History of AFC Ajax
The promotion meant that Ajax were forced to alter the club's strip, as Sparta of Rotterdam had the same kit, red-white vertical stripes with black shorts.
Under the guidance of Jack Reynolds (Kirwan's successor as of 1915), the club was promoted to the highest level in 1917 and won the Dutch national cup final, defeating VSV 5–0.
The 1930s 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).
Ajax achieved some success on the domestic level, earning the first Eredivisie-championship in 1957 and again in 1960, the 1960 title decided by a playoff after equalling in points with arch-rivals Feyenoord.
It earned them European Cup qualification, being knocked out by Real Madrid in the subsequent season, with Veloso scoring the winner for Los Merengues in extra time after two 1–1 draws, results which greatly enhanced the reputation of the club.
Ajax won the Dutch title of 1968 overtaking Feyenoord, the league leaders for much of the season, and reached the European Cup final of 1969 in Madrid against Milan.
Netherlands professional footballer Eponyms and public art Family Related Following their loss in the European Cup Final, Ajax entered another period of rebuilding.
Among the new additions were national top scorer Dick van Dijk and midfielders Gerrie Mühren and Nico Rijnders, while a second team player, Ruud Krol, was promoted to the first XI.
They replaced Klaas Nuninga, Inge Danielsson, Theo van Duijvenbode (all sold to other clubs) and Henk Groot, who retired from football after an injury while playing against Poland.
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).
In Europe, Ajax defeated 17 Nëntori, FC Basel, Celtic and Atlético Madrid en route to the 1971 European Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium on June 2.
Johan Cruyff returned to the club in late November 1980 as advisor and in December 1981 as player, with the club producing some talented youngsters in the early- and mid-1980s, such as Wim Kieft, Frank Rijkaard, Gerald Vanenburg, Sonny Silooy, Jesper Olsen, John van 't Schip, Marco van Basten, Jan Molby, Ronald Koeman, John Bosman, Stanley Menzo, Rob de Wit, Aron Winter and Rob Witschge in sequence of their first official match for Ajax.
They continued to compete for the title with PSV in subsequent years, who became the dominant club in European and Dutch football, matching Ajax's 1972 achievement of a continental treble in 1988.
Negative aspects of the period 1988 from 1991 were the fraud-case in 1989 and a year-long ban from European competition in 1990–91 following an incident whereby a fan threw an iron bar at the Austria Wien goalkeeper during a UEFA Cup tie in the 1989–90 season.
The subsequent period, however, saw the departure of manager Louis van Gaal along with an exodus of many key players, several on free transfers following the Bosman ruling—Clarence Seedorf departed in 1995; Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu in 1996; Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and Winston Bogarde in 1997, along with Louis van Gaal departing for Barcelona and being replaced by Morten Olsen; Ronald de Boer and Frank de Boer played their last matches for Ajax in 1998 before leaving in January 1999; and Edwin van der Sar and Jari Litmanen also left in 1999, together with the retirement of Frank Rijkaard in 1995 and Danny Blind in 1999.
As Olsen began his second season at the club, tensions arose between Dutch players Ronald and Frank de Boer and the Ajax hierarchy over a contract dispute.
In the 2002–03 season, manager Ronald Koeman led Ajax to the Champions League quarter-finals against Milan, losing only to a last minute winner in the second-leg encounter at the San Siro.
[citation needed] Danny Blind was Koeman's replacement, and the former instantly caused consternation by announcing that the club was to play using a 4–4–2 formation, abandoning the Total Football-oriented 4–3–3 that had become Ajax' trademark.
Blind was later sacked on 10 May 2006 after 422 days in charge, where he was replaced by Henk ten Cate, who had won the Champions League and La Liga title in 2006 as the assistant to Frank Rijkaard with Barcelona.
Ten Cate gave youngsters Jan Vertonghen and Robbert Schilder a shot at making the team selection, whereas Greek forward Angelos Charisteas was sold to rivals Feyenoord.
They won the Johan Cruyff Shield after a 3–1 win over rivals PSV and they also defeated AZ 8–9 on penalties in the Dutch Cup final after a 1–1 draw after extra time.
The fact that they did not find any replacement for Sneijder, backed with Edgar Davids's broken leg, disrupted the preparation for the qualification games for a Champions League place.
The failure to clinch a position in the Champions League group stage led to great criticism from both the supporters and the media, mainly directed at Henk ten Cate and the board of directors.
[11] The 2009–10 season for Ajax started with two wins, but after an away defeat against rivals PSV and a draw against Sparta Rotterdam, they were again trailing the league leaders in the early stages of the competition.
De Boer's debut game was a 2–0 win over Milan, which rounded off a largely disappointing performance in a group that included heavyweights Real Madrid and Milan; Ajax picked up only seven points in the group stage and was consigned to play in the UEFA Europa League for the remainder of the season, eventually falling to Russian club Spartak Moscow in the round of 16.
The 2011–12 season began poorly for Ajax and in one stretch, they lost points in seven out of eight consecutive matches, including draws to PSV, Twente, AZ and Feyenoord in the Klassieker.
The third-place finish in Group D with Lyon and eventual semi-finalists Real Madrid resulted in qualification to the Europa League knockout stages, where Ajax were drawn against Manchester United.
On 8 July 2017, academy starlet Abdelhak Nouri collapsed on the pitch during a pre-season friendly against German side Werder Bremen, due to cardiac arrhythmia.
Despite Ajax's Champions League heartbreak, they would have to kick on and play two more Eredivisie fixtures to claim the shield, as they were equal on points with rivals PSV.
No title was given following the abrupt end to the 2019-20 season due to COVID-19, although Ajax were tied on points with AZ Alkmaar at the top of the table with eight matches remaining to eventually never be played.
