December 1988
Ajax... Fifteen Years Ago
The man with the white beard and red mitre, kindly waving to
the spectators from the pitch of Haarlem Stadium, is known as
Sinterklaas. He's a colleague of Santa Claus, living
in Spain and visiting The Netherlands every year in early
December. Christmas is celebrated in The Netherlands also, but
Santa Claus usually keeps a fairly low profile. He gives no
presents to most of the Dutch children, knowing that his
colleague, Sinterklaas, takes care of that on what is the most
exciting night of the year for Dutch children: 05
December, also known as 'Gift Night' or 'Sinterklaas Eve'.
But that's tomorrow. Today, on Sunday 04 December,
Sinterklaas is a special guest prior to the Eredivisie fixture
between FC Haarlem and Ajax. A train ride of only 15 minutes
for Amsterdammers, so that the home crowd is outnumbered by the
travelling Ajax supporters. Arnold Mühren is missing due
to an injury. Ajax is the better team, but Haarlem proves a
tough opponent and has its chances. The half-time score is 0-0,
but Ajax ends up claiming both points in the 65th minute, as
Dennis Bergkamp gets a free passage to goalkeeper Edward Metgod
and finishes in style: 0-1. A deserved win, albeit not an
easy one. The only setback is the injury of Peter
Larsson, who limps off the pitch in the 83rd minute, so that
Ajax has to finish the game with ten men. Seems like the winter
break has begun for him.
The next Sunday, BVV Den Bosch visits De Meer. That's right:
BVV Den Bosch. The former FC Den Bosch merged with local
amateur side BVV and slightly changed its name during the
summer. Nonchalant defending allows striker Jack de Gier to
wipe out Stefan Pettersson's early opening goal, but it takes
more than an accidental equalizer to worry Ajax these days.
Danny Blind (good for him, he doesn't score too frequently)
puts Ajax back in the lead in the 26th minute. After the break
Robbie Witschge, Dennis Bergkamp and - once again - Robbie
Witschge lift the score to 5-1. An excellent win.
In the middle of this pretty impressive string of
Eredivisie wins you'd almost forget that the club's future is
still in serious peril: the Dutch Fiscal Investigation Service
(FIOD) is still investigating alleged tax fraud by Ajax. Since
the first raid at De Meer in early October, it has become clear
what exactly Ajax is suspected of: fiscal irregularities in the
completion of no less than nine player transfers between 1979
and 1983, namely the transfers of Simon Tahamata, Piet Hamberg,
Tscheu La Ling, Wim Kieft, Jesper Olsen, Søren Lerby,
Felix Gasselich, Frank Arnesen and Henning Jensen. Ajax is
painfully reminded of the case on Wednesday 14 December, as
FIOD inspectors arrest three former members of the Ajax family:
former treasurers Lou Bartels and Ton Brandsteder, as well as
Søren Lerby, apparently the only player with direct
personal involvement.
Ajax's vice-chairman Arie van
Eijden was arrested for interrogation
in December 1988 (Photo: Jan Mud/Ajax
Magazine).
A few days later new arrest warrants are issued for former
chairman Ton Harmsen, Maarten de Vos (director of Inter
Football, the agency of many Ajax players) and - the first
active Ajax official - vice-chairman Arie van Eijden. The
suspects are kept in custody for several days and interrogated
thoroughly. They are let go after a few days, pending further
investigation, but Van Eijden seems to have turned into a
different man overnight. His return to the club is emotional.
December 1988 will be remembered as a dramatic month. Fear has
returned to De Meer. The nightmare is not over.
Coaches Spitz Kohn and Louis van Gaal, meanwhile, manage to
keep the team focused. Which is not that hard given the team's
winning mood. The last league game before the winter break
brings Ajax to Tilburg, where Willem II is the opponent on 18
December. The Tilburg club finished fourth last season, but is
now struggling. The game against Ajax doesn't improve things
for them: thanks to Robbie Witschge (penalty), Dennis Bergkamp
and Aron Winter, Ajax is 0-3 up at half-time. Substitute Bryan
Roy makes it 0-4, after which Ajax apparently thinks that the
winter break has already started. John Feskens and Guus van de
Borgt are allowed to score for Willem II, but Stefan Pettersson
has the final word: 2-5. Welcome, winter break.
So, that was 1988.
It was a dramatic year, sometimes in a positive, but much
more frequently in a negative way. It was the year in
which Ajax lost Johan Cruijff, but also made it to a European
final. A year that brought the Dutch national team its first
ever major trophy, but also brought Ajax one of the most
dramatic autumns in club history. Even the current situation
gives you mixed feelings: Ajax had a historically dreadful
season's start, but enters the winter break only one point
behind PSV (although the champions still have a game in hand).
Ajax won nine out of the last ten league games and seems to be
back on track, but meanwhile an official accusation of tax
fraud seems inevitable, and several well-respected Ajacieden
have now felt what it's like to sleep in a prison cell.
At least there is enough to think about. No-one knows
what the future will bring.
Happy 1989. (MP)
Next month:
• Resuming the Eredivisie
• A new board for Ajax
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