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AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...
is one of the most successful clubs in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax is the most successful club in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, with 36 Eredivisie titles and 20
KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...
s. Ajax is historically one of the most successful clubs in the world; according to the
IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
, Ajax were the seventh-most successful European club of the 20th century. The club is one of the five teams that has earned the right to keep the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
and to wear a multiple-winner badge; they won consecutively in 1971–1973. In 1972, they completed the
continental treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A continental treble involves winning the club's top-level domestic league competition, main domestic cup competition, and main continental tro ...
by winning the
Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
,
KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...
, and the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
. Ajax's last international trophies were the
1995 Intercontinental Cup The 1995 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 28 November 1995 between Ajax, winners of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League, and Grêmio, winners of the 1995 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the National S ...
and the 1995 Champions League, where they defeated
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
; they lost the 1996 Champions League
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
on penalties to
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
. Ajax is also one of three teams to win the continental treble and the Intercontinental Cup in the same season/calendar year; This was achieved in the 1971–72 season.UEFA sanctioned the UEFA Supercup for the first time in 1973. In 1972 was an unofficial edition and the 1st Centenary of
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
(See )
Ajax,
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
,
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
,
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
and Chelsea are the five clubs to have won all three major UEFA club competitions. They have also won the Intercontinental Cup twice, the
1991–92 UEFA Cup The 1991–92 UEFA Cup was the 21st season of Europe's then-tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at Stadio Delle Alpi, Turin, Italy, and at Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands. The compe ...
, as well as the Karl Rappan Cup, a predecessor of the
UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...
, in 1962.UEFA sanctioned the UEFA Intertoto Cup for the first time in 1995. In the 1960s, it was unofficial. See Ajax plays at the
Johan Cruyff Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost equivalent to € ...
(previously known as Amsterdam Arena), which opened in 1996. They previously played at De Meer Stadion and the
Amsterdam Olympic Stadium The Olympic Stadium (, ) is a sporting venue which was used as the main stadium for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. The venue is currently used mostly for athletics, other sports events and music concerts. When completed, the stadium had ...
(for international matches).


Amateur era

The club was founded in Amsterdam on 18 March 1900 by
Floris Stempel Floris Stempel (January 18, 1877 – January~March, 1910) was the first chairman ever in the history of Association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax. Career Floris was born in Amsterdam and, in 1877, created the first version of Ajax as a ...
, Carel Reeser and
Han Dade Henrich Daniël (Han) Dade (9 February 1878 – 15 December 1940) was a Dutch sports director. He was one of the three founders of the association football club Ajax, along with Floris Stempel and Carel Reeser, and was also chairman of the clu ...
, the second incarnation after a short-lived previous attempt—as Football Club Ajax—in 1894. The club was named after the mythological hero
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
, a Greek who fought in the
Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...
against
Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
. In ''
The Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
'', Ajax was said to be the greatest of all the Greeks next to his cousin
Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...
, and even fought an inconclusive duel with Troy's champion,
Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...
. According to most accounts, Ajax died by suicide, thus, unlike Achilles, he died unconquered. Ajax succeeded in promotion to the highest level of Dutch football in 1911 under the guidance of
Jack Kirwan John Henry Kirwan (December 2 1872 – 7 January 1959) was an Irish football player and coach. As a player, he was described as an out and out winger with good pace and skills, playing as an outside-left for, among others, Everton, Tottenham ...
, their first official coach. The promotion meant that Ajax were forced to alter the club's strip, as
Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
of
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
had the same kit, red-white vertical stripes with black shorts. Ajax adopted a broad vertical red stripe on a white background with white shorts, which remains the club's kit colours to this day. Although their efforts were not unnoticed (Gé Fortgens became a frequent member of the Netherlands national team for many years), 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 (Second Division Nood West B) and 1916 (Second Division West C), however the 1915 league was declared unofficial (due to World War I), whereas in 1916 they did not make it through the promotion round (Promotion Competition 2nd Division West). 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. Ajax went on to win their first national championship in 1918. The championship was secured in
Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...
where they faced Willem II without Jan de Natris, arguably the club's first star player, who missed the train to Tilburg and opted to stay in Amsterdam instead, earning him a fine of ten cents. In the following season, he received a six-month ban, though Ajax nonetheless performed 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 1920s with regional titles in 1921, 1927 and 1928, in addition to a few minor cup victories. The 1930s would prove to be more successful, however; with household names as Wim Anderiesen Sr.,
Dolf van Kol Adolf Henri "Dolf" van Kol (2 August 1902 – 20 January 1989) was a Dutch footballer who earned 33 caps for the Netherlands national side between 1925 and 1931, scoring four goals. He also participated at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He played cl ...
, Piet Strijbosch,
Wim Volkers Willem Frederik Volkers (3 October 1899 – 4 January 1990) was a Dutch football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqual ...
, Jan van Diepenbeek,
Bob ten Have Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) * Bob (dog), a dog that received the Dickin Medal for bravery in World War II *Bob the ...
, Erwin van Wijngaarden and prolific striker
Piet van Reenen Piet van Reenen born (17 January 1909 – 8 June 1969) was a Dutch former professional footballer who was a prolific goalscorer at Ajax. With 278 goals in 240 matches from 1929 to 1943, he is the club's all-time top goal scorer. He was also the ...
, Ajax' period from the late '20s until
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
was so successful that many people dubbed it "the
golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...
" (a reference to the 17th century, the heyday of the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
). With eight regional titles (1930–32, 1934–37 and 1939) and five national championships (1931, 1932, 1934, 1937 and 1939), Ajax was the most successful team of that era in the country. The 1930s were also notable for the final culmination of the rivalry with
Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
, 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 The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...
in 1996, this was Ajax' home ground together with the
Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...
for higher-profile games. As of the 1940s, 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 rebuilding.
Gerrit Fischer Gerrit Fischer (28 August 1916 – 22 November 1984) was a Dutch footballer who played for Ajax as a right winger. Club career Ajax Fischer was discovered at a school football match at the age of sixteen, by Ajax coach Jack Reynolds, after ...
and Erwin van Wijngaarden were retained, with
Joop Stoffelen Johannes Hendricus "Joop" Stoffelen (23 January 1921 – 26 June 2005) was a Dutch footballer who played as a midfielder. Stoffelen mainly played for Ajax, but also had stints at RC Paris, Toulouse, Blauw-Wit Amsterdam and Neerlandia. Career St ...
,
Guus Dräger Gustav Karl "Guus" Dräger (14 December 1917 – 24 May 1989) was a Dutch association football player, who played as a winger for SDW, DWS, Ajax, IJ.V.V. Stormvogels and for the Netherlands national team. Club career Dräger began his footbal ...
,
Gé van Dijk Gérard ("Gé") van Dijk (15 August 1923 in Amsterdam – 29 May 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. Club career He played his entire career (1943–1957) for Ajax, won two Eredivisie titles (1947 and 1957). He played 317 league matche ...
, Jan Potharst and later
Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch Association football, football player and coach. He list of one-club men in association football, played his entire career for AFC Ajax, Ajax, which he ...
and
Cor van der Hart Cor van der Hart (25 January 1928 – 12 December 2006) was a Dutch footballer. He is known as one of the best defenders of the Netherlands national team in history, who was physically strong, who read the game very well and who had a quality ...
brought in. After a Cup Final victory in 1943, Ajax went on to finish second in the championship league in 1946 (behind
HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982 ...
) followed by a league championship win in 1947. They became regional champions in 1950 again, though they never came near winning the championship. The season was notable for a match against
SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...
, with Heerenveen coming back from 5–1 down to win 6–5. In 1941, Ajax performed the opposite: after being 6–0 behind to VUC in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
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 (equal in points with fellow Amsterdam club DWS).


