R.H.S.C. on Tour… AJAX vs. SC Excelsior (March 2003)
AMSTERDAMMED
by John Drake
When people talk about Amsterdam, they can conjure up many images – from canals, Tulips, Anne Frank, the Rijksmuseum, to smoky old bars, coffee shops and the “Red Lights”… maybe even Van der Valk. But when people talk about football and Amsterdam, they are usually talking about one thing – the Amsterdamsche Football Club, or AFC AJAX.
Formed as Football-Club AJAX in March 1900, by a group of friends at the Café Oost-Indie (now the huge Fame music store just off Dam Square), Ajax have gone from humble beginnings to become one of the world’s most famous and, with their distinctive white shirts with the red vertical stripe, most recognisable teams in the world. Renowned for a philosophy of flowing passes and attacking football, Ajax have fielded some of the great names in world football – Michels, Cruyff, Neeskens, Rep, Rijkaard, Van Basten, Bergkamp, Frank Stapleton… well, maybe not Stapleton, but Ajax have a pedigree for nurturing great teams packed full of talented players. However, over recent seasons, “great teams” has been something Ajax have been sadly lacking – a trend which seems to loom over their home at the Amsterdam ArenA.
At all their previous homes, Ajax have witnessed at least a modicum of success. The Wooden Stadium saw Ajax’s first “golden age”, when they won 4 consecutive league titles in the 1920’s. The Ajax Stadion (or more popularly known as De Meer – the Lake – after its location in the Watergraafsmeer district in south-eastern Amsterdam), their home for 62 years, saw the birth of the team now associated with Totaal Voetbal and the foundation of the Club’s worldwide reputation. Even their erstwhile cross-town home of Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium saw nights of European triumphs – the famous “Fog Match” in 1966, when a hitherto unknown Ajax side announced their arrival on the European Stage by thrashing Shankly’s Liverpool, was played in the Olympic. In 1996, after securing the league title in the final game at De Meer, Ajax moved to its new home in Amsterdam’s south-eastern suburbs.
Since the flit from De Meer, Ajax’s stay at the ArenA can hardly be described as trophy-laden. The Double was secured in 1998, as was the Cup the following season, but once Dane Morten Olson was forced out by player power, there followed 3 seasons bereft of trophies or success, as both Jan Wouters and Co Adriaanse were dismissed for failing to fulfil expectations. In turmoil, the Club hierarchy turned to two former players to arrest the decline. Ronald Koeman and Ruud Krol were installed in December 2001 as the new management team and, unexpectedly, secured the double that season.
Biljmermeer was a relatively ignored and deprived suburb in south-eastern Amsterdam, known for its huge concrete high-rises, petty crime and drug abuse. That tragically changed in 1992, when a cargo laden Jumbo Jet inbound for Schipol crashed into one of the tower blocks. The rebuilding from the crash started a process to regenerate the area, to improve standards for the local populace. One of the flagship projects intended for rejuvenated Biljmermeer was to be a new sports stadium for the city. During the 1980’s, Amsterdam had planned to bid to host the Olympic games, with a new, multi-use stadium as the centrepiece of any bid. Whilst the bid failed, plans for the new stadium endured, though football rather than athletics became the prominent sport it was designed for. Ajax had been looking to move away from De Meer, to maximise attendance potential at a bigger venue, and so became partners in the project. However, it wouldn’t just be a stadium solely designed for football – it would be multi-functional and be able to stage concerts, rallies, and other large-scale public events.
The Amsterdam ArenA took almost 3 years to build, at a cost of around £65 million. One Amsterdam guidebook describes it “like a mussel on a decorated socle”, but whatever the opinion on its appearance, one cannot deny that it’s a spectacular sight. A huge steel and concrete structure, ramps, walkways and stairways spill out from it on all sides. The enormous retractable glazed roof is suspended from 4 towers, and can be opened in 30 minutes. Given ongoing hooliganism in Dutch football, there is even a bullet-proof tunnel linking the away fans section of the ArenA to their own separate train halt on the neighbouring railway track. The lower levels of the ArenA house a 2-storey car park, while a dual carriageway even runs underneath the whole stadium. Inside the ArenA, there are no internal supports and the 52,000 seats are split into 2-tiers, so wherever you sit there is an unrestricted view. Like many grounds in the Netherlands, the stands are separated from the pitch by a deep, dry moat running around it.
Just to the west of the ArenA is the heart of the Ajax system, De Toekomst. Although the first team train on pitches beside the ArenA, De Toekomst (or ‘The Future’) is the base for Ajax’s famous football academy, various youth teams, and the reserves. There are 7 pitches, a gymnasium, physiotherapy clinic, changing rooms, and even a competition pitch with its own 1,300 capacity stand where the reserves regularly play.
