Ajaxtalk

Kowalczyk schreef:The best we can still make out of this season: finish second and win the cup.

For that reason I feel that the upcoming week is crucial: Den Haag for the cup and AZ at home for the league. If we win twice in the next seven days, things will look reasonably good given the circumstances.

This is a very important week.

K.

Kowalczyk schreef:It'll be hilarious, I'm sure. They really seem to think they're dealing with kids here...

K.

Stress reminiscent of 1987
ADO - Ajax: a cosy night out

by Sjoerd Mossou

Free coffee, a duo of comedians and a mountain of rattles, to be distributed to the fans, will turn Zuiderpark Stadium into a cosy living room tonight. That's the plan, anyway. ADO Den Haag - Ajax is, once again, a football fixture under high stress.

Ajax chairman John Jaakke proudly wore his red club tie that morning, the embroidered number 1 on his chest. He was the only Ajax official to make the trip to Zuiderpark on 12 September of last year, for the Eredivisie confrontation with ADO Den Haag. Around noon he was directed to his parking space through a steel tunnel of containers and riot police vans, escorted by squadrons of riot police.

One hour later the dirty chants rolled from the stands. The Ajax chairman - a relative newcomer to the world of football - sighed and asked himself the question: "Is this really what we all want?"

Wim Deetman, mayor of The Hague, asked himself the same question in recent weeks. Much to his dismay he saw the names of ADO Den Haag and Ajax come out of the bowl, last month on SBS 6. Scheduled on a weeknight, to make things even worse. Deetman threatened to forbid the cup tie, had many meetings with the police and the ADO board. He ended up granting his permission after all, much to the relief of the home side, who would have suffered an administrative defeat if Deetman had stood firm. However, ADO was ordered to submit a package of security measures to the local authorities. A delicate combination of police force and entertainment would have to keep things peaceful this time.

The situation brings back memories of 18 years ago, although things got considerably nastier than the odd disgusting chant at the the time. On March 1st 1987 Zuiderpark Stadium was the battleground of one of the largest riots in the history of football. During the league fixture between FC Den Haag and Ajax things got so much out of hand that referee Henk van Ettekoven had to call the game off at half time.

Police intervened mercilessly and cleared the Midden-Noord ('Mid-North') section. In the Ajax end things were escalating at least as badly. Dozens of wounded were lying on the ramshackle stands, amidst iron bars and broken bottles.

The dreadful mess had a major impact on the season's KNVB Cup competition. FC Den Haag and Ajax made it to the final on JUne 5th, but no-one knew where the final should be played. "Not a single town wanted to host it," remembers Alfons Groenendijk, a Den Haag player at the time.

An 'emergency venue' was found days before the game: Zuiderpark Stadium. The police decided that only 8,000 spectactors could attend. "A very desolate atmosphere for a cup final," says Groenendijk. "The ground was a bastion. A lot of police, very little spectators. There used to be 20,000 people for big games. Now it was less than 50% of that."

Singer Peter Koelewijn sang a couple of tunes on the pitch in order to keep things peaceful. There was no major trouble. The atmosphere, however, was a disgrace to the cup final.

"It was a very good game, in retrospective," says Groenendijk. "Very exciting, with a hatful of goals and good football. Cor Lems had the chance to score the decisive 3-1 in the dying minutes, but Stanley Menzo saved and John Bosman equalized in counter-attack. Ajax won it, eventually. 4-2 in extra time." Thanks to striker Marco van Basten, who scored twice and clinched a piece of silverware for Johan Cruyff's that did not seem to shine.

The outrageous rivalry remained. Last month ADO fans were not welcome at the ArenA, but at night the Ajax Supporters Home burned down. Arson, the police confirmed, although they swore that there are no signs that the arsonists came from The Hague.

The hatred is deeply rooted, especially in the Residence, where Amsterdammers are traditionally seen as - quite simply - arrogant, mouthy windbags. The distance between The Hague's attitude and Rotterdam's unremitting work-ethic of Rotterdam is not nearly as big.

"I think it's something between the major cities," says Groenendijk, who also played for Ajax later in his career. "There's a very similar thing between Utrecht and Amsterdam, for example. Rivalry is okay, as long as it doesn't get nasty. Fortunately it's way better today than it was in the eighties and nineties. I mean: a nasty chant is something completely different than a major fight on the stands or in a meadow. If tonight's playful measures prove succesful, we're hopefully moving into the right direction."

666 schreef:both goals online at www.ajaxfans.de for those who manage to navigate the german registration form

Mauro Rosales, who tapped home from close range in what was the second 'snot match' in his life