THE ACES
OF AJAX
ty DAVID BEU
Br Park News Editor
AJAX today is synonimous with success. P rom a club with humble beginnings at
the turn of the century the crack Amsterdam side has carved its own inimitable
niche in every major competition open to them.
It's a remarkable
record of consistency
that can arguably be
matched only by the
select few such as Real
Madrid, Eusebio - in
spired Benfica, Becken-
baeur's Bayern Munich
and perhaps our own
Jock Stein-led Celtic.
The sparkle of their list
of achievements is out
shone only by the
brilliance of their
triumphs 16 times
Dutch League
champions, seven times
Dutch Cup winners,
three times European
Cup winners and once
World Cup winners.
Add to that impressive
array of silverware their
various successful
sorties into other
competitions such as the
European Cup-winners
Cup, the U.E.F.A. Cup,
the Super Cup and the
1 nternational Football
Cup.
During their 77 years
history, Ajax have
seldom been completley
out of the soccer lime
light in Holland, and at
several stages they
have virtually
dominated the Dutch
domestic scene.
The club formed on
March 8, 1900, first
played in the Third
Division. Eight years
later, they merged with
Third Division Holland,
and three years later had
graduated to the First
Division.
The retiral of their
founder "Pa" Dade to a
country life coincided
with a comparitive
decline but in 1918 they
won the Dutch league for
the first time, and
repeated that feat the
following season the
first "double" in Dutch
history.
The man who inspired
this record was an
Englishman, Jack
Reynolds!
The next "Golden
spell" came in the 1930's,
when they won the
League title five times
(including the 1931-32
season when 'Well won
the Scottish League
crown). That success
promoted the move to the
new Ajax stadium.
The German-occupied
forces razed the club
which had many Jewish
members but when peace
was declared Ajax
bloomed again and three
years later the introduc
tion of semi-profes
sionalism they won the
"new" league title.
Their title-winning
form sagged for a decade
until 1960, when
they won the league
having scored 109 goals
for the loss of 44. And
from the period
1965-1976 they won
the title six times and
were runners-up five
times!
Their first European
Cup triumph came in
1971 when they beat
F erenc Puskas's
Panathinaikos 2-0 at
Wembley Stadium a
final that marked the rise
of a popular young
football genius
Johann Cruyff.
A second Euro-cup
success following in 1972
when they beat Inter
Milan 2-0 a season
that saw them lift the
triple, the Dutch League,
the Dutch Cup and the
European Cup.
The following season
they beat Independiente
(Buenos Aires) 4-1 on
aggregate to lift the
World Cup.
In season 1972-73 they
won their 16th League
title and the third
European Cup triumph,
beating CSKA
(Bulgaria), Bayern
Munich, Real Madrid
and Juventus.
The proud Dutch club
were forced to slip back
by their own high
standards the following
season because ten of
their "regulars" were on
duty so often with the
Dutch World Cup squad.
Now Ajax are embark
ing on a giant-size youth
policy, no doubt en
couraged by the fact that
SIX of their ten teams
gained championship
titles in their respective
competition.