Professional football and the road to the top

In 1955, professional football was finally permitted in the Netherlands. Ajax was still far from the international top, as was demonstrated in the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
match against
Vasas SC Vasas SC () is a Hungarian sports club based in Budapest. Members of the ''Hungarian Union of Iron Workers'' founded the club as ''Vas- és Fémmunkások Sport Clubja'', the "Sport Club of Iron and Metal Workers", on 16 March 1911. The club ...
, where they were beaten by the Hungarians 4–0 in the Népstadion. Similar European failures followed in 1960, with Ajax being knocked out by the Norwegian amateurs of
Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and twelve Norwegian Football Cup, Norwegian Cup wins, FFK ...
and in the
Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...
in 1961 by
Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...
of
Ferenc Bene Ferenc Bene (17 December 1944 – 27 February 2006) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a striker for Újpest and Hungary. He was a member of the team that won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics, in which he was the top scorer o ...
. Ajax achieved some success on the domestic level, earning the first
Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
-championship in 1957 and again in 1960, the 1960 title decided by a playoff after equalling in points with arch-rivals Feyenoord. Ajax cruised to a 5–1 victory with a hat trick by striker Wim Bleijenberg. Bleijenberg was not the top scorer, however. Henk Groot – the younger brother of
Cees Groot Cees Groot (29 June 1932 – 13 March 1988) was a Dutch footballer who played as a striker for Heerenveen, Stormvogels, Ajax, Zaanstreek and the Pittsburgh Phantoms during his career. Club career Heerenveen Groot began his career in the you ...
, who had scored 100 goals for Ajax in his five-year stay – arrived in 1959 from Stormvogels and scored 38 goals in 1959–60 and 41 in 1960–61. He was a vital part of Ajax in the early 1960s, replacing star striker Piet van der Kuil, who had left for PSV in 1960. Alongside the man who would later become ''Mister Ajax'',
Sjaak Swart Jesaia Swart (born 3 July 1938), commonly known as Sjaak Swart, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger for Ajax. During his career at Ajax, he amassed a total of almost 600 matches, a record for the club. Biography Sw ...
, Co Prins,
Ton Pronk Anton "Ton" Pronk (21 May 1941 – 26 August 2016) was a Dutch football defender who played for Ajax in the 1960s and for FC Utrecht in the early 1970s. Club career Pronk came through the Ajax youth system and made his senior debut for the club ...
, Bennie Muller and a young
Piet Keizer Petrus Johannes "Piet" Keizer (14 June 1943 – 10 February 2017) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a left winger. As part of the "Total Football" Ajax Amsterdam team of the 1960s and 1970s, Keizer was particularly notable durin ...
, Ajax added the National Cup in 1961 and the Intertoto Cup 1962 to their trophy cabinet. After missing out on the championship after a 5–2 defeat against PSV in 1963, Ajax entered a period of decline in the national league. Henk Groot left to Feyenoord that summer, and in 1964–65, they were near relegation. Things improved after former player
Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch Association football, football player and coach. He list of one-club men in association football, played his entire career for AFC Ajax, Ajax, which he ...
replaced
Vic Buckingham Victor Frederick Buckingham (23 October 1915 – 26 January 1995) was an English football player and manager. He played for Second Division side Tottenham Hotspur. As manager he won the 1954 FA Cup final with West Bromwich Albion and finished ...
as the head manager. Ajax managed to secure a midtable spot under Michels; however, Buckingham's second tenure saw the introduction of
Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...
during a 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 signing of goalkeeper Gert Bals. Michels built a side around the vision of "
Total Football Total Football () is a tactical system in association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. A player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the ...
," sacrificing players who he considered not to be good enough or fit the style of play. The most notable example of this was defender Frits Soetekouw – replaced by Ajax' new captain
Velibor Vasović Velibor Vasović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велибор Васовић; 3 October 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a Serbian footballer and manager, also one of the legendary players of Partizan Belgrade and Ajax and is regarded one of greatest defenders ...
– whose
own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...
aided the victory of
Dukla Prague Dukla Prague () was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi-finals of the ...
in the quarter-final of the European Cup in 1966–67, after Ajax had knocked out
Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...
and defeated
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
5–1 at the Mistwedstrijd. Ajax sealed their second consecutive championship in 1967. They were not as dominant as the previous year, but with a seemingly unstoppable attack, they scored no less than 122 goals (still a national record), of which 33 were from Johan Cruyff, who, at just 20 years of age, was already the team's star player. It was also the season for another important milestone—for the first time in history, Ajax won the double (after defeating
NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...
in the cup final). It earned them European Cup qualification, being knocked out by
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
in the subsequent season, with
Veloso Veloso is a Portuguese surname that means "hairy". Following is a list of notable people with the surname Veloso. * Amelyn Veloso (1974-2017), a Filipino former broadcast journalist * António Veloso (born 1957), a Portuguese footballer and coach *C ...
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 Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
against
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. In qualifying for the European Cup Final, Ajax defeated 1. FC Nürnberg in the first round. They were almost knocked out by Benfica in the second, losing 1–3 to them in Amsterdam but winning the second leg in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, 1–3. The decisive third match in neutral
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
was won 3–0 through two goals by
Inge Danielsson Karl Gustaf Inge Danielsson (14 June 1941 – 30 June 2021) was a Swedish footballer who played as a forward. He played for Ifö/Bromölla IF, Helsingborgs IF, AFC Ajax and IFK Norrköping. Danielsson also won 17 caps for the Sweden nati ...
and one by Cruyff. They repeated this score at home against the next opponent, Czechoslovak club
Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Slovak league system, having participated in more seasons than any other club. Founded in ...
, in the next round, but struggled in the second leg, narrowly qualifying on aggregate. In the final, Milan, lauded for their excellent defence and counter-attacks, easily won 4–1, with
Pierino Prati Pierino Prati (; 13 December 1946 – 22 June 2020) was an Italian footballer who played mainly as a forward. He began his career with Salernitana, and later played for several other Italian clubs, including a successful spell with AC Milan, w ...
opening the scoring after seven minutes and going on to score a hat-trick, while Velibor Vasović was the only Ajax player on the scoresheet after scoring from a penalty. Milan's win was capped by a goal by
Angelo Sormani Angelo Benedicto Miguel Sormani (; ; born 3 July 1939) is a Brazilian-born Italian former football manager and player, who played as a forward; he was capable of playing anywhere along the front-line, as a centre-forward, as well as in an att ...
.


