Some football personalities are heavily associated with certain football clubs.
Ajax is a club that is so hard to leave for players that many come back to manage the Dutch giants after hanging up their boots. This includes some of the most influential figures in Dutch football history.
However, who has been both a player and manager/head coach at Ajax? Here are some of the most successful ex-Ajax players and managers.
Rinus Michels
Among the most influential coaches in the history of the beautiful game, Michels is now more well known as the man who perfected the game’s ‘Total Football’ style as a coach than for his exploits on the pitch.
However, before he was a pioneering coach, he also played for the Amsterdam giants. Michels joined the club’s youth system in 1940 and broke into the first team in 1946.
Playing as a forward, Michels spent his whole playing career with Ajax, making 264 