Editing AFC Ajax (section)

==Rivalries==
''As one of the traditional [[Big Three (Netherlands)|big three clubs]] in the Netherlands, Ajax have amassed a number of intense rivalries over the years. Listed below are the most significant of the rivalries involving Ajax.''

===Rivalry with Feyenoord===
{{Main|De Klassieker}}
[[Feyenoord]] from [[Rotterdam]] is Ajax's archrival. Every year both clubs play the ''[[De Klassieker]]'' ("The Classic"), a match between the teams from the two largest cities of the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vi.nl/dossier/alles-over-de-klassieker-ajax-dompelt-feyenoord-in-rouw.htm |title=Alles over De Klassieker: Ajax dompelt Feyenoord in rouw |publisher=Voetbal International |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=16 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916154013/http://www.vi.nl/dossier/alles-over-de-klassieker-ajax-dompelt-feyenoord-in-rouw.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Till the 1973/74-season, Ajax and Feyenoord were the only two clubs in the Netherlands who were able to clinch national titles, as well as achieve continental and even global success. From the 1974/75-season on, PSV (Eindhoven) and AZ (Alkmaar) too, competed with Ajax and Feyenoord.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.elenganche.es/2013/08/de-klassieker-ajax-feyenoord-y-el-orgullo-%E2%80%98oranje%E2%80%99.html |title=De Klassieker: Ajax-Feyenoord y el orgullo 'oranje' |publisher=El Enganche |access-date=2 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130902173311/http://www.elenganche.es/2013/08/de-klassieker-ajax-feyenoord-y-el-orgullo-%E2%80%98oranje%E2%80%99.html |archive-date=2 September 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> A meeting between the two clubs became the measure for who was truly the best club in the Netherlands. The ''Klassieker'' is the most famous of all the rivalries in the Netherlands and the matches are always sold out.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hpdetijd.nl/2013-08-19/ajax-feyenoord-klassiekste-niet-klassieker-in-lange-reeks-klassiekers/ |title=Ajax – Feyenoord 'klassiekste niet-Klassieker in lange reeks Klassiekers' |date=19 August 2013 |publisher=HP.nl |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=22 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822130351/http://www.hpdetijd.nl/2013-08-19/ajax-feyenoord-klassiekste-niet-klassieker-in-lange-reeks-klassiekers/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The fixture is seen in the public eye as "the graceful and elegant football of Ajax, against the indomitable fighting spirit of Feyenoord"; the confidence of the capital city versus the blue collar mentality of Rotterdam.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/sport/772781-1308/feyenoord-en-ajax-is-haat |title=Feyenoord en Ajax is haat |publisher=BNR.nl |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=18 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818024459/http://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/sport/772781-1308/feyenoord-en-ajax-is-haat |url-status=live }}</ref> Matches are known for their tension and violence, both on and off the pitch. Over the years, several violent incidents have taken place involving rival supporters, leading to the current prohibition of away supporters in both stadiums.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/european/7135955/Feyenoords-latest-clash-with-Ajax-peaceful-thanks-to-absent-friends.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/european/7135955/Feyenoords-latest-clash-with-Ajax-peaceful-thanks-to-absent-friends.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Feyenoord's latest clash with Ajax peaceful thanks to absent 'friends' |newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=2 September 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The lowest point was reached on 23 March 1997, when supporters of both clubs met on a field near [[Beverwijk]], where Ajax-supporter Carlo Picornie was fatally injured, the incident is commonly referred to as the "[[Battle of Beverwijk]]".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/5619/Feyenoord/article/detail/2118764/2008/03/20/Stervend-in-de-modder.dhtml |title=Stervend in de modder |publisher=AD.nl |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=28 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128050713/http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/5619/Feyenoord/article/detail/2118764/2008/03/20/Stervend-in-de-modder.dhtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Rivalry with PSV===
{{Main|AFC Ajax–PSV Eindhoven rivalry}}
[[PSV Eindhoven|PSV]] is also a rival of Ajax, but in terms of tension and rivalry, these matches are not as loaded as the duels with Feyenoord. The rivalry has existed for some time with PSV and stems from various causes, such as the different interpretations of whether current national and international successes of both clubs correlates and the supposed opposition between the [[Randstad]] and the province. The matches between these two teams is commonly referred to as "De Topper" ("The Topper"), and involves the two most trophy-laden sides in Dutch football and is essentially a clash of two competing schools of thought in Dutch football. Historically, PSV compete with a workmanlike ethic, preferring a more robust 4–3–1–2 or 4–2–3–1, typically shunning the frivolous 4–3–3 approach favoured in Amsterdam. While [[Rinus Michels]] and [[Johan Cruyff]] helped to innovate [[Total Football]] in the sixties and seventies, a different philosophy was honed in [[Eindhoven]] by [[Kees Rijvers]] and [[Guus Hiddink]] in the late 1970s and '80s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/ajax-psv-philosophical-rivalry-dominates-dutch-mindset#2rZB5iOBKmfBu5ym.99 |title=Ajax-PSV: a philosophical rivalry that dominates the Dutch mindset |date=30 November 2012 |publisher=Fourfourtwo.com |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714125029/http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/ajax-psv-philosophical-rivalry-dominates-dutch-mindset#2rZB5iOBKmfBu5ym.99 |url-status=live }}</ref> This in turn has created one of the more philosophical rivalries in football, an ideological battleground, which is gradually becoming as heated and intense as the matches Ajax and Feyenoord partake in.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vi.nl/nieuws/alles-over-de-topper-in-de-eredivisie-tussen-ajax-en-psv.htm |title=Alles over de topper in de Eredivisie tussen Ajax en PSV |date=25 March 2012 |publisher=Voetbal International |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714195317/http://www.vi.nl/nieuws/alles-over-de-topper-in-de-eredivisie-tussen-ajax-en-psv.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Rivalries with other clubs===
{{main|Amsterdam derby}}
Aside from Feyenoord and PSV, Ajax have several other rivalries, although in most cases the sentiment is mostly felt by the opposition and is more directed towards Ajax, with one of them being [[FC Utrecht|Utrecht]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.voetbalcentraal.nl/nieuws/56261/rivaliteit-tussen-fans-ajax-en-fc-utrecht-opvallend |title=Rivaliteit tussen fans Ajax en FC Utrecht opvallend |publisher=Voetbalzone.nl |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714224542/http://www.voetbalcentraal.nl/nieuws/56261/rivaliteit-tussen-fans-ajax-en-fc-utrecht-opvallend |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the rivalry is more felt on the Utrecht side then with Ajax, matchups between the two sides are often quite intense.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/sport/988786-1209/zo-n-rivaliteit-moeilijk-te-begrijpen |title=Zulke rivaliteit moeilijk te begrijpen |publisher=BNR.nl |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=18 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718103425/http://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/sport/988786-1209/zo-n-rivaliteit-moeilijk-te-begrijpen |url-status=live }}</ref> Both teams have fanatic supporters, and clashes off the pitch are more often the rule than the exception. The same goes for [[ADO Den Haag]], with both supporter groups often getting in conflicts, when ADO-Hooligans set fire to the supporters home of Ajax, and Ajax hooligans subsequently broke into the Supporters home of ADO tensions between the two clubs rose. In 2006, supporters from both clubs were banned from attending away matches for five years due to frequent violent outbreaks and clashes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/820449/2006/04/25/Poging-brandstichting-supportershome-Ajax.dhtml |title=Poging brandstichting supportershome Ajax |publisher=Volkskrant |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714135404/http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/820449/2006/04/25/Poging-brandstichting-supportershome-Ajax.dhtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