''Gloria Ajax'': European dominance and treble

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 Dirk Wouter Johannes "Dick" van Dijk (15 February 1946 – 8 July 1997) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a forward for FC Twente and Ajax Amsterdam. He was a member of Ajax's European Cup victory in 1971. He earned seven caps ...
and midfielders
Gerrie Mühren Gerardus ("Gerrie") Dominicus Hyacinthus Maria Mühren (2 February 1946 – 19 September 2013) was a Dutch footballer who played as a midfielder. He was the older brother of Arnold Mühren, who likewise played for the Netherlands national team ...
and
Nico Rijnders Reinier Johannes Maria "Nico" Rijnders (30 July 1947 – 16 March 1976) was a Dutch football (soccer), footballer who played for NAC Breda and Ajax Amsterdam and was part of their UEFA Champions League, European Cup victory in European Cup 1970- ...
, while a second team player,
Ruud Krol Rudolf Jozef "Ruud" (or "Rudi") Krol (; born 24 March 1949) is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax. He became a coach afte ...
, was promoted to the first XI. They replaced
Klaas Nuninga Klaas Nuninga (born 7 November 1940) is a former Dutch international footballer who played for GVAV-Rapiditas, Ajax and DWS during his career. Club career Early career Nuninga began his career in the youth ranks of WVV 1896 in his home town ...
,
Inge Danielsson Karl Gustaf Inge Danielsson (14 June 1941 – 30 June 2021) was a Swedish footballer who played as a forward. He played for Ifö/Bromölla IF, Helsingborgs IF, AFC Ajax and IFK Norrköping. Danielsson also won 17 caps for the Sweden nati ...
, Theo van Duijvenbode (all sold to other clubs) and Henk Groot, who retired from football after an injury while playing against
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. Ton Pronk and
Bennie Muller Bennie Muller (14 August 1938 – 17 January 2024) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Ajax and the Netherlands national team. Early life Muller was born in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam-East. His grandfather ...
were no longer as frequently in the first 11 after many years of service. In 1969–70, Ajax won the Dutch league championship, winning 27 out of 34 games and scoring 100 goals. Feyenoord remained in contention throughout the season, but they had to settle for second place. Both clubs won a trophy, however, with Ajax winning the Eredivisie title while Feyenoord captured the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
. Ajax reached the semi-finals of the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...
in 1970 (being knocked out by
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
after defeating
Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...
,
Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...
,
Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...
and Carl Zeiss Jena). The year 1971 became the long-awaited year of glory, with Ajax winning trophies at both domestic and European level. For a substantial part of the season, Ajax seemed to be on their way to the European treble (a feat only previously performed by
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
in 1967). Domestically, Ajax finished second to Feyenoord in the league, winning the KNVB Cup after a replayed final against Sparta Rotterdam. In Europe, Ajax defeated 17 Nëntori,
FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...
, Celtic and
Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...
en route to the 1971 European Cup Final played at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
on June 2. There, 83,000 spectators witnessed a 2–0 victory over
Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...
, with goals from Dick van Dijk and an Arie Haan shot deflected by defender Kapsis. Captain Velibor Vasović could finally lift the European Cup after having lost two previous finals in 1966 with
FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...
and again in 1969. In the following years, Ajax established itself as the foremost club in European football. Romanian coach Stefan Kovacs replaced Michels in 1971, while Rijnders and Vasović departed in the same year; Van Dijk departed in 1972. Such changes in the side and management did not disrupt the success of the club, however, with Ajax completing the treble of European Cup, Dutch National Championship and the KNVB Cup in 1972 to which was added the Intercontinental Cup. In 1973, Ajax won a third consecutive European Cup and another Dutch championship; however, failure in the KNVB Cup meant Ajax missed out on a second consecutive treble. The departure of Johan Cruyff for
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
in 1973 signalled the end of the period of success, effectively ending the reign of the so-called "12 Apostles," the typical starting XI of Heinz Stuy,
Wim Suurbier Wilhelmus Lourens Johannes Suurbier (; 16 January 1945 – 12 July 2020) was a Dutch professional footballer and among others assistant coach of the Albania national team. He played as a right back and was part of the Netherlands national team ...
,
Barry Hulshoff Bernardus Adriaan "Barry" Hulshoff (30 September 1946 – 16 February 2020) was a Dutch footballer who played for Ajax Amsterdam and was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972 and 1973. He earned 14 caps for the Netherlands national ...
,
Horst Blankenburg Horst Blankenburg (born 10 July 1947) is a German former professional footballer, who played as a sweeper. He is best known for the early 1970s period, during which he played for Ajax and won the European Cup three times (1971, 1972, 1973), the ...
,
Ruud Krol Rudolf Jozef "Ruud" (or "Rudi") Krol (; born 24 March 1949) is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax. He became a coach afte ...
,
Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team of ...
,
Johan Neeskens RCH may stand for: * Radio Club de Honduras, an amateur radio organization * Railway Clearing House, the British financial clearing house and technical standards bureau for railways * The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal), a unit of the Canadian ...
,
Gerrie Mühren Gerardus ("Gerrie") Dominicus Hyacinthus Maria Mühren (2 February 1946 – 19 September 2013) was a Dutch footballer who played as a midfielder. He was the older brother of Arnold Mühren, who likewise played for the Netherlands national team ...
,
Sjaak Swart Jesaia Swart (born 3 July 1938), commonly known as Sjaak Swart, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger for Ajax. During his career at Ajax, he amassed a total of almost 600 matches, a record for the club. Biography Sw ...
, Johan Cruyff and
Piet Keizer Petrus Johannes "Piet" Keizer (14 June 1943 – 10 February 2017) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a left winger. As part of the "Total Football" Ajax Amsterdam team of the 1960s and 1970s, Keizer was particularly notable durin ...
, plus the usual 12th man, usually Ruud Suurendonk until 1972, then
Johnny Rep John Nicholaas Rep (born 25 November 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He holds the all-time record for FIFA World Cup goals for the Netherlands with 7. Playing career Rep played as a right-footed ...
. Whereas clubs like
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
,
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
,
Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...
, Arsenal,
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
and Independiente were beaten by Ajax between 1971 and 1973, failure in the European Cup at the hands of
CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...
in late 1973 signalled the decline of Ajax in European football. Ajax's attempts to find a replacement for Cruyff after his departure proved difficult. A bid for
Tom Lund Tom Lund (born 10 September 1950) is a former Norwegian football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, footbal ...
, who had become established on the
Norway national football team The Norway national football team (, or informally ''Landslaget'') represents Norway in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Norwegian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Norway. Norwa ...
, but who at club level played at Norwegian tier 3 with
Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club based in the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founde ...
at the time, fell through as Lund didn't want to commit to a long contract abroad. Nevertheless, the "
Total Football Total Football () is a tactical system in association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. A player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the ...
" that they had propagated became a lasting memory for many football fans, contributing to the Netherlands national team reaching the final of the
1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...
using similar tactics. The decline of Ajax and the loss to the
West Germans West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...
in the World Cup Final saw the end of the Total Football era. Years later, Ajax manager
Tomislav Ivić Tomislav Ivić (; 30 June 1933 – 24 June 2011) was a Croatian professional football player and manager. Often described as a brilliant strategist, Ivić is credited with helping develop the modern style of the game. In April 2007, Italian spor ...
would dub the era ''Gloria Ajax'', illustrating the impact of the team's years at the pinnacle of European football.


