Red & White Amsterdam

Club history

Named after a Greek hero, raised in Amsterdam, famous all over the world. A short story of the Godenzonen — the Sons of the Gods.

  1. 1900
    Ajax is founded on 18 March in Café Oost-Indië, Amsterdam, by Floris Stempel, Carel Reeser and Han Dade.
  2. 1911
    Promotion to the top division — and the birth of the iconic white shirt with a broad red stripe.
  3. 1918
    First Dutch national championship, under English coach Jack Reynolds.
  4. 1934
    Stadion De Meer opens and becomes the club's home for more than sixty years.
  5. 1965
    Rinus Michels takes charge. With a young Johan Cruyff he builds the style the world will call Total Football.
  6. 1971–73
    Three European Cups in a row, plus the Intercontinental Cup in 1972. Ajax is the best team on the planet.
  7. 1987
    With Cruyff now as coach, Ajax wins the Cup Winners' Cup — Marco van Basten scores the winner in the final.
  8. 1992
    UEFA Cup triumph under Louis van Gaal, completing the set of all three major European trophies.
  9. 1995
    A team built on the academy beats AC Milan in Vienna to win the Champions League — unbeaten in both the league and Europe that season. Patrick Kluivert, 18, scores the winner. The Intercontinental Cup follows.
  10. 1996
    The move to the new Amsterdam ArenA — renamed the Johan Cruijff ArenA in 2018.
  11. 2019
    A thrilling young side knocks out Real Madrid and Juventus and reaches the Champions League semi-final.
Did you know?

The name

Ajax is named after Ajax the Great, a hero of the Trojan War in Greek mythology — which is why fans call the players Godenzonen.

De Toekomst

“The Future” — the training complex that has been home to the academy since 1996. The Ajax youth system is one of the most famous in the world, producing stars from Cruyff and Bergkamp to De Ligt and De Jong.

Colours

White and red. The broad red stripe down the middle is one of the most recognisable shirts in football.

Legends

A few of the players who made the red stripe famous.

Forward

Johan Cruyff

The face of Total Football, three-time Ballon d'Or winner and later the coach who shaped the club's philosophy.

Forward

Marco van Basten

Academy graduate and one of the purest strikers ever; scored the winner in the 1987 Cup Winners' Cup final.

Forward

Dennis Bergkamp

The “Non-Flying Dutchman” — elegance and impossible first touches, a product of the Ajax academy.

Midfielder

Johan Neeskens

The engine of the early-70s team that won three European Cups in a row.

Defender / Midfielder

Frank Rijkaard

Started and finished his playing career at Ajax — and lifted the Champions League with the club in 1995.

Goalkeeper

Edwin van der Sar

Kept goal in the 1995 Champions League final; later returned to the club as an executive.