Further teams who share a rivalry with Ajax include [[FC Twente|Twente]], [[Vitesse Arnhem]], [[FC Groningen|Groningen]] and AZ, although the latter is often regarded by Ajax supporters as the club's "little brother".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.voetbalzone.nl/doc.asp?uid=193936 |title=Ajax is de buurman, rivaliteit is groot, het betekent iets voor de mensen |date=10 August 2013 |publisher=Voetbalzone.nl |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=13 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813011425/http://www.voetbalzone.nl/doc.asp?uid=193936 |url-status=live }}</ref> With AZ being from nearby [[Alkmaar]] and therefore situated in the same province as Ajax, match-ups between the two sides are commonly known as the "De Noord-Hollandse Derby" ("[[North Holland]] Derby") and are often very competitive, intense and loaded fixtures.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.goal.com/nl/match/46410/afc-ajax-vs-az/report |title=Noord-Hollandse derby makkelijke prooi Ajax |publisher=Goal.com |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701084715/http://www.goal.com/nl/match/46410/afc-ajax-vs-az/report |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Past rivalries include local [[Amsterdam derby|Amsterdam derbies]] between Ajax and clubs such as [[Blauw-Wit Amsterdam|Blauw-Wit]], [[AFC DWS|DWS]] and [[De Volewijckers]] (which later merged to become [[FC Amsterdam]] in 1972).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/424276/1996/03/30/Blauw-Wit-de-club-van-het-Stadion-kwam-zag-en-verdween.dhtml |title=Blauw Wit, de club van het Stadion, kwam, zag en verdween |publisher=Volkskrant |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185903/http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/424276/1996/03/30/Blauw-Wit-de-club-van-het-Stadion-kwam-zag-en-verdween.dhtml |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the tension between the local sides lessened as the division of the clubs through playing in different leagues over time became greater. Years of not competing in the same league resulted in less frequent match-ups, until tensions finally settled between the Amsterdam clubs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vi.nl/webshop/product/sporen-van-ajax.htm |title=Sporen van Ajax |publisher=Voetbal International |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193752/http://www.vi.nl/webshop/product/sporen-van-ajax.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The last Amsterdam derby to take place in an official league match was when Ajax defeated FC Amsterdam 5–1 on 19 March 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wsc.co.uk/the-archive/923-Europe/6986-dutch-derby-days |title=Dutch derby days |publisher=When Saturday Comes |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185215/http://www.wsc.co.uk/the-archive/923-Europe/6986-dutch-derby-days |url-status=live }}</ref>