Van den Brom, Grim are new Young Ajax coaches
29 July: On the same day that the KNVB's signing of Marco
van Basten and John van 't Schip as the
new Oranje bosses was officially confirmed
(they signed a deal until July 2008) Ajax confirmed the
rumours that John van den Brom has been landed as their
successor to coach Young Ajax this season. Van den Brom, an
Ajacied from 1993 to 1995, signed a one year deal and will be
assisted by former Ajax goalkeeper Fred Grim, who already
worked at De Toekomst as a goalkeepers' coach.
The new Young Ajax men will work as a duo, like Van
Basten and Van 't Schip did, but Van den Brom will officially
be the head-coach, as he is officially qualified as a
head-coach, a requirement in Dutch football. The former
Vitesse, Ajax and De Graafschap midfielder previously coached
Hoofdklasse ('Top Class') amateur outfit Bennekom,
with which he finished fifth in the Dutch 'Saturday Top Class
B' last season. Grim has not yet finished the required
KNVB Professional Coaching course.
John van den Brom (born Amersfoort, 04
October 1966) was a key-player in Vitesse's rise to the top of
Dutch football in the early 1990s. He played for the Arnhem
outfit for seven seasons before Ajax coach Louis van Gaal
offered him a contract in the summer of 1993. Van den Brom was
presented as the successor of Wim Jonk,
Ajax's tremendously succesful 'number four', Ajax's
architect between the defence and midfield lines. In his two
seasons at De Meer Van den Brom played 44 Eredivisie games for
Ajax, scoring 8 goals. He also had two domestic cup and five
European performances for Ajax.
In spite of being a first team regular in the Dutch league
for two seasons, Van den Brom's spell at Ajax is not remembered
as succesful. Not Van den Brom, but prodigal son Frank Rijkaard
wore the #4 jersey in the glorious 1994-1995 season, in which
Van den Brom had 17 Eredivisie appearances, but did not see a
single minute of Champions League action for Ajax. He left for
Istanbulspor at season's end, but returned 'home', to Vitesse,
after one season in Turkey.
He was under contract in Arnhem for another five
seasons (lifting his Vitesse total to twelve seasons!) but lost
his starting slot in 2000 and opted for a loan
spell at Vitesse's regional rivals, De Graafschap.
That club decided to land Van den Brom permanently. The
midfielder called it quits after two and a half years at De
Graafschap, in 2003, with an impressive 432 league games
in total behind his name. Van den Brom also had two appearances
for the Dutch national team, while playing for Vitesse.
Fred Grim (born Amsterdam, 17 August 1965)
played for Amsterdam amateur outfit JOS when Ajax scouts
discovered him at a young age. A product of the Ajax youth
system, Grim waited for his chance in the first team, but
seized the opportunity to move to Dutch First Division outfit
SC Cambuur in 1986 as Ajax announced that its goalie for
the future was Stanley Menzo - and not Grim.
For eight seasons straight (of which the latter two in
the Eredivisie) Fred Grim did not miss a single minute of
league action for SC Cambuur (later re-named Cambuur
Leeuwarden), before he decided to move back to his beloved
Ajax, accepting a modest role as the second man, behind Edwin
van der Sar. For one season Grim and John van den Brom
were team-mates in Amsterdam: the glorious 1994-1995 season,
although both players belong to the 'forgotten' members of that
season's squad.
For five seasons in a row Fred Grim served as the loyal man
behind Van der Sar. Coach Louis van Gaal traditionally fielded
him in the last league game of the season, as a sign of
respect, granting Grim the chance to show the supporters what
he was capable of. His chance to become Ajax's real #1 finally
arrived in 1999, after the departure of Van der Sar.
Unlucky timing, to say the very least: the centennial
1999-2000 season turned out to be the most dramatic season in
recent Ajax history. Fred Grim was goalkeeper of Ajax-1 for
three seasons. The career of a uniquely loyal Ajacied
ended (oh, how good for him) with two pieces of shiny
silverware: the Dutch championship and the Amstel Cup of 2002,
his first couple of trophies, grabbed in the two very
last games of his career. His total number of first team league
appearances: a respectable 373.
Meanwhile, Marco van Basten and John van 't Schip are
building a staff of old Ajax friends around them at
Oranje. The new coaching duo approached former Ajax
winger Rob Witschge, currently coaching Top Class amateur
outfit ADO '20, as their assistant last week. Today
another former team-mate was asked to join the staff: former
Ajax goalkeeper Stanley Menzo. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, NOS Teletekst
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