Masters of total football

uefa.com looks back at the illustrious achievements of AFC Ajax as part of our series of histories of the 18 clubs directly involved in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.
 
'Total football'
Few sides can match the achievements of AFC Ajax. Winners of 28 Dutch titles, four European Champion Clubs' Cup, two other major European trophies and a pair of European/South American Cups, Ajax pioneered 'total football'. Their youth system has produced many of the game's greatest names, including Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten and Patrick Kluivert.

Early days
Founded on 18 March 1900 by a group of Amsterdam businessmen who met regularly on a Sunday and decided to form a football team, Amsterdamse Football Club Ajax who won their first competitive game that September, beating DOSB in the Amsterdamse Voetbal Bond. By 1910 Ajax were playing at national level, and although they were relegated from the top flight in 1914, they returned in 1917, and have remained ever since.

First title
Indeed, just a year later Ajax were Dutch champions for the first time - without losing a game - and successfully defended their title the next season. The next decade saw a period of consolidation, but the 1930s proved fruitful, as five championships were secured and in 1934 Ajax moved to the De Meer stadium, their home for the next 62 years.

Michels takes charge
Although champions again in 1946/47, the delayed introduction of professionalism in Dutch football saw Ajax stall for a decade. But by 1956/57 they had won the first professional Dutch league, and after some up and down years the key moment in their history occurred when Rinus Michels became coach in November 1964. His 'total football' immediately produced a hat-trick of titles; a side - soon to become the backbone of a brilliant Netherlands team - inspired by Cryuff.

Glory days
In 1970/71, Ajax overcame Panathinaikos FC to win their first European Cup, and went on to secure a hat-trick of victories in the competition with further final wins against Internazionale FC and Juventus FC, not to mention their first European/South American Cup in 1971/72. Domestic rivals PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord prevented a domestic Ajax monopoly, as Cruyff and his fellow stars moved abroad, but as the likes of Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard emerged, a new era of success dawned.

Return to the heights
Along with four titles in the 1980s, Ajax won the 1986/87 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final against Lokomotiv Leipzig, and five seasons later joined the select band of clubs to win all three major European trophies as they beat Torino Calcio to take the UEFA Cup. However, only in the mid-1990s did Ajax fully recapture former heights as a homegrown side coached by Louis van Gaal claimed the Dutch title in 1993/94 and retained it the next season without losing a game, capping off that season by returning to the European summit by beating favourites AC Milan to win the UEFA Champions League, Kluivert scoring the only goal.

Champions League run
Following a 1995/96 final defeat by Juventus FC, and a move to the futuristic Amsterdam ArenA, Ajax's best players again sought glory abroad, and only two titles have followed since, in 1997/98 and 2001/02, a domestic double. Ronald Koeman then led the team to the 2002/03 Champions League quarter-finals, confirming that Ajax once again were a European force to be reckoned with, even though PSV Eindhoven pipped them to the Eredivisie crown.