his last chance
of ever winning a final cup medal when he was
over here. During the summer he has been
assisting the V. V. V. Cricket Club here, as did
Edwin Dutton, the old Newcastle player.
Perhaps it will interest you to hear that Mr.
Jasper Warner, the chairman of the Netherlands
Football Association, after having occupied that
position for over twenty-five years, has now
thought that the time has come to resign. It will
be very difficult indeed to find a man who can
take his place and perform his duties as well
as Mr. Warner has done all these years. Luckily
Mr. Hylkema is still the secretary of the Asso
ciation.
The Dutch have great desire to meet Belgium,
perhaps to settle at the same time all contro
versies about the Scheldt and Limburg! There
are further rumours that an official Dutch team
will visit Norway, and Ajax will pay visits to
Copenhagen and Stockholm. For professionals
whose playing days are over there are plenty of
good openings here with Dutch clubs as trainers
But they must be good coaches, and if they can