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Ajax History
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Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax also referred to as AFC Ajax, simply Ajax or incorrectly Ajax Amsterdam, is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. The club is historically one of the three clubs that dominate the Dutch national football league (Eredivisie), the other two being Feyenoord and PSV.
Ajax is one of the five teams that has earned the right to keep the European Cup; they won consecutively in 1971-1973. In 1972, they completed The Treble by winning the Dutch Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, and the European Cup; to date they are the only team to keep the European Cup and accomplish the European Treble. They are also one of only three clubs (with Juventus and Bayern Munich) to have won all three major European trophies at least once (the European Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup). They were the first team to win what has become the UEFA Intertoto Cup [2]. Ajax has also won the Intercontinental Cup.
History
The club was founded in Amsterdam on March 18, 1900 by Floris Stempel, Carel Reeser and the brothers Han and Johan Dade. It was the second incarnation, after a short-lived previous attempt (as the Footh-Ball Club Ajax) in 1894.
After several years, Ajax succeeded in promotion to the highest level of football in 1911, under the guidance of Jack Kirwan (their first official coach). Besides the achievement itself, this year turned out to be another historical milestone: due to the fact that Sparta Rotterdam (a respected and successful football club in those days) already wore the jersey with the vertical red and white stripes, Ajax was prompted to alter its own design with the famous red-and-white combination that they have donned as their home outfit until this day.
Although their efforts were not unnoticed (Gé Fortgens became a frequent member of the Dutch national team for a while) they were relegated in 1914. While they immediately bounced back, they had to wait until 1917 to regain higher level status again: they did become league champions in both 1915 and 1916, however the 1915 league was declared unofficial (due to World War I), whereas in 1916 they did not make it through the promotion round.
Under the guidance of Jack Reynolds (Kirwan's successor as of 1915) the club promoted to the highest level in 1917 and won the Dutch national cup final - defeating VSV with 5-0. Ajax went on to win their first national championship in 1918.
The championship was secured in Tilburg (where they faced Willem II in the league), though not without some consternation: Jan De Natris, arguably the club's first 'star player', missed the train to Tilburg and opted to stay in Amsterdam instead - earning him a fine of 10 cents. In the following season he even earned a six month ban, but Ajax did well in his absence: not only did they retain the championship title, their 1919 campaign was also an unbeaten run for them - an accomplishment that was only repeated 76 years later by Ajax themselves.
Now a regular contender for the Western Regional championship in the Netherlands, Ajax marched through the twenties with regional titles in 1921, 1927 and 1928, next to a few minor cups. The 1930s would prove to be more successful however; with household names as Wim Anderiesen Sr., Dolf van Kol, Piet Strijbosch, Wim Volkers, Jan van Diepenbeek, Bob Ten Have, Erwin van Wijngaarden and prolific striker Piet van Reenen, Ajax' period from the late twenties until World War II was so successful that many people dubbed it 'the golden century' (a pun on the 17th century, the heyday of the Dutch Republic
With no less than six regional titles (1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939) and 5 national championships (1931, 1932, 1934, 1937, 1939) Ajax was the most successful team of that era. The thirties were also notable for the final culmination of the rivalry with Feyenoord, another squad that earned many awards in that time, as well as the creation of the stadium 'het Ajax-Stadion' dubbed 'De Meer' (named after the borough of its residence). Until the emergence of the Amsterdam ArenA in 1996, this was Ajax' home ground (alongside the Olympic Stadium for matches of greater notoriety).
As of the 1940's, perhaps in line with Jack Reynolds' retirement (he had stayed - save for a few spells of absence - on for the entire time as Ajax' manager since his entry in 1915), Ajax went through a period of recuperation. Except for Gerrit Fischer and Erwin van Wijngaarden, Ajax got a complete make-over. Now with Joop Stoffelen, Guus Dräger, Gé van Dijk, Jan Potharst and later Rinus Michels and Cor van der Hart as the new icons, Ajax managed to keep its name among the greatest in the Dutch national league. After a Cup Final victory in 1943, Ajax went on to finish second in the championship league in 1946 (behind HFC Haarlem followed by a number one finish in 1947.
