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The much loved De Meer stadium was torn down and the land was sold to the city council.
The much loved De Meer stadium was torn down and the land was sold to the city council.
[[Image:Football stadium.jpg|thumb|Exterior of Stadium]]


==Supporters==
==Supporters==

Revision as of 20:49, 25 January 2007

Ajax
Ajax logo
Full nameAmsterdamsche Football
Club Ajax N.V.
Nickname(s)Godenzonen ("Sons of the Gods") Joden (Jews)
FoundedMarch 18, 1900
GroundAmsterdam ArenA,
Amsterdam
Capacity51,628 [1]
ChairmanNetherlands John C. Jaakke
ManagerNetherlands Henk ten Cate
LeagueEredivisie
2005-06Eredivisie, 4th

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (Euronext: AJAX) also referred to as Ajax Amsterdam, AFC Ajax, or simply Ajax (pronounced Ah-yahx), is a football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. The club is historically one of the three clubs that dominate Eredivisie football, the other two being Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven.

Ajax is one of the five teams which 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 FC and FC 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. 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 previous attempt (as the Footh-Ball Club Ajax) in 1894 that was very short-lived.

After several years, Ajax finally succeeded in promotion to the highest level of football in 1911, under the guidance of John 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 highly 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 even managed to become 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.

The guidance of Jack Reynolds (Kirwan's successor as of 1915) had been serving well and in 1917 their efforts were rewarded in twofold: promotion to the highest level as well as the victory in the Dutch national cup final - defeating VSV with 5-0. Still endowed with a great hunger for success, Ajax went on to win their first national championship in 1918.

The championship was secured in Tilburg (where they faced Willem II in the championship 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 quite 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 performed 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, nest 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 Republic of the Seven United Netherlands).

With no less than 6 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 'The 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). While this is a humiliating memory of the past, it may be a consolation that 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 Budapest, where they overthrown by the Hungarians which could have easily doubled what became to be the final score (4-0 in the Nép Stadion). Similar disappointing international knock-outs followed in 1960 (by the Norwegian amateurs of Frederikstad, and, in the Cup Winners Cup in 1961 against the Ujpésti Dòsza 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. With a Wim Bleijenberg (one of the strikers) having the day of his life, Ajax cruised to a 5-1 victory and Bleijenberg managed to get his name on the score sheet in threefold.

Bleijenberg was not the great striker of that time however, that was a title that belonged to Henk Groot (although his older brother Cees Groot also managed to score 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. It goes without saying that 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 2nd tenure was not a complete disappointment as he was the first coach to bring 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 ultimately replaced by Ajax' new leader Velibor Vasovic), whose own goal aided to the victory of Dukla Prague in the quarter final of the European Cup in 1966/67. Also considering Ajax' international achievements until that match that season, after knocking out Beşiktaş and defeating Liverpool FC with 5-1, Ajax was left with the feeling that more could have been done and had to settle for the consolation that they at least had earned intercontinental recognition.

Left with nothing else to do than to go for another try in the European Cup, Ajax sealed their 2nd 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. Were it not for Cruijff's lack of accuracy at the end of the game in Madrid, they would have almost made through. However, after two 1-1 draws, Zoco shattered that dream in the extended time by scoring the winner for Los Merengues.

That result made them even more hungry for international success, rushing to the Dutch title of 1968 (after Feyenoord had leaded the league for a long while) and eventually, or rather finally to the European Cup final of 1969 in Madrid. Getting there proved to be quite difficult though. While FC Nürnberg was not much of an opponent in the first round, they were almost knocked out by Benfica in the 2nd 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 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 Vasovic 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, and Ajax almost literally went back to drawing board.

Gloria Ajax

As of the new season, Ajax' primary team was quite renewed. Among the new additions were national top scorer Dick van Dijk and midfielders Gerrie Mühren and Nico Rijnders, while 2nd 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 where no longer as frequently in the first XI after many years of service.

With a refreshed selection, Ajax went for yet another attempt to conquer the European Cup. They had to be patient this time though, as they had lost the Eredivisie title to Feyenoord last season. 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 suffering from the same problems Ajax had last season (apparently not being able to recuperate properly from the international activities and not strong enough to compete in the end of the season) 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 managed to win the European Cup.