First renaissance and 1980s

After a period of decline, in 1977, with players like
Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the director of football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was sporting directo ...
, Dick Schoenaker,
Søren Lerby Søren Lerby (born 1 February 1958) is a Danish former football player, manager, and licensed agent. As a player, he spent most of his career in Dutch football, winning five Eredivisie championships with Ajax Amsterdam and two with PSV Eindho ...
,
Tscheu La Ling Tschen La Ling (; born 6 January 1956) is a Dutch former professional footballer who most notably played for Ajax as a right winger. His name has been spelled in various ways throughout his career, but usually as Tscheu La Ling; he was general ...
,
Ruud Geels Geertruida Maria "Ruud" Geels (; 28 July 1948 – 18 November 2023) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a striker. He obtained 20 caps for the Netherlands national team, scoring eleven goals, in the 1970s. A prolific goalscorer, ...
and
Simon Tahamata Simon Melkianus Tahamata (born 26 May 1956) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who is the current head of scouting of Indonesia. Throughout his career, he played for multiple Dutch and Belgian clubs. He also played 22 tim ...
,
Tomislav Ivić Tomislav Ivić (; 30 June 1933 – 24 June 2011) was a Croatian professional football player and manager. Often described as a brilliant strategist, Ivić is credited with helping develop the modern style of the game. In April 2007, Italian spor ...
coached Ajax to their first domestic championship since 1973 (Ajax had finished three successive years only as third in the Dutch league in 1974, 1975 and 1976). Ajax returned to domestic success winning five league championships after 1977 (till 1985), finishing only two times second and one time third, as well as playing seven national cup finals (till 1987), and winning four national cups, though impressive European performances were sparse till early 1986. Ajax were knocked out by Juventus in the quarter-finals of the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
in March 1978 and reached a European Cup semi-final in April 1980, losing to eventual winners
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
, scoring 31 goals in the tournament, with 8 goals against. Disappointing European form between late 1980 and early 1986 saw the club failing to progress past the second round for six consecutive seasons. 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 Willem Cornelis Nicolaas "Wim" Kieft (born 12 November 1962) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Kieft went into punditry in 2001, occasionally appearing on football talk show '' Voetbal Inside'' A prolific ...
,
Frank Rijkaard Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (; born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Regarded as one of the greatest midfielders in footballing history, Rijkaard was described by British broa ...
,
Gerald Vanenburg Gerald Mervin Vanenburg (born 5 March 1964) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is currently serving as the assistant coach of the Indonesia national team and the head coach of the Indonesia under-23 national team. ...
,
Sonny Silooy Jan Jacobus "Sonny" Silooy (born 31 August 1963) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer and football manager. He is currently the assistant coach with AFC Ajax (women), AFC Ajax. His last managing post was for the under- ...
,
Jesper Olsen Jesper Olsen (born 20 March 1961) is a Danish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, left winger. He is best remembered for representing AFC Ajax, Ajax of the Netherlands and Manchester United F.C ...
,
John van 't Schip Johannes Nicolaas "John" van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a winger. He is the current manager of Armenia. Born in Canada, he played for the Netherlands national team for nine ...
,
Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...
,
Jan Molby Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...
,
Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...
,
John Bosman Johannes "John" Jacobus Bosman (born 1 February 1965) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. A prolific goalscorer for both club and country, he played professio ...
,
Stanley Menzo Stanley Purl Menzo (born 15 October 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the manager of the Suriname national team. He spent ten full seasons at Ajax, appearing in more th ...
, Rob de Wit,
Aron Winter Aron Mohammed Winter (born 1 March 1967) is a Dutch football manager and former player who most recently managed Suriname. A midfielder, he played for Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and for Italian sides Lazio and Inter Milan. Born ...
and
Rob Witschge Robert Witschge (born 22 August 1966) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his 14-year professional career with Feyenoord, but started out at Ajax, amassing Eredivisie totals of 281 matches and 3 ...
in sequence of their first official match for Ajax. After leaving the club in June 1983 after a conflict with President Harmsen, Cruyff returned once again in June 1985 as the team's new manager. His attacking tactics were immediately illustrated in his first active season, where Ajax ended the season with a goal difference of +85, and 120 goals in total of which 37 were from Ajax's new star player, Marco van Basten. Despite this, Ajax finished only as runners-up in the league to PSV consecutively in (1985–86 and 1986–87). Despite the lack of domestic league success, however, Cruyff's Ajax won the 1987 Cup Winners' Cup, beating East German club
Lokomotive Leipzig 1. Fußballclub Lokomotive Leipzig e.V. is a German football club based in the locality of Probstheida in the Südost borough of Leipzig, Saxony. The club was previously known as VfB Leipzig and was the first national champion of Germany. It h ...
. Ajax then reached the
Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
again in the following season, losing out to
KV Mechelen Yellow Red Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen (), often called KV Mechelen (, KVM) or simply by their former French name Malinois /ˌmalɪˈnwɑː/, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Mechelen in the Antwerp (pr ...
. Cruyff departed prior to the second Cup Winners' Cup Final largely as a result of the declining results on the domestic front. With most of the 1980s' stars such as Vanenburg and Ronald Koeman in the summer of 1986 leaving to rivals PSV Eindhoven, and Van Basten, Rijkaard and Silooy in the summer/autumn of 1987 also leaving to other countries in Europe, Ajax once again declined. 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 Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...
goalkeeper during a UEFA Cup tie in the 1989–90 season. Under new manager
Leo Beenhakker Leo Beenhakker (; 2 August 1942 – 10 April 2025) was a Dutch football player and coach. Nicknamed "Don Leo" for his role in Spanish football, he had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. After his amateur pl ...
, who before had been assistant-coach (1978-1979) and manager (1979-1981) at Ajax, Ajax went on to win the championship race with PSV in 1989/90, almost also winning the league again in 1990/91, but narrowly losing-out to PSV.