They became regional champions in 1950 again, though they never came near winning the championship. Nevertheless, their performance was not an anonymous one, as this contained the famous match against Heerenveen. In that match Ajax were completely overthrown by Heerenveen in the later phase of the match, not even able to maintain a lead with a 1-5 score (the match ended 6-5 in favor of the Frisian side). In March 1941 Ajax performed the opposite: after being 6-0 behind to VUC in The Hague they managed to pull out a draw in the end (6-6).
Until 1954, the year that professional football was introduced in the Netherlands, Ajax had some minor successes, with the regional title in 1952 and a second place in the regional championship in 1954 (equalling in points with fellow Amsterdam club DWS).
Professional football and the road to the top
While professional football was finally permitted in the Netherlands, Ajax was still far from the international top, as was demonstrated in the European Cup match against Vasas SC, where they overthrown by the Hungarians 4-0 in the Népstadion). Similar disappointing international knock-outs followed in 1960 (by the Norwegian amateurs of Fredrikstad FK, and, in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1961 against the Újpesti Dózsa of Ferenc Bene.
But they did fairly well on national level, earning the first Eredivisie-championship in 1957 and again in 1960. Especially that last title became memorable because of the way it was won; after equalling in points with arch-rivals Feyenoord a decisive match had to be played between the two contenders. Ajax cruised to a 5-1 victory with striker Wim Bleijenberg getting his name on the score sheet in threefold.
Bleijenberg was not the great striker of that time however, that title belonged to Henk Groot (although his older brother Cees Groot also scored a 100 goals for Ajax in his 5 year stay.). Arriving in 1959 from Stormvogels he immediately went on a scoring spree, scoring 38 goals in 1959/60 and 41 goals in 1960/61. He was a vital part of the Ajax in the early sixties, virtually replacing Piet van der Kuil (the star in the late fifties, who left to PSV in 1960) as the new 'man of the hour'. Alongside the man who would later become Mister Ajax, Sjaak 'Paco' Swart, Co Prins, Ton Pronk, Bennie Muller and a young Piet Keizer Ajax added the National Cup in 1961 and the Intertoto Cup 1962 to their trophy cabinet.
After missing the championship after a 5-2 defeat against PSV in 1963, Ajax went descendo in the national competition. Henk Groot left to Feyenoord that summer, and in 1964/65 it went so bad that they were near direct relegation. Things would turn for the better though, especially after former player Rinus Michels replaced Vic Buckingham as the head manager. Ajax managed to secure a midtable spot under Michels, but Buckingham's second tenure was not a complete disappointment as he was the first coach to introduce Johan Cruijff (during the 3-1 loss at GVAV).
Michels started a revolution in Amsterdam, beginning with the return of Henk Groot and Co Prins, as well as the installment of Gert Bals as the new first goalie. Taking delicate steps on the way to the 'total football' that Michels envisioned, he showed no mercy in sacrificing players who he considered not to be good enough. Most notable example of this was defender Frits Soetekouw (who was replaced by Ajax' new leader Velibor Vasović), whose own goal aided to the victory of Dukla Prague in the quarter-final of the European Cup in 1966/67, after Ajax had knocked out Beşiktaş and defeated Liverpool with 5-1.
Ajax sealed their second consecutive championship in 1967. Not as dominant as the previous year, but with a seemingly unstoppable offensive side: they scored no less than 122 goals (still a national record), of which 33 were from Johan Cruijff, at 20 years old already the star player. It was also the season for another important milestone: for the first time in history, Ajax won the double (after defeating NAC in the cup final).
It earned them a European Cup match-up against Real Madrid in the next season, providing them an even greater reputation than they had last year. However, after two 1-1 draws, Ignacio Zoco scored the winner for Los Merengues in extra time.
Ajax won the Dutch title of 1968 (after Feyenoord had leaded the league for a long while) and reached the European Cup final of 1969 in Madrid. Getting there proved to be quite difficult though. After deafeating FC Nürnberg in the first round, they were almost knocked out by Benfica in the second one, losing 3-1 to them in Amsterdam. Thanks to an amazing comeback, given shape by goals of Inge Danielsson and Johan Cruijff, Ajax returned their favour in Lisbon and knocked the Portuguese champions out in a decisive match played in Paris (3-0). They repeated this score against the next opponent, Spartak Trnava, but barely survived in the away match.
Keeping the score at 2-0, Ajax went on to be AC Milan's opponent in the final. The Italians, lauded for their excellent defense and counter-attacks, waltzed over them with ease. Pierino Prati opened the score after 7 minutes and went on to become the man of match with three goals, while Velibor Vasović was the only Ajax player to get one back at Milan by scoring a penalty. Thanks to Milan-striker Angelo Sormani the game ended in 4-1.
Gloria Ajax
As of the new season, Ajax' primary team was renewed. Among the new additions were national top scorer Dick van Dijk and midfielders Gerrie Mühren and Nico Rijnders, while second team player Ruud Krol was promoted to the first eleven. They replaced Klaas Nuninga, Inge Danielsson, Theo van Duijvenbode (all sold to other clubs) and Henk Groot (quit football after an injury while playing against Poland, while Ton Pronk and Bennie Muller were no longer as frequently in the first XI after many years of service.
With a refreshed selection, Ajax went for another attempt to win the European Cup. They had lost the Eredivisie title to Feyenoord last season, but conquering this season's title proved to be an easy task, winning 27 out of 34 games by scoring exactly 100 goals. For a long while Feyenoord stayed close to the men from Amsterdam, but they had to settle for a second place. In the end both clubs could bring a cup home: Ajax won the Eredivisie title while Feyenoord won the European Cup.
After Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970 (being knocked out by Arsenal after defeating Hannover 96, Napoli, Ruch Chorzów and Carl-Zeiss Jena), 1971 became the long awaited year of glory. For a long while Ajax seemed to be on their way to the treble (a feat only previously performed by Celtic in 1967) if it weren't for the longer breath that Feyenoord had in the competition. The national cup stayed in Ajax' hands however (won after a double final against Sparta).
Ajax had defeated (17 Nëntori, FC Basel, Celtic and Atlético Madrid en route to the 1971 European Cup final played at Wembley on June 2. There, 83,000 spectators witnessed how Dick van Dijk opened the score against Panathinaikos. Ajax scored another goal in the dying minutes of the game when Arie Haan's shot was deflected by defender Kapsis.
Wrapping things up with a 2-0 score, team captain Vasović could finally lift the European Cup (losing the final in 1966 with FK Partizan and again in 1969), showing it later to the crowd that was celebrating on the streets of Amsterdam.
In the following years Ajax established itself as the new ruler of Europe. Staff and team changes could not discourage the team's power. Whether it was Stefan Kovacs replacing coach Michels in 1971, Rijnders and Vasović' departure in the same year, Van Dijk's departure in 1972 - it seemed like nothing could stop them. Perhaps the greatest example of this was their performance chart of 1972, winning all the of the competitions that they participated in (European Cup, Intercontinental Cup, European Super Cup, National Championship and the KNVB Cup), an achievement never shown again by any other club. And 1973 seemed like a simple continuation of that situation, securing themselves of yet another Dutch championship and moreover, the third consecutive European Cup.
It all started to fall apart when Johan Cruijff left the gang for Barcelona in 1973, effectively ending the reign of the 'Twelve Apostles' (The usual line-up Heinz Stuy - Wim Suurbier, Barry Hulshoff, Horst Blankenburg, Ruud Krol - Arie Haan, Johan Neeskens, Gerrie Mühren - Sjaak Swart, Johan Cruijff, Keizer plus the usual twelfth man which was Ruud Suurendonk until 1972 and then Johnny Rep). Were clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Internazionale, Arsenal, Juventus and Independiente not too big of an obstacle until then, they could not get past CSKA Sofia in late '73. With the European Super Cup of '73 as a consolation prize, Ajax had to wait for a couple of decades for another era of European success.
Nevertheless, the 'total football' that they had propagated became a lasting memory for many football fans, also because of the great performance of the Dutch national team on the following World Cup - using similar tactics. Manager Tomislav Ivić would later dub the era 'Gloria Ajax', illustrating the impact of their years at the top.
The 1st Renaissance
That same Ivić coached Ajax to their first championship after their heyday, in 1977. After that year Ajax resumed to frequently winning national honours, though impressive international performances were sparse. An unfortunate knock-out against Juventus in the quarterfinal of the European Cup in 1978 and a European Cup semifinal in 1980 (KO by Nottingham Forest) was all that Ajax could do until the late eighties. Especially the run between 1980 and 1986 was disappointing, not getting past the second round for six years in a row. 1987 would become the turning point however, in two different ways.
Until then there was rarely something to complain on national level (although the club went through a period of several internal conflicts) as they won 5 championships after '77 as well as 4 cups. Johan Cruijff even came back in 1981, giving the talented youngsters Wim Kieft, John van 't Schip, Marco van Basten, Gerald Vanenburg, Jesper Olsen and Frank Rijkaard - Ajax's trademark players of the 80's - some guidance. After leaving the club in '83 (after a conflict with president Harmsen) for Feyenoord, he returned once again in 1985 as the new manager.
Cruijff's offensive tactics are immediately illustrated in his first active season, when Ajax ends the season with 120 goals in total on the scoresheet, of which 37 were from Ajax' new great star, forward Marco van Basten. It was not enough to retain the championship however, losing for two years in a row to PSV.
Despite the lack of a championship Cruijff's Ajax did bring a European Cup back to Amsterdam. Following the victory against Lokomotive Leipzig, they could once again celebrate on the balcony on the Leidseplein, this time to show Amsterdam the '87 Cup Winners Cup. They got close to winning it in the consecutive year, but KV Mechelen proved to be too strong in the final which Ajax ended with 10 men.
By that time Cruijff was already gone, as a result of the declining results in the national league. With most of the 80's stars also departed, Ajax continued to compete for the title with PSV in the next years, usually ending in favour of the latter party. Other negative aspects of the period 1988-1991 was the fraud-case in 1989, as well as the European suspension after a hooligan threw a bar at the goalie of Austria Wien in a UEFA-Cup match in the same year.
Things seemed to clear up a bit later that year, as they even went on to win the championship race with PSV for a change in 1990, and came shy of two goals in 1991 for a back-to-back run.
Early in the next season, the coach under whom the abovementioned was achieved left; lured by his former club, Leo Beenhakker went back to Real Madrid. His successor was Louis van Gaal, the former assistant-coach. Like Cruijff, Van Gaal rapidly made his mark by altering Ajax' tactics. Also like Cruijff his efforts were rewarded in his first season at the helm, by winning the UEFA Cup after a thrilling final against AC Torino. Although he did not play the last game of the final, Europe had also definitely met the skills of Ajax' most talented player: Dennis Bergkamp, who had contributed six goals on the road to their victory.
In the Netherlands, Bergkamp had already won 2 consecutive topscorer titles (1991, 1992) but once again the Eredivisie title had to be left for PSV to take. In 1992/93 Ajax even had to settle for a third spot in the final ranking (for first time since 1984), somewhat making up for it by winning the national cup.
It turned out to be the last award that Bergkamp would win with Ajax, as he and buddy Wim Jonk left to Internazionale. His loss was quickly forgotten by an excellent performance of Jari Litmanen on his position, establishing himself as the new number 10 of Ajax. Aside from Litmanen, Ajax attracted Finidi George and the returned Frank Rijkaard, providing the base for van Gaal to build on.
They won the national title of 1994, followed by a Champions league victory in 1995. Preceded by an unbeaten run in the national league to take the title of 1995, the season was a memorable way for Rijkaard to end his playing career, while striker Patrick Kluivert had an excellent start to his, with the then 18-year-old coming off the bench to score a late winner to beat AC Milan in the final of the Champions League. Ajax went on to beat Brazilian side Grêmio on penalties to win the unofficial World Club Cup -- the Intercontinental Cup, also known as the Toyota Cup.
The following season, Ajax continued to succeed on the European front, succumbing only to Juventus on penalties in the final. Van Gaal's success came to an end in 1997, and he duly parted ways with the Amsterdam club.
Danish coach Morten Olsen was brought in. He attracted Danish national team captain Michael Laudrup to the club, and together they won the Double of league championship and the Dutch cup. In his second year at the club, tension arose between Olsen and the Dutch players Ronald de Boer and Frank de Boer, and Olsen was sacked in 1998.
Soon all the team's young stars that had heralded the Ajax Renaissance were gone -- Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Edgar Davids, Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger, Edwin van der Sar, Nwankwo Kanu, Ronald de Boer and Frank de Boer sought pastures pastures anew; it signaled the end of an era for the club.
source: wikipedia.org
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