Applauding the rivals but green with envy, Ajax was keen on getting their hands on the next European Cup that could be won. Maintaining their reputation by reaching the semi-finals of the Fairs Cup in 1970 (being knocked out by Arsenal after defeating Hannover 96, SSC Napoli, Ruch Chorzow 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 stayed in Ajax' hands however (won after a double final against Sparta), a victory that was overshadowed by the victory at Wembley on June the 2nd. There, 83,000 spectators witnessed how Dick van Dijk opened the score against Panathinaikos, proving high expectations for the outcome of the right.

Before that game Ajax had dealt with its opponents (17 Nëntori, FC Basle, Celtic and Atlético Madrid with relative ease, while the Greeks had to pull out everything they had to defeat Everton and Crvena Zvezda on aggregate. With that information in mind (and the disastrous results of the chosen tactics in final of '69) Ajax played the match with a more controlled overall mentality than their usual offensive style of play. Coach Ferenc Puskas was unable to respond to that, but kept believing in a chance because Ajax did not manage to score another goal until 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 Vasovic could finally lift the European Cup (losing the final in 1966 with Partizan Belgrade and in 1969), showing it later to a humongous crowd that was waiting for them on the streets of Amsterdam to celebrate them.

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 Vasovic' 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 Stuy - Suurbier, Hulshoff, Blankenburg, Krol - Haan, Neeskens, Mühren - Swart, Cruijff, Keizer plus the usual twelfth man which was Suurendonk until 1972 and then Johnny Rep). Were clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern München, Internazionale, Arsenal, Juventus and Independiente not too big of an obstacle until then, they could not get past CSKA Sofia in late '73. With European Super Cup of '73 as a consolation prize, Ajax had to wait for a couple of decades for another era of successes.

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. Tomislav Ivic would later dub the era 'Gloria Ajax', illustrating the impact of their years at the top.

Enter managers Cruijff and van Gaal

That same Ivic 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 2nd 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 returns once again in 1985 as the new manager.

Cruijff's ultra-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 on consistency to champions 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 championship trophy 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 to 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 new base player in Finidi George and the returned Frank Rijkaard, providing the base for van Gaal to build on.

All that building eventually lead them to the title of 1994, followed by a great Champions League-campaign that resulted in the victory of the Champions league in 1995. Preceded by an unbeaten run in the national league to take the title of 1995, the season was memorable way for Rijkaard to end his career, while striker Patrick Kluivert had an excellent start to his.

Recent events

Since their success with the 1995 Champions league, Ajax have struggled to rediscover their European form. Most recently in 2005, popular coach, Ronald Koeman resigned after Ajax' defeat to Auxerre in the UEFA Cup tournament despite having a squad packed with international experience, declaring himself drained of any inspiration to further guide the team to any success. This resignation was also the aftermath of Koeman's long-standing spat with then football director Louis van Gaal who had questioned Koeman's managerial abilities after Ajax' dry spell in the domestic league which even saw them languishing in fifth position at the beginning of 2005. Former Ajax-player Danny Blind, who, aside from working as Koeman's technical coach and advisor, had virtually no top-level manager experience, was unveiled as their new coach. Blind instantly caused consternation by announcing that the club was to play using a 4-4-2, abandoning the Total Football-oriented 4-3-3 that has become Ajax' trademark. This season also saw the departure of key players Rafael van der Vaart and Nigel de Jong to Hamburger SV, while six others (Hatem Trabelsi, Tomáš Galásek, Hans Vonk, Nourdin Boukhari, Steven Pienaar and Maxwell) revealed that they will leave the club at the end of the 2005-2006 season. Blind was sacked on May 10, 2006 after only 422 days in charge. New coach Henk ten Cate, who won the Champions League and Primera Division last season as the assistant of Frank Rijkaard with FC Barcelona gave youngsters a shot to enter the selection of the first team. Ten Cate has recently shared that youngsters Jan Vertonghen, Rydell Poepon and Robbert Schilder will be included in the selection, whereas Greek forward Angelos Charisteas has been sold to Feyenoord. Ten Cate has announced that he wishes to win the Eredivisie again this year.

Ajax missed out on a Champions League place in 2006/2007 after their defeat against FC Copenhagen (3-2 on aggregate). As a result, Ajax played against I.K. Start from Norway in the first round of the UEFA Cup September 14th and 28th, and won the match 9-2 on aggregate (2-5 away and 4-0 home).