Van Gaal era: European success and decline

On departure to
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
in 1991, Beenhakker was replaced by
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...
, the team's former assistant coach. Like Cruyff, Van Gaal rapidly made his mark by altering Ajax' tactics, and also like Cruyff, his efforts were rewarded in his first season at the helm by winning the 1992 UEFA Cup after a thrilling final against
Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
. Although he did not play the Final's second leg, the tournament saw the arrival of
Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (; born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who was most recently the Assistant manager of Ajax. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was ...
, who contributed six goals during the competition. Despite Bergkamp being the top goalscorer in Dutch football in 1991 and 1992, Ajax once again finished as runners-up to PSV in the league. In 1992–93, Ajax even had to settle for a third spot for first time since 1984, though they nonetheless won the KNVB Cup. In 1993, Bergkamp and
Wim Jonk Wilhelmus Maria "Wim" Jonk (; born 12 October 1966) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player, who is the current technical manager of Eerste Divisie club Volendam. In his career as a midfielder, he won a variety of national hon ...
left to Internazionale, allowing Finn
Jari Litmanen Jari Olavi Litmanen (; born 20 February 1971) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an inter ...
to establish himself as the new number 10 for Ajax. Aside from Litmanen, Ajax attracted
Finidi George Finidi George (born 15 April 1971) is a Nigerian professional football coach and former footballer who played as a winger. After making a name for himself at Ajax in the Netherlands – being a leading figure in a team which won eight major ti ...
and the return of Frank Rijkaard, providing a base for Van Gaal to build on. Ajax won three consecutive league titles in 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96. The 1994–95 season saw Ajax win both the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
and the league title after going unbeaten in both tournaments. It was also the final season for Frank Rijkaard, while striker
Patrick Kluivert Patrick Stephan Kluivert (; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Indonesia national team. As a player, he played as a striker for Ajax, Barcelona and the Netherlands national te ...
had an excellent start to his first-team career, with the then 18-year-old coming off the bench to score a late winner to beat Milan 1–0 in the 1995 Champions League Final. Ajax went on to beat Brazilian side Grêmio on penalties to win the
1995 Intercontinental Cup The 1995 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 28 November 1995 between Ajax, winners of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League, and Grêmio, winners of the 1995 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the National S ...
, and beat
Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...
5–1 on aggregate to win the
1995 UEFA Super Cup The 1995 UEFA Super Cup was a two-legged match contested between the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup holders Zaragoza and the UEFA Champions League holders Ajax. The cup was played later than usual, the two legs taking place in February 1996. The first leg w ...
. Ajax also reached the 1996 Champions League Final, losing to Juventus on penalties after a 1–1 draw. 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 ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of associati ...
Clarence Seedorf Clarence Clyde Seedorf (; born 1 April 1976) is a Dutch former professional Association football, football manager and player. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He is currently working primarily remotely as ...
departed in 1995;
Edgar Davids Edgar Steven Davids (; born 13 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer. Davids was nicknamed "The Pitbull" because of his marking ability, aggression, and hard tackling style of play. After beginning his care ...
,
Michael Reiziger Michael John Reiziger (; born 3 May 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played mainly as a right back. Reiziger currently manages the Netherlands U21 team. After making a name for himself at Ajax, with whom he won one Champio ...
,
Finidi George Finidi George (born 15 April 1971) is a Nigerian professional football coach and former footballer who played as a winger. After making a name for himself at Ajax in the Netherlands – being a leading figure in a team which won eight major ti ...
and
Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Nigerian club Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, a ...
in 1996;
Patrick Kluivert Patrick Stephan Kluivert (; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Indonesia national team. As a player, he played as a striker for Ajax, Barcelona and the Netherlands national te ...
,
Marc Overmars Marc Overmars (; born 29 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer and former director of football at Belgian First Division A, Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp F.C. He was previously director of football a ...
and
Winston Bogarde Winston Lloyd Bogarde (born 22 October 1970) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. He was known for his physical strength, and played mostly as a centre-back although he could occasionally play as left-back. He had spells at Ajax, Barcelon ...
in 1997, along with
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...
departing for Barcelona and being replaced by
Morten Olsen Morten Per Olsen (; born 14 August 1949) is a Danish former Association football, football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding ...
;
Ronald de Boer Ronaldus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right or attacking midfielder or right winger. He played for the Netherlands national team as well as a host of professional clubs in Europe. He i ...
and
Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current manager. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, three Super Cups, o ...
played their last matches for Ajax in 1998 before leaving in January 1999; and
Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch association football, football executive and former professional player who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was most recently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, A ...
and Jari Litmanen also left in 1999, together with the retirement of Frank Rijkaard in 1995 and
Danny Blind Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national t ...
in 1999. Van Gaal's replacement,
Morten Olsen Morten Per Olsen (; born 14 August 1949) is a Danish former Association football, football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding ...
, attracted Danish national team captain
Michael Laudrup Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...
to the club for the 1997–98 season. Ajax won the league title and
Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...
in 1997–98. Despite this fine success, however, Olsen could not replace the key players who had departed or maintain the success that there had been under Van Gaal. 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. Results declined on the pitch as the contract row with the De Boers intensified, and Olsen was ultimately sacked late in 1998. In the 1998–99 season, Ajax finished sixth in the league, their lowest position since finishing 13th in the 1964–65 season, although they did win the 1999
Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...
.