The ArenA has been joined on the site by other projects, as the City encouraged businesses to move to Biljmermeer with offers of cheaper-than-average rents. Now high-rise offices are sprouting throughout the district. Around the ArenA itself, there is an entertainment and shopping complex built around a pedestrianised zone called ArenA Boulevard, with a cinema, cafés and restaurants, and the Heineken Music Hall. One bar on the Boulevard, “Soccer World”, is even owned by former Ajacied, the De Boer twins, Frank Rijkaard and Danny Blind. On match-days, the Boulevard is teaming with supporters and so numerous souvenir vans, burger stalls, and beer kiosks pitch up to cater for them – even the ‘F-Side’ have their own merchandise van.
You would think that the move to a modern stadium, with new facilities and great views, everyone at Ajax would be enjoying their time at the ArenA; however, the move to the ArenA has not been a universally popular one, and many Ajax supporters are not entirely happy with their new home. Blue-collar De Meer’s gritty atmosphere has not been replicated within the concrete and glass opulence of the ArenA, with many claiming it is too sterile, too sanitised. Some feared it was just another instance of Ajax, like so many clubs in this day and age, moving away from its roots as merely a football club and trying to become an enterprise, more akin to a brand. This was compounded when Ajax floated on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. Part of the problem with the atmosphere some have put down to the spectators who now go to the ArenA. In the flash new surroundings of the ArenA, Ajax, like major football clubs around Europe, are now fashionable. At De Meer, there was a real sense of community, a sense that everyone was there to support the team; at the ArenA, many in the stands go there to be entertained, or just to be seen. There are ‘Sky Boxes’, various executive lounges, corporate seating, and restaurants, filled with local businessmen, local celebrities, or guests of Ajax’s numerous sponsors. There is even a ‘Royal Box’, which although rarely used by the Dutch Royal Family (the ArenA was opened by Queen Beatrix in 1996), is sometimes utilised by municipal authorities to entertain visiting dignitaries. Although the ArenA may not be as claustrophobic as De Meer, some supporters are convinced that the atmosphere is sometimes lacking because many in the crowd never went to De Meer and do not know how to generate a footballing atmosphere.
The most famous public criticism of the ArenA has been regarding the condition of the pitch. The construction of the ArenA means that a lack of air circulation at pitch level can lead the pitch to deteriorate rapidly. This happened so frequently, that Ajax had to relay the pitch 30 times in 7 years. Fans once became so frustrated with this situation that they infamously loosed a couple of cows onto the pitch, hoping that some on-the-spot manure might help the condition of the turf!
Our match tickets were for VAK (or Section) -424, in the heavens of the ArenA’s top tier, just above the ‘F-Side’. During the 1970’s, as hooliganism became rife in football, the Dutch ‘Sides’ began to emerge. The Ajax ‘Side’ were named after their section of the terraces back at De Meer, and have since become one of the dominant sections of the Ajax support. The ‘F-Side’ gained a less than favourable reputation for their habit of fighting running battles with opposition ‘Sides’, particularly those from Feyenoord, or the Police. Though they have now largely drifted away from the hooliganism, they remain a colourful and vocal presence, waving their flags and banners, and chanting with gusto. They have also covered the hoardings in front of their section with graffiti, including 3 giant caricatures of Cruyff, Van Basten and Rijkaard, in a nod to the old graffiti and slogans you used to see at De Meer. To get to VAK-424, you have to go through automated turnstiles (the barcode on your ticket is scanned – no ticket stubs here), then over various concrete walkways and up several steep stairwells, before finally reaching the upper tier. The view was fantastic, but as we had been warned the atmosphere was lacking. The ArenA was not a sell-out, but, with an official attendance given of around 47,000, it wasn’t half-empty either. There were a few groups attempting to generate some atmosphere – towards the rear of the stand, behind us, a large group stood, singing, and pounding their fists off the hoardings. What atmosphere there was came from the ‘F-Side’, all standing in unison below, and from VAK-410, a rippling sea of Ajax home shirts and red and white banners, on the opposite side of the stadium.
