The AJAX Football Club (Associated Judaean Athletic Clubs), nicknamed the Jackas, is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

club based in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of St Kilda. AJAX was formed by the local local Jewish community in 1957, becoming Australia's first and only fully

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

club competing in the sport of Australian rules football. As of 2025, the club's men's team competes in the Premier C division of the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 i ...

(VAFA), while its women's team is in Division 2 of the VAFA Women's (VAFAW). An affiliated junior team, the AJAX Junior Football Club, fields teams in the South Metro Junior Football League (SMJFL).

History

In 1955, football enthusiast Daryl Cohen proposed the formation of a new club composed of Jewish people. After several months of discussions, the Associated Judaean Athletic Clubs (AJAX) was formally established in January 1957 and admitted into the VAFA the same year. AJAX adopted the red, white and black colours of the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

, which also donated a set of jumpers for AJAX players.Barry Markoff, ''The Road to A Grade: A History of the Ajax Football Club'', Brownhall Printing: Clayton South, 1980 The

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

in the St Kilda logo was replaced by a

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

.Bob Stewart, Rob Hess and Chris Dixon, ''Australian Rules Football'', in Richard Cashman, Philip Mosely, John O’Hara and Hilary Weatherburn (eds), Sporting Immigrants, Walla Walla Press''For the Love of the Game: The Centenary History of the Victorian Amateur Football Association, 1892-1992'' by Joseph Johnson – Hyland House Publishing: South Yarra, 1992 The club won its first premiership in E Section in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. In

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, AJAX made the E Section grand final against

Elsternwick Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government areas of Victoria ...

. However, the date of the grand final clashed with

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

(Jewish new year) and, after the VAFA refused to change the date of the game, AJAX forfeited the grand final. The VAFA ultimately reversed their decision and moved the grand final to 13 September 1975, with AJAX going on to win the E Section premiership. Following this, the VAFA agreed to move any games that fell on a Jewish High Holiday to a more suitable date at the club's request. AJAX introduced a women's team in 2015, entering Division 5 East in the

Victorian Women's Football League The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) was the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 47 clubs from Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia across seven divisions with a total of over ...

(VWFL). When the VWFL was disbanded, the club moved to the VAFA Women's (VAFAW) and fielded a team in the competition's inaugural season in 2017. Former

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) player and coach Mark Williams joined AJAX in 2016 to serve as its senior men's coach, starting in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. He served as coach for a total of two seasons, departing at the end of

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

after the club finished second-last in Premier B and was consequently

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

to Premier C.

Antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

graffiti was spray-painted on AJAX's clubrooms in July 2021. The incident was condemned by the VAFA as an "abhorrent and unlawful racial attack", and the

Beaumaris Football Club The Beaumaris Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Beaumaris. As of 2024, the club competes in the Premier B division of the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) and ...

would later be awarded with a Medal of Courage from the

Anti-Defamation Commission The Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) is a Jewish-Australian community organisation founded by B'nai B'rith to combat antisemitism in Australia. It was originally established as the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission.Abramovitch, D. (2015). A ...

for its stance against antisemitism and racism. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, AJAX combined its women's side with Old Camberwell in order for both clubs to continue competing. The combined side originally played in Division 1 but it was moved to Division 2 after round 4, following three heavy losses.

References

External links

Official website
{{Jews and Judaism in Australia Jews and Judaism in Melbourne Victorian Amateur Football Association clubs 1957 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1957 Australian rules football clubs in Melbourne Sport in the City of Port Phillip St Kilda, Victoria