Koeman / Blind / Ten Cate / Van Basten / Jol

In the 2002–03 season, manager
Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...
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 San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...
. Koeman's early success, however, was short-lived. In 2005, he resigned after Ajax's defeat to
AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...
in the UEFA Cup during a period of arguments with football director Louis van Gaal. 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. The season also saw the departure of key players
Rafael van der Vaart Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (; born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Van der Vaart began his career at AFC Ajax, Ajax's Ajax Youth Academy, youth academ ...
and
Nigel de Jong Nigel de Jong (born 30 November 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the technical director of the KNVB, the national Dutch football federation. He has also worked as an English ...
to
Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...
, and
Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Ibrahimović is known for his acrobatic strikes and Volley (association footba ...
to
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
, while six others (
Hatem Trabelsi Hatem Trabelsi (; born 25 January 1977) is a Tunisian former professional footballer who played as a right-back for CS Sfaxien, Ajax and Manchester City At international level, he played for the Tunisia national team in three World Cups, gaining ...
,
Tomáš Galásek Tomáš Galásek (; born 15 January 1973) is a former Czech football midfielder and current manager. He is the only player to witness both silver goals ever scored in European football, scoring the first for Ajax. Club career Galásek started h ...
, Hans Vonk,
Nourdin Boukhari Nourdin Boukhari (; born 30 June 1980) is a Moroccan former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. After retiring, he worked as a youth coach, and is the currently assistant coach of Eredivisie club Sparta Rotte ...
,
Steven Pienaar Steven Jerome Pienaar (; born 17 March 1982) is a South African former professional footballer and current coach of the U14 team of Sharjah FC in the United Arab Emirates. He hails from Westbury, a suburb in Johannesburg's Westrand. He was a ...
and
Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...
) revealed they would leave the club at the end of the 2005–06 season. Blind was later sacked on 10 May 2006 after 422 days in charge, where he was replaced by
Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football coach and former player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. He then serve ...
, who had won the Champions League and
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
title in 2006 as the assistant to Frank Rijkaard with Barcelona. Ten Cate gave youngsters
Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (; born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Mainly a centre-back, he also played as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior career at Dutch club Ajax in 2006, and total ...
and
Robbert Schilder Robbert Schilder (born 18 April 1986) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Club career Ajax Born in Amstelveen, Schilder started playing for local club NFC at age 6, before moving to VV Amstelveen Heemraad. The ...
a shot at making the team selection, whereas Greek forward
Angelos Charisteas Angelos Charisteas (, ; born 9 February 1980) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward. Since 2019, he works as sporting director for Aris. At club level he played for Aris Thessaloniki, Werder Bremen, Ajax, Feyenoor ...
was sold to rivals Feyenoord. Ajax missed out on a Champions League place in 2006–07 after their defeat against
FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklu ...
(3–2 on aggregate). As a result, Ajax played against
IK Start Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start) is a Norwegian Association football, football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the Norwegian First Division, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The club was ...
from Norway in the first round of the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
on 14 and 18 September, and won the match 9–2 on aggregate (2–5 away and 4–0 home). Having then progressed through the group stages, they drew German club
Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...
in the round of 32. In the first leg in Germany, Ajax lost 3–0. On the return leg in Amsterdam, they rallied for two second half goals to win 3–1, but lost 4–3 on aggregate. In the 2006–07 season Ajax also achieved some successes with ten Cate in charge. They won the
Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...
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. Ajax was very close to clinch the Eredivisie title after deducting a ten-point deficit from PSV, but lost it on goal difference on the last matchday to PSV (PSV: 75–25, Ajax 84–35). In the following 2007–08 season, Ajax sold two of the biggest talents:
Ryan Babel Ryan Guno Babel (; born 19 December 1986) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Babel began his career at Ajax in 1997, working his way up through the youth tea ...
for €17 million to
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and
Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer. Noted for his playmaking ability, he was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Sneijder started ...
for €27 million to
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
.
Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...
, seen as a replacement for Babel, was signed from
FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...
. Ajax decided not to buy a replacement for Sneijder because of the difficulty in finding a similar-position type of player to replace him and also because the deal was finished close to the
transfer deadline In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new cl ...
and Ajax would not rush through any signings. The fact that they did not find any replacement for Sneijder, backed with
Edgar Davids Edgar Steven Davids (; born 13 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer. Davids was nicknamed "The Pitbull" because of his marking ability, aggression, and hard tackling style of play. After beginning his care ...
's broken leg, disrupted the preparation for the qualification games for a Champions League place. Opponent
Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...
won both matches; with a 2–1 scoreline in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
and 0–1 victory in Amsterdam. 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. A 1–0 victory over PSV for the Johan Cruyff Shield could not make up for the loss of a Champions League spot. Despite quite a good start in the competition with a lot of goals from both Luis Suárez and
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Dirk Jan Klaas Huntelaar (born 12 August 1983), known professionally as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (), is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Huntelaar played for PSV Ein ...
, Ajax lost ground again in Europe after not making it to the group phase of the UEFA Cup; managing a 0–1 win away against
Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...
but lost the tie in Amsterdam after extra time with the score 2–3 to Dinamo. With these string of European failures, coach Ten Cate was not able to carry the team through to the Champions League group stage for two consecutive seasons and no European football at the ArenA for the remainder of the 2007–08 season. With these disappointing results, Ten Cate lost the confidence of the supporters, who demanded that the Board sack him. A more viable solution came when Chelsea, in the same week, offered Ten Cate the job of assistant manager on a three-year deal. On 9 October, Ten Cate left Ajax, whereupon
Adrie Koster Adrianus Cornelis "Adrie" Koster (; born 18 November 1954) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the manager of Willem II. He is a former winger and former manager of Ajax, Club Brugge and the Netherlands U21 team. Career He p ...
was selected to helm the squad. On 29 October 2007, captain
Jaap Stam Jakob "Jaap" Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of all-time. Stam was part of the Manchester United team that w ...
announced his immediate retirement from professional football due to a lack of motivation to continue. Ajax finished the season second and, following the
Play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
, qualified for the
2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup association football, football tournament. The 2009 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K. (football), F ...
. Following
UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...
, former Ajax striker
Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...
was appointed as the new manager, succeeding Koster. Johan Cruyff was poised to take up a new position with the club to overhaul the youth program, but after a dispute with Van Basten, he reneged on this commitment. Following Van Basten's appointment, a host of new players were brought into the squad, including
Ismaïl Aissati Ismaïl Aissati (born 16 August 1988) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Utrecht to Moroccan parents, Aissati was eligible to represent either nation. He represented the Netherlands at U21 level, be ...
and
Miralem Sulejmani Miralem Sulejmani ( sr-Cyrl, Миралем Сулејмани, ; born 5 December 1988) is a Serbian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger. When he signed for AFC Ajax, Ajax in 2008, h ...
, whose €16.25 million transfer from
Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...
broke the Dutch transfer record. Van Basten chose Klaas-Jan Huntelaar as the new club captain following his appointment, but in the January 2009 transfer window, Huntelaar transferred to Real Madrid on a €27 million deal, a decision for which Ajax were largely criticised in the Dutch papers. '' The Volkskrant'', for instance, referred to Ajax as a mere "trading company" that reduced its chances for a title by selling its main striker. Ajax finished third in 2008–09 season, qualifying for the inaugural
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
. Marco van Basten resigned after the penultimate game of the season, citing the season's results and his inability to perform better next season as main reasons. For the last game against
Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...
, the team was under the hands of assistant coach
John van 't Schip Johannes Nicolaas "John" van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a winger. He is the current manager of Armenia. Born in Canada, he played for the Netherlands national team for nine ...
. Later in the same month,
Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany and England, as well as earning three caps wi ...
was signed as the new coach. The 2009–10 season for Ajax started with two wins, but after an away defeat against rivals PSV and a draw against
Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...
, they were again trailing the league leaders in the early stages of the competition. From matchday seven until matchday 27, Ajax held the third place in the league, with Twente and PSV above them, which held the top position respectively 10 and 11 games. Starting with matchday 21, Ajax won every single match until the end of the season. Twente however, unlike PSV, would not succumb to the pressure and eventually succeeded in keeping a one-point deficit to win the title. Ajax finished the season with a goal difference of +86 (106–20), which was more than double that of Twente (+40). Luis Suárez finished the season as top goal scorer with 35 goals, a record for a non-Dutch player in the Eredivisie. Despite the disappointment of missing out on the league title, Ajax would finish the season by winning a record 18th KNVB Cup by defeating Feyenoord in the final. (On their way to this cup triumph, Ajax also re-wrote the Dutch record books with a remarkable 14–1 victory at the ground of amateurs WHC in Round Four.)