Many of those in VAK-424 hardly seemed to notice there was a game going on. The group to my left seemed far more interested in the packed lunch they had brought along with them, while the couple in front seemed desperate to get every cents worth out of their ArenA cards, too-ing and fro-ing from the refreshment kiosks every few minutes. Inside the ArenA there are various snack and beer kiosks, but don’t expect to be able to buy anything with Euros at them. No money is accepted within the stadium, and so if you want to buy anything then you need to exchange your Euros for an ArenA Card – a chip card (similar to a phone card) that you can use to buy beer (low-alcohol unfortunately) or refreshments. The official line is that the ArenA Cards are meant to speed things, to save people fiddling around for change, but it just feels like a hassle and just a new way that clubs will use to try to glean more money from supporters. I expect at a bigger game the atmosphere within the ArenA is significantly better, but ‘cauldron-like’ it was not. In many ways one got a sense of the frustration some of the older Ajax supporters have with their new home.
Ajax ’s supporters on the day were SC Excelsior, the smallest of the 3 professional football clubs in Rotterdam. Although formed in July 1902, Excelsior have always lived in the shadows of its more illustrious neighbours – Sparta Rotterdam and Feyenoord – and, as yet, have failed to win a single trophy. A few brief campaigns in the Eredivisie aside, Excelsior have spent much of its existence in the First Division, struggling to gain promotion and to hang on to its small fan-base. As crowds fell to barely 1,000 during the mid-1990’s, and Excelsior’s very existence was called into question, in stepped an unlikely saviour. In 1994, Feyenoord ‘adopted’ (i.e. bought) Excelsior as its ‘satellite club’, injected fresh money, new players (most of whom were Feyenoord reserves), and rebuilt its ground. Despite any potential conflicts of interest with their benefactors, Excelsior achieved promotion to the Eredivisie in May 2002 – and at the expense of the relegated and ailing Sparta, an almost perfect way to celebrate the Club’s centenary. Going into this game, Excelsior lay third bottom of the table, and had recently been knocked out of the Cup by Utrecht. The away section in the Arena, hemmed in behind bullet-proof screens and draped netting, holds about 2,500, but barely 100 Excelsior fans had made the trip. Though few in number, they had come armed with an array of flags, the most striking being a huge banner, laid over most of the empty seats, bearing the club crest and legend, ‘SPORTCLUB EXCELSIOR’. Being from Rotterdam, and the association with Feyenoord, cut Excelsior no slack with the home fans – a few Ajax fans behind me were yelling,” KAKKERLAKKEN, KAKKERLAKKEN!!!!” as Excelsior won an early corner; ‘Kakkerlak’ means ‘cockroach’ in Dutch, and is a less than polite nickname bestowed upon Rotterdammers. So now you know what to shout at a Feyenoord casual…
The game itself fell in the middle of a run of games that could have decided Ajax’s season – Ajax faced Valencia, Excelsior, AS Roma, and P$V Eindhoven, all in less than 12 days. With such a busy and daunting schedule in mind, Koeman rested several key players, and fielded a relatively young side. On paper, it looked a relatively easy game for Ajax, but, being Hearts fans, we knew only too well that it was not always the case, and were proved right in under 4 minutes, when the Ajax defence was caught napping and Excelsior scored their first goal in Amsterdam for nearly 20 years – to the delight of the small band of Excelsior fans and the chagrin of the home support. Ajax could ill afford to drop points in the title race, but they still gave Excelsior opportunities to extend their shock lead. Ajax did draw level after 25 minutes, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic powered into the box from the right wing and drove low into the bottom corner. To the relief of the home support, Koeman made changes at half-time, but, even the replacement of the hapless Bergdølmo with the normally assured Chivu, did not have an immediate impact. Although creating few – if any – clear-cut chances, Ajax were now the dominant side and Excelsior forays into the Ajax half dried up. It took until 9 minutes from full-time for Ajax to claim the winner, just as it seemed that Excelsior might escape with an unlikely point. Again receiving the ball on the right, Zlatan shrugged off a couple of challenges and, from just inside the penalty area, blootered the ball into the net.
Coming away from the game, some fans mooted that the game had been Ajax’s worst performance of the season. Interviewed after the game, Koeman declared that he was very “unhappy with the performance” and had “expected more” from his players. Like us, he agreed that Ajax had won because of their “quality up front”. He might have sometimes looked lazy and disinterested, but Zlatan had shown that he could be a real match winner. Excelsior coach Adrie Kostar mused that, “if ever there was a time to beat Ajax, then it was today…” Perhaps, but it was not the performance that mattered here, it was the result – the 3 points maintained the lead over 3 rd-placed Feyenoord, and kept leaders P$V in sight. The primary concern for the Ajax support was that the players were better focussed and motivated for the forthcoming Champions League game in Rome the following Wednesday – just a draw would be enough to ensure progress into the Quarter-Finals.
And that would certainly give the Ajacied something to sing about in the ArenA.
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