AFC AJAX
CHAMPIONS
17
LEAGUE
Foundation date:
Ground:
Chairman:
18th March 1900
Stadion DeMeer (capacity 19,000)
Michael Van Praag
ROLL OF HONOUR
League Championship (26): 1918, 1919,19311932, 1934,
1937, 1939,1947, 1957, 1960, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972,
1973, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1995.
Dutch Cup (12): 1917, 1943, 1961, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972,
1979, 1983, 1986, 1987,1995, 1996.
European Cup (4): 19711972, 1973, 1995.
Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1987
UEFA Cup (1): 1992
European Supercup (2): 1972, 1973
World Club Championship (2): 1972,1995
CLUB HISTORY
As well as being the most famous team in the world, Ajax is
also by far the most successful club in Dutch football, having
already won 26 league championships and 12 Dutch Cups. The
legend of Ajax Football Club began back in the early 1970s
when Rinus Michels built a formidable team around the great
Johan Cruyff. This magnificent side was committed to total
football and won three European Cups in a row between 1971
and 1973. Haan, Keizer, Krool, Muhren, Neeskens and Rep were
the stars of some incredible team performances that made Ajax
an inimitable model for all of European Football. There then
followed a rather lean period, since great players are not bom
every day, but when a header by Marco Van Basten won the
1987 Cup Winners' Cup for the Ajax team managed by Johan
Cruyff, it was obvious that the team from Amsterdam was back
to its winning ways. Even so, the club had to wait a few more
years, until Louis Van Gaal took over on the bench, before
another legendary Ajax team finally took shape. This tough and
uncompromising Dutch coach with a steely look in his eyes has
constructed a flawless football machine whose working parts
are all perfectly synchronised. The secrets to the success of
this Ajax team that delights the crowds all over Europe with its
spectacular, but never speculative, play is the attention it pays
to its nursery and the discipline with which it applies its tactical
schemes. Although there is a constant turnover of players, the
Ajax machine never breaks down. The club budget is boosted
by selling its most valuable players, but the Lancers just keep
on winning. Obviously Van Gaal is right when he claims,
"Nobody outside the club realises that most of the Ajax players
only (or virtually) work within this system. Transferred
elsewhere, they will never play quite as well."
THE GROUND
Not many teams can boast having three grounds at their
disposal like Ajax. The smaller games are usually played at
the old De Meer Stadium, which has a capacity of only
19,000. But a new ground built in the suburbs of Amsterdam
is almost ready to become Ajax's "home" next season. It will
replace the old 42,000-seat Olympic Stadium, which is used
for the team's most important fixtures.
Patrick Kluivert, Winston Bogarde, Edgar Davids.