Youth program

The club is also famous for its youth program that has introduced many great footballers - Cruijff being the best example. Ajax has also expanded its talent searching program to South Africa and the United States with Ajax Cape Town and Ajax Orlando respectively. Its satellite club is Ajax Cape Town of South Africa from where youth players have been drafted into the Eredivisie squad, such as Steven Pienaar and Aaron Mokoena. In 1995, the year that they won the UEFA Champions League, the Dutch national team was almost entirely composed of Ajax players, with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, players such as Michael Reiziger, Frank de Boer and Danny Blind in defense, Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids and Clarence Seedorf in midfield, and Patrick Kluivert and Marc Overmars in attack. The team was coached by Louis van Gaal, and also featured foreign stars such as Jari Litmanen, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George. Its current successes are mostly domestic, notwithstanding some minor successes in the 2002-03 Champions League. Its youth team continues to develop talented individuals like Wesley Sneijder, John Heitinga, Hedwiges Maduro, Urby Emanuelson, Maarten Stekelenburg and Ryan Babel. At the 2006 World Cup, Sneijder, Heitinga, Babel, Maduro and Stekelenburg were included in the national squad.

Rivalry

Although Ajax have been vying for the championship with PSV Eindhoven in recent years, its main rivalry is with Feyenoord of Rotterdam, culminating every year in the "Klassieker". It is a match between the two largest cities of the Netherlands, one of which identifies with artists and creativity (Amsterdam) and one with hard labour (Rotterdam). There have been many clashes between the supporters of both clubs, of which the Beverwijk clash in 1997 was the most infamous, resulting in the murder of Ajax supporter Carlo Picornie.

Satellite clubs

The following clubs are affiliated with Ajax Amsterdam:

In 1900, when the club was founded, the emblem of Ajax was just a picture of an Ajax player. In 1928, the club logo was introduced with the head of the Greek hero Ajax. The logo was once again changed in 1990, making the old one more abstract. It should also be noted that the portrait of Ajax on the logo is drawn with eleven lines, symbolising the eleven players of a football team. [3]

Colors

Ajax originally played in an all black uniform with a red sash tied around the players' waists, but that uniform was soon replaced by a red/white striped shirt and black shorts. Red, black and white are the three colors of the flag of Amsterdam. However, when, under manager John Kirwan, the club got promoted to the top flight of Dutch football for the first time in 1911 (then the Eerste Klasse or 'First Class', later named the Eredivisie), Ajax were forced to change their colors because Sparta Rotterdam already had the exact same outfit. Special kits for away fixtures did not exist at the time and according to football association regulations the newcomers had to change their colors if two teams in the same league had identical uniforms. Loosely inspired by the kit of Arsenal, Ajax opted for white shorts and white shirt with a broad, vertical red stripe over chest and back, which still is Ajax's outfit.

Ajax's shirts have been sponsored by ABN AMRO since 1991, the current sponsorship contract is going to run through 2010-2011 season.[4] The shirts have been manufactured by Adidas since 2000 (until at least 2009); before that Umbro (1986-2000) was manufacturing clothing for the team.[5]

Stadium

File:Amsterdam ArenA.JPG
Amsterdam ArenA

Ajax' first stadium was built in 1911 out of wood and was simply called The Stadium. Ajax later played in the stadium that was built for the 1928 Summer Olympics, held in Amsterdam. This stadium, designed by Jan Wils, is simply known as the Olympic Stadium. In 1934, Ajax moved to De Meer Stadion in east Amsterdam, where they would play until 1996. During big European fixtures the club would often play at the Olympic Stadium, where the capacity was higher.

In 1996, Ajax moved to a new home ground in the southeast of the city known as the Amsterdam ArenA that was built at the cost of $134 million. The stadium is capable of holding approximately 52,000 people. The average attendance in 2004/05 was 48,600 people. The Arena has a retractable roof and was the example for other modern stadiums built in Europe in the following years. In the Netherlands, the Arena had earned a reputation for having a terrible grass pitch caused by the removable roof that, even when open, takes away too much sunlight and ventilation from the ground, and by the NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals who play their home games on it.

The much loved De Meer stadium was torn down and the land was sold to the city council.

Exterior of Stadium

Supporters

References to Jews

The Ajax fans have the tradition of using Jewish and Israeli symbols to express their allegiance. Regularly, the supporters wave large Star of David flags and scream Joden! Joden! ("Jews! Jews!") to fire up their team. Die-hard Ajax supporters call themselves "F-Siders" or "Joden" -- Dutch for "Jews" -- a nickname that reflects the team's and Amsterdam's Jewish roots. The nickname for Ajax fans dates back to before World War II, when Amsterdam was home to many of the Netherlands' 140,000 Jews and the Ajax stadium was located near a Jewish neighborhood. Most Dutch Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and little remains of Amsterdam's old Jewish quarter. But the tradition survived. Ajax currently has no Jewish players, the last player with Jewish roots being Daniël de Ridder.

