'Golden Ajax' defender Suurbier is Ajax Orlando TD
27 January: Former Ajax and Holland defender Wim Suurbier
has signed a contract as technical director of Ajax
Orlando, Ajax's Florida-based 'satellite club'. The news was
announced in a special press release on the official Ajax
Orlando website. Suurbier, who played for Ajax from 1962 to
1977, will join the Ajax Orlando staff effective
immediately.
"Wim's experience within Ajax and his knowledge of what this
position entails made him the obvious choice as Ajax Orlando's
technical director", said Mark Dillon, president and chief
executive officer of Ajax Orlando. "He knows Ajax and his
presence in Orlando is just one more indication of our
commitment to adopting the same high standards of excellence
that have been set by AFC Ajax for the last one hundred years
in Amsterdam."
Wim Suurbier (right) with
Bobby Haarms, Amsterdam ArenA, 2000. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Wim Suurbier is generally regarded as one of the greatest
defenders in Ajax history. He was born on 16 January 1945 in,
remarkably, Eindhoven. However, he developed into an
Amsterdammer after having entered the Ajax youth system in
1962. He was a rocket-fast right fullback, who
could do 100 metres in 11.2 seconds. He was famous for his
rushes over the right flank, often making it all the way to the
goal-line for the cross.
Suurbier made his Ajax-1 début on 05
January 1964 in the Eredivisie away game at ADO. Until
his transfer to German side Schalke '04 in October 1977 he
played the stunning number of 363 Eredivisie games for Ajax,
winning eight Dutch championships. He also played 43 domestic
cup games, winning the KNVB Cup four times. His 63 European
games brought him to no less than four European Champions Cup
finals. He got to lift the 'big one' in three consecutive
seasons: 1971, 1972 and 1973. He played the full 90 minutes in
each of those finals.
Suurbier also won the European Super Cup with the 'Golden
Ajax' in 1972 and 1973 and, finally, the World Cup for club
teams in 1972. In total Wim Suurbier played a flabbergasting
509 official games for Ajax, a number only surpassed by his
team-mate, 'Mister Ajax' Sjaak Swart. Suurbier wasn't known as
a goalscorer: in total he netted 16 times in the Eredivisie and
three times in European competition.
Suurbier (top left) with the
Dutch national team of 1974.
Almost naturally, Suurbier was also a key member of the
Dutch national team of the 1970s. In total he played 60 games
for Holland, including two World Cup finals (1974 and 1978).
Both were lost by the Dutch, but the tournament of 1974 brought
a personal triumph for Suurbier: he was voted Best Defender in
the World that season.
After his Schalke years Wim Suurbier played in France, China
and the United States, before ending his career as a
professional player and becoming a coach. His move to
Florida is actually a return: in the 1987-1988 season he
coached the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. He also worked in Qatar
and, most recently, served as the coach of SC Heerenveen's
reserves team.
"Combining the gold standard Ajax training methods and the
growing American interest in soccer, Ajax Orlando will be the
leading soccer establishment in the United States and I'm proud
to be a part of that," noted Suurbier. (MP)
Source: Ajax Orlando.us
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