The Velvet Revolution

Towards the end of 2010,
Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...
criticized the board and playing style of Ajax. Cruyff made sure that
Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current manager. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, three Super Cups, o ...
(an ally of Cruyff) became the new manager after Jol resigned due to poor results. Afterwards, Cruyff started concocting new plans to bring Ajax back to the top. He attempted to gain more influence in the board by putting allies in the council of members. In March 2011, the board of Ajax resigned due to be unwilling to implement Cruyff’s plans. After this, Cruyff himself took a seat on the supervisory board. Together with the four other supervisory directors, he started looking for a new board of directors. Eventually, the four other supervisors and Cruyff would again not be aligned with their vision for the club. The four other supervisors then tried to get Cruyff away by appointing
Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...
as CEO of Ajax. It was known that Cruyff and Van Gaal were not fond of each other and had football philosophies that were not aligned. Cruyff was oblivious of the decision by the other four supervisors to appoint van Gaal as CEO, and as a result, filed a lawsuit as it was required by law for him to be privy to the appointment. In February 2012, the judge ruled that the appointment was not legally valid. The other four supervisors resigned and thus Cruyff had complete freedom to appoint the board he wanted and to carry out his plan. Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars, among others, were given a place on the board. The so-called 'Cruyff plan' has been the main line of Ajax's policy since 2012.


Success under De Boer

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 The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
for the remainder of the season, eventually falling to Russian club
Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...
in the round of 16. On the domestic front, Ajax began turning out some much more positive results in February, losing only once from then on until the end of the season. The team faced Twente twice at the end of the campaign, first in the KNVB Cup Final, then in the final match of the 2010–11 Eredivisie. In the Cup Final, Ajax had the lead twice but succumbed to a 117th minute
Marc Janko Marc Janko (born 25 June 1983) is an Austrian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Janko was a successful goal-scorer, particularly during his time at Austrian Footb ...
goal to lose 3–2 after extra time. One week later, there was a grandstand finish set up for the Eredivisie. Rivals PSV had lost pace and were sitting in third place, while Ajax sat in second place just one point below Twente. Thus, should Ajax win, they would overtake Twente and claim the league title. Ajax took the lead through
Siem de Jong Siem Stefan de Jong (; born 28 January 1989) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or striker. Playing in the youth academies of De Graafschap and Ajax, he made his professional debut for the Amsterda ...
and a
Denny Landzaat Denny Domingues Landzaat (born 6 May 1976) is a Dutch former professional footballer who is currently the assistant coach of the Indonesia national team. He mostly played as a midfielder. Club career Early career Landzaat was educated in Ajax' ...
own goal just after half-time made it 2–0 to Ajax.
Theo Janssen Theo Janssen (born 27 July 1981) is a Dutch assistant coach at SBV Vitesse, Vitesse and former association football, footballer who played as a midfielder for various clubs in the Netherlands, including SBV Vitesse, Vitesse, FC Twente, Twente an ...
pegged one back for Twente, but it was not to be, as De Jong scored his second and Ajax's third with 12 minutes remaining to put the game to bed. Ajax thus leapfrogged Twente and walked out winners of the 2010–11 Eredivisie. This was Ajax's 30th championship, earning them their third star. 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 De Klassieker (''The Classic'') is the main football rivalry of the Netherlands, between Ajax (of Amsterdam) and Feyenoord (of Rotterdam). The record attendance was on 9 January 1966, when 65,562 watched in Rotterdam. History The rivalry betw ...
''. Ajax was marred by injuries towards the end of 2011, most notably to
Nicolai Boilesen Nicolai Møller Boilesen (born 16 February 1992) is a Danish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left back for FC Copenhagen in the Danish Superliga and the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team. Club car ...
and transfer
Kolbeinn Sigþórsson Kolbeinn Sigþórsson (; born 14 March 1990) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a forward. Kolbeinn came through Víkingur Reykjavik's youth program and made his professional debut with HK Kópavogur at 16 years of ...
, who each missed five months or more, as well as
Gregory van der Wiel Gregory Kurtley van der Wiel (born 3 February 1988) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. Born in Amsterdam, Van der Wiel is a product of the AFC Ajax youth system. In 2010, he was awarded t ...
, Siem de Jong and transfer Derk Boerrigter, who each missed a month or more. This led to disappointment in the Champions League, as Ajax failed to progress to the knockout stage by virtue of goal difference. The third-place finish in Group D with
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and eventual semi-finalists Real Madrid resulted in qualification to the
Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
knockout stages, where Ajax were drawn against
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
. United eliminated Ajax on aggregate, but not before Ajax beat the English powerhouse at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...
1–2 on a late goal by
Toby Alderweireld Tobias Albertine Maurits Alderweireld (; born 2 March 1989) is a Belgian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, centre-back. Alderweireld began his professional career at D ...
. In the Eredivisie, Ajax opened the 2012 calendar year with a draw to then leaders AZ and losses in the ''Klassieker'' and to
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
. This left Ajax in sixth place, ten points behind leaders AZ. Ajax then proceeded to win their final 14 matches of the season for the second time in three years, winning Ajax their 31st championship. On 5 May 2013, Ajax won their 32nd championship after a 5–0 home win against Willem II. The team became Amsterdam Sportsteam of the Year of 2013. In 2013–14, Ajax won their 33rd championship, their fourth consecutive league title for the first time in their long history.