The problem is that in an increasingly bizarre way, opposing supporters use anti-Semitism to express their antipathy towards Ajax. This is expressed in slogans such as Hamas, Hamas, Jews into the gas (Hamas, hamas, joden aan het gas) or producing hissing sounds that imitate the flow of gas. This however, does not withhold the 'Jewish' supporters from celebrating the Bombing of Rotterdam by Nazi Germany when facing Feyenoord with songs like Rotterdam, cancer town, in the war they rightly bombed it down! (Rotterdam, kankerstad, in de oorlog lag je lekker plat). Songs like this (using the melody of ´Tulips from Amsterdam´) were sung from the stage, i.e. organised, at the celebration of the winning of the Dutch Cup in 2006.

The hardcore Ajax fans however, are proud of their outsider image as "Jews" and feel encouraged to show more Israeli/ Jewish signs. The Jews who support Ajax are split on this matter. Dutch authorities have tried to tone down the Jewish symbols of support for Ajax, hoping to lead to a decrease of anti-Semitic counter-incidents. However, the head of the European Board of Jewish Deputies has signalled his support for the F-siders, noting that anti-Semitism in Europe would be lessened if more non-Jews identified with Jewish culture. The mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, is also Jewish.

As of 2006, an evaluation on this matter is still highly debatable.

Related Trivia In the Australian south eastern state of Victoria, there exists the Ajax Amateur Football Club, which is a Jewish Australian rules football club, in that the vast majority of administrators and players are Jewish, and the club has a Magen David (Star of David) on its uniform. Their playing colours are also the same as Ajax Amsterdam.

Players and managers

Current squad (2006/2007 season)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Netherlands NED Maarten Stekelenburg
2 DF Netherlands NED Johnny Heitinga
3 DF Netherlands NED Jaap Stam (c)
4 DF Belgium BEL Thomas Vermaelen
5 DF Netherlands NED Urby Emanuelson
6 MF Netherlands NED Hedwiges Maduro
7 FW Argentina ARG Mauro Rosales
8 FW Netherlands NED Ryan Babel
9 FW Netherlands NED Klaas Jan Huntelaar
10 MF Netherlands NED Wesley Sneijder
11 FW Denmark DEN Kenneth Perez
12 GK Netherlands NED Kenneth Vermeer
14 MF Spain ESP Roger
15 MF Netherlands NED Olaf Lindenbergh
16 FW Belgium BEL Tom De Mul
17 MF Denmark DEN Michael Krohn-Dehli
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF Spain ESP Gabri
20 DF Romania ROU George Ogăraru
21 FW Romania ROU Nicolae Mitea
22 DF Czech Republic CZE Zdeněk Grygera
23 FW Brazil BRA Leonardo
25 MF Netherlands NED Jeffrey Sarpong
26 FW Armenia ARM Edgar Manucharyan
28 MF Belgium BEL Jan Vertonghen
29 FW Netherlands NED Rydell Poepon
30 GK Netherlands NED Dennis Gentenaar
31 DF Netherlands NED Donovan Slijngard
32 GK Netherlands NED Marco van Duin
33 MF Netherlands NED Vurnon Anita
34 FW Netherlands NED John Goossens
35 DF Netherlands NED Gregory van der Wiel

Out on loan Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
23 DF Ghana GHA Emmanuel Boakye (on loan to Heracles Almelo)
24 DF Netherlands NED Robbert Schilder (on loan to Heracles Almelo)

Notable former Ajax players

List of Ajax Managers

Honours

National

International

Preceded by UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Winner
1987
Runner up: Lokomotive Leipzig 		Succeeded by

See also

References

  1. ^ "Amsterdan ArenA - Did you know?". Amsterdam ArenA. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
  2. ^ "Ajax agree technical partnership with FC Omniworld". AJAX-USA.com. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
  3. ^ History of the Ajax logo
  4. ^ "Ajax Extend Sponsor Contract with ABN AMRO until 2011". ABNAMRO.com. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
  5. ^ "Contract with kit sponsor Adidas extended until summer 2009". AJAX-USA.com. Retrieved 2006-12-10.

Bibliography

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Unofficial

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