User:Mrzl84/sandbox/De Klassieker

De Klassieker (English: "The Classic") is the national football derby of the Netherlands between Holland's most renowned and by far most popular football clubs Ajax of Amsterdam and Feyenoord of Rotterdam.

Despite PSV dominating domestically in recent times it is de Klassieker which remains the most important match on the Dutch footballing calendar.

Culture and attitude
De Klassieker is an example of a match which transcends the definition of ordinary footballing rivalries. De Klassieker is not just a match between Ajax and Feyenoord, but most of all a clash between two cities with extreme differences in culture and attitude. Amsterdam and Rotterdam have only few things in common. They are the two biggest cities of the Netherlands, both part of the Randstad, one of the largest conurbations in Europe.

Wim Jansen (1980)
Jansen signed for the American side Washington Diplomats in 1980, but after playing 27 games for them, he returned to the Netherlands to sign for Ajax, on the advice of Johan Cruijff, who played together with Jansen at the Washington Diplomats. Jansen would play as libero and fill a gap in the Ajax defence after the departure of Krol in the summer of 1980. By November 1980, after 13 rounds of the Eredivise Ajax were 8th, by the end of the season they had picked up form and finished as runners-up behind AZ and in front of FC Utrecht. The next season Ajax went on to win the Eredivise with Jansen in the team. Feyenoord fans didn't like former player Jansen playing for their main rivals Ajax. On his Ajax debut (which, incidentally, was away to Feyenoord. Ajax lost 4-2) a snowball was thrown at his eye and Jansen had to leave the field for treatment. Jansen stayed at Ajax until summer 1982, after which he returned to the Washington Diplomats for one more season, before retiring from playing in summer 1983.

Johan Cruijff (1983)
A historic disaster. That's the only way to describe the board's decison to let Cruyff go after the 1982-1983 season. 'J.C. Superstar' was too expensive and too frequently injured. The crowd reacted furiously. Riot police had to set chairman Ton Harmsen free from outraged F-Siders during the turbulent last home game of the season. Cruyff took his revenge in a way only he could think of. To the dismay of his home town, he did what nobody had expected: he signed a contract with Feyenoord. With Cruyff wearing the Feyenoord shirt in 1983-1984, the Rotterdammers won their first national title since 1974, and their last one until 1991. 18 September, 1983, was a day of mixed emotions, as Ajax crushed Feyenoord and their beloved 'Jopie', 8-2.

Driven by anger, Johan Cruijff did the unthinkable in 1983. He moved form Ajax to rivals Feyenoord. Supporters in Rotterdam were not too keen on Cruijff defending their colours, but their scepticism soon vanished. Notwithstanding a 8-2 defeat in Amsterdam against Ajax, Feyenoord took the national title and the KNVB Cup. Thanks to an impressive Peter Houtman, a dynamic Ruud Gullit but above all an inspired Johan Cruijff.

Daan Rienstra (2009)
On May 28, 2009, player agent Sonny Silooy officially announced the transfer of the only 16 year old Daan Rienstra from Ajax to Feyenoord. Despite being just a youth player, the transfer stirred up the rivalry once again. Ajax declared the club had an evaluation talk with the youngster, in which they told Rienstra the club didn't want to continue with the player. Rienstra, who went through the Ajax youth academy for seven consecutive seasons, left the conversation angrily, which made Ajax decide to dismiss the player immediately.

However, a few weeks before the announcement, on May 10, 2009, the regional television network RTV N-H aired an interview featuring Rienstra. In the interview, the Ajax youth player surprisingly stated to be a Feyenoord supporter: "I'm a Feyenoord fan. Before I joined Ajax I was a fan of Feyenoord already. And well, that feeling isn't really gone yet." Quickly, rumors were spread the reason for Rienstra's dismissal was his revelation to be a Feyenoord fan. However, Ajax claimed Rienstra's dismissal had nothing to do with his Feyenoord revelation, as the club only had football related reasons for his removal. Rienstra was free to join another club, which unsurprisingly became Feyenoord.

Direct transfers
Relatively few players have made the direct move between the two clubs since 1921. In total 13 players were involved in 15 transfers, including three youth players and Henk Timmer's consecutive loan deals to Feyenoord and Ajax from AZ.


 * Y Youth transfers

Played for both in de Klassieker

 * Statistics accurate as of last match played on August 21, 1994.

Henk Groot, Ruud Geels, Johan Cruijff, Keje Molenaar, Ronald Koeman and Angelos Charisteas are the only players who scored for both teams in de Klassieker.

Game by game
Since 1921, Ajax and Feyenoord have played over 150 matches against each other in various leagues, cups and friendly games. Until 1954, the top of the Dutch football league system was called the Eerste Klasse (English: "First Class"). The Eerste Klasse consisted out of six divisions in which the teams were divided regionally. The national champion was determined by a championship competition between the champions of the six divisions. Feyenoord and Ajax are both located in the western part of the Netherlands, which made it possible for both clubs to be placed together in one of the two western divisions (West or West II). The Eredivisie was introduced in the season 1956-57. Since, the winner of the Eredivisie is the national champion.

The following table shows an overview of all the official and unofficial matches played between Ajax and Feyenoord. Unofficial matches are unnumbered.

Hooliganism
They say opposites attract. Holland’s most successful clubs certainly don’t think so. On one side, the cultural, historical and liberal socialist capital of Amsterdam with a club famed for championing 'the beautiful game’. On the other is Rotterdam, a rugged, industrial city, which was the birthplace of Pim Fortuyn’s anti-immigration party, and home to Feyenoord. As a result violent fan clashes have long marred occasions when the two sides meet.

There have been many clashes between the supporters of both clubs, of which Beverwijk in 1997 was infamous. One Ajax fan, Carlo Picornie, was beaten to death by rival supporters, triggering more strict policies from the Dutch football association KNVB to tackle hooliganism. As a result of the incident, the two Klassiekers in 1997/98 were played without away fans. Nevertheless, in April 2005, riots took place around Feyenoord's ground involving hooligans from both sides and the riot police. Travelling Ajax fans had demolished the train transporting them to Rotterdam, and were forced to wait outside the stadium until the match was over. Meanwhile, Feyenoord supporters who had just seen their team lose, were determined to clash with rivals from Amsterdam, who had not seen the match. Hooligans filmed by police were shown on national TV. Virtually every hooligan on TV handed himself in.

In February 2009, the mayors of Amsterdam and Rotterdam made an agreement with the KNVB to ban visiting fans from the away games in an effort to curb the violence.