Return to the European main stage

In May 2016, Frank de Boer announced that after 6 years and four domestic league titles, he would be leaving the club. Later in the month, it was announced that former Feyenoord technical director and player,
Peter Bosz Peter Sylvester Bosz (, born 21 November 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is currently the head coach of Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven. He had previously ...
, would take over the side. After initially losing 5–2 on aggregate to Russian side
FC Rostov FC Rostov () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home matches at the Rostov Arena. History Soviet era (1930-199 ...
in the Champions League qualifiers, Ajax would go on to play in the
2017 UEFA Europa League Final The 2017 UEFA Europa League final was the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 8th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Eur ...
, their first European final in 21 years. They would lose the match 2–0 to
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, whilst fielding the youngest side ever in a European final, averaging an age of 22 years and 282 days. For the third consecutive season, they finished runner-up in the Eredivisie, this time to Feyenoord. Bosz would leave for
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
following the conclusion of the 2016–17 season and was replaced by
Marcel Keizer Marcel Keizer (born 15 January 1969), a Dutch football coach and former player, was most recently the manager of Saudi Pro League side Al Shabab. His playing career as a midfielder began at Ajax and was mainly spent at Cambuur, and he had b ...
, head coach of Jong Ajax and former Ajax player himself. Keizer was only a week into his tenure when tragedy struck the club and the world of football as a whole. On 8 July 2017, academy starlet
Abdelhak Nouri Abdelhak "Appie" Nouri (born 2 April 1997) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He operated primarily as an attacking midfielder, but could also be deployed as a winger. A youth product of Eredivisie club Ajax ...
collapsed on the pitch during a pre-season friendly against German side
Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...
, due to
cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...
. Nouri was transported to a local hospital by helicopter where his condition was announced as stable. Less than a week after his collapse, however, it was revealed that Nouri had suffered severe and permanent brain damage. He would lie in a coma for over a year. Nouri would regain consciousness around August 2018, two months after Ajax admitted that the treatment he received was "inadequate". An external investigation would reveal that had Ajax's medical team used a defibrillator sooner, Nouri's condition could have been much different. In 2020, Abdelhak's brother revealed that was still bedridden and only able to communicate by raising his eyebrows and smiling. Nearly five years after the incident, it was announced in February 2022 that Ajax will pay the Nouri family €7,850,000 in compensation for loss of labor capacities and damages. Ajax would fail to qualify for both the Champions League and Europa League group stage in the 2017–18 season, and Marcel Keizer would be sacked before the turn of the year. On 21 December 2017, it was announced that FC Utrecht manager,
Erik ten Hag Erik ten Hag ( ; born 2 February 1970) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He will become the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen on 1 July 2025. Ten Hag played as a centre-back and began his career with Ere ...
, would replace Keizer with imminent effect. Ajax would go on to finish runner-up in the
2017–18 Eredivisie The 2017–18 Eredivisie was the 62nd season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 11 August 2017 and concluded on 6 May 2018; the Europa League and relegation play-offs took place later that month. Feyenoord we ...
for the fourth consecutive year, falling four points shy of PSV for the title. The 2018–19 season saw one of Ajax's most successful campaigns of the century. After qualifying for the
2018–19 UEFA Champions League The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 27th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. For the first ti ...
off the back of their second-place finish the previous year and three rounds of qualifying against
Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian professional association football club, based in Graz, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austr ...
,
Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...
and
Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...
respectively, Ajax would compete in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2014. Ajax ended up finishing the 2018–19 group stage unbeaten, drawing both fixtures against
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
and once in Lisbon against Benfica, while winning the home leg against the Portuguese side and both fixtures against
AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...
. They finished as runner-up in the group stage and qualified for the round of 16, where they faced
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
, who had won the previous three Champions League titles, a feat achieved by Ajax in the 1970s but by no other club in the Champions League era. After losing 1–2 in the first leg, they would go on to shock Real Madrid by beating them 4–1 in the Santiago Bernabéu with an aggregate score of 5–3 in their favor. Ajax would draw Italian giants
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
in the Champions League quarter-finals. In the first leg at the Johan Cruyff Arena, Ajax held Juventus to a 1–1 draw. In Juventus's stadium, however, Ajax would once again go on the road and beat their opponent in their own stadium, this time by a score of 2–1 and an aggregate of 3–2. This meant Ajax qualified for a Champions League semi-final for the first time in over 20 years. Ajax traveled to North London to face English side
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
, in the first leg of the semi-finals. They won the match 1–0, marking their ninth consecutive away match in the competition without a loss. In between legs of the Champions League semi-finals, Ajax would beat Willem II 4–0 to claim the
2018–19 KNVB Cup The 2018–19 KNVB Cup, for sponsoring reasons officially called the TOTO KNVB Cup, was the 101st edition of the Dutch national football annual knockout tournament for the KNVB Cup. 64 teams contested, beginning on 18 August 2018 with the first of ...
, Ajax's first piece of silverware since the
2013–14 Eredivisie The 2013–14 Eredivisie was the 58th season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. It began on 2 August 2013 with the first match of the season and ended on 18 May 2014 with the returns of the finals of the European competition and rele ...
title. Three days following Ajax's KNVB Cup triumph, the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals took place in Amsterdam. The match started off well for the Dutch side, with 19 year old captain
Matthijs de Ligt Matthijs de Ligt (born 12 August 1999) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands ...
netting an early goal in the 5th minute, followed by a 35th minute
Hakim Ziyech Hakim Ziyech (; ; ; born 19 March 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), right winger or an attacking midfielder. He most recently played for Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail SC, Al-Duhail, before leavin ...
goal to double the home side's advantage and leave them leading 3–0 on aggregate. The second half of the match was a completely different story, however.
Lucas Moura Lucas Rodrigues Moura da Silva (born 13 August 1992), known as Lucas Moura (), is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger or Midfielder (association football), attacking midf ...
would go on to net a second half hat-trick for the London side, including the winner in the 6th minute of added time. The match would end 3–2, with Tottenham advancing to the final via the away goals rule with an aggregate score of 3–3. 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. The first of these two matches included a home match against manager Erik ten Hag's former Utrecht side. Ajax would go on to win the game 4–1. Immediately after the full-time whistle blew, Ajax match-goers and players alike watched PSV lose to fourth-placed AZ on the Johan Cruyff Arena big screen, thus putting PSV 3 points behind Ajax with one game remaining and 14 goals behind on goal difference. Ajax cemented their title by defeating De Graafschap, again by a score of 4–1, on the final matchday. This would mark Ajax's 34th domestic league championship, the squad number that Abdelhak Nouri had worn for the senior team to signify his desire to win Ajax's 34th title.


End of the ten Hag reign

After taking the Amsterdam club through one of the greatest runs the club has seen in recent memory, Erik ten Hag was announced as manager of Manchester United on 21 April 2022. His time in charge saw Ajax winning the 2 following Eredivisie titles in 2021 and 2022 as well as another KNVB cup in 2021. No title was given following the abrupt end to the 2019-20 season due to
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
, although Ajax were tied on points with AZ Alkmaar at the top of the table with eight matches remaining to eventually never be played. Following ten Hag to Manchester would be starlet Antony after the club received a record fee of €95 million for the 22-year-old Brazilian. The club would also see defender
Lisandro Martínez Lisandro Martínez (born 18 January 1998) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays primarily as a centre-back for club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Argentina national football team, Argentina ...
move to Manchester United for €67 million. That summer, Ajax would receive €237 million in transfer fees along with spending €115 million on incoming transfers. Both figures are club records. A few weeks after ten Hag officially left the club, Ajax appointed
Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...
boss
Alfred Schreuder Alfred Schreuder (; born 2 November 1972) is a Dutch football coach and former player who was recently the head coach of UAE Pro League club Al Nasr SC. Club career During his career, Schreuder played for RKC Waalwijk, NAC Breda, Feyenoord, Tw ...
on 12 May 2022. Schreuder was ten Hag's assistant manager at Ajax during the storied 2018-19 season. He was also an assistant to
Julian Nagelsmann Julian Nagelsmann (born 23 July 1987) is a German professional football coach who is currently the manager of the Germany national team. He has previously managed TSG Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Born in Bavaria ...
during their time at
Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...
, as well as an assistant to Ronald Koeman during his time in charge of Barcelona. Schreuder would go on to start his tenure at Ajax in historic fashion by becoming the first Ajax manager of the 21st century to start an Eredivisie campaign with five wins, a feat achieved by no manager since Morten Olsen in 1997. However, seven matches without a win resulted in the termination of Alfred Schreuder's contract. John Heitinga would finish the season as interim manager. Ajax ended the season in third place after champions Feyenoord and runners-up PSV, earning a streak of four consecutive seasons with first-place finishes and missing out on qualification for the
2023–24 UEFA Champions League The 2023–24 UEFA Champions League was the 69th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 32nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid CF ...
. Maurice Steijn, who managed Sparta Rotterdam at that time, was appointed as the manager for the 2023–24 season. Ajax and Steijn experienced the worst start of the season in the club's history. They only won two official matches, did not win eight consecutive matches and found themselves back on 17th place, a relegation spot. Director of Football Sven Mislintat and Maurice Steijn had been fired during the season.


References

{{AFC Ajax AFC Ajax Ajax AFC Articles containing video clips
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...