March 18 – Ajax: A Potted History

TODAY our tales of footballing history take us over to Amsterdam, where four men met today in 1900 to create what would become one of the most stylish and sophisticated football clubs ever seen. Named after the mythological Greek hero and not the detergent, AFC Ajax have treated football fans to some of the finest club performances ever seen over the years.

Taking the credit for the birth of Ajax are Floris Stempel, Carel Reeser and brothers Han and Johan Dade, who were attempting to resurrect the defunct side ‘Footh-Ball Club Ajax’, who came and went in 1894, possibly because of the spelling mistake in their name that wasn’t picked up on by it’s Dutch speaking founders.

A slow start to life in the Eredivisie meant that Ajax didn’t reach the top division until 1911, the same year that their iconic strip first came into play. The stylish thick red stripe on their white shirts made famous during their all-conquering side in the 1970s came about due to a kit clash with rivals Sparta Rotterdam once Ajax hit the top flight. Their first league title came in 1917, and by the 1930s they were hooving up trophies all over the shop thanks to the likes of Wim Anderiesen Sr. and Piet van Reenen on the pitch and Englishman Jack Reynolds in the dug-out.

Ajax would struggle after Reynolds’ retirement in 1940, but the introduction of professional football in the Netherlands in 1954 lead to the foundations of their greatest ever side, one that dominated European football and was known as ‘Gloria Ajax’. At the heart of this revolution was manager Rinus Michels who was appointed manager in 1965, when the club had just narrowly avoided revolution. Armed with a crazy new philosophy called ‘total football’ and the best young player in the world in John Cruijff, Michels’ free-flowing style of play had an immediate impact as Ajax won the 1965/66 title. The next season saw Ajax score 122 goal in all competitions, a record that still stands today, with Cruijff, still only 20, scoring 33 of them.

Now that all had been conquered on the home front, Ajax turned their attention to the European stage, as Michels’ team began to peak. A first European Cup triumph occurred at Wembley in 1971 as the Amsterdam side defeated Panathinaikos 2-0 in the final, but the best was still to come. Their second of three consecutive European Cup triumphs came in a season where Ajax won every competition they entered. By the end of 1972 the European Cup, Intercontinental Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Eredivisie title and KNVB Cup all found their way to the Olympic Stadium in a feat that has never been achieved before or since.

The glory days came to a close at the end of the 1972/73 season when Cruijff left for Barcelona, ending the reign of the ‘Twelve Apostles’ as the Ajax first XI and reserve Johnny Rep were known. Cruijff has made it back a couple of times, once as manager in the mid-80’s where he oversaw the emergence of Marco Van Basten and more recently when, in a farcical development a few weeks ago he took over as technical director, appointed Van Basten as new manager for next season and then quit again over a “professional difference of opinion” between the two.

Ajax’s other great period was in the mid-90’s when they forged another European Cup winning side, this time under the stewardship of Louis van Gaal, that became famous for being the first side to be torn apart by the Bosman ruling in 1995. These days they are still battling it out at the business end of the table in the Netherlands, with fans hopeful that the appointment of the former favourite Van Basten can help re-establish themselves as one of the top sides in Europe. Take a gander at Cruijff and co in their pomp winning their 1972 ‘quintuple’ below and come back tomorrow for some unlikely Anglo-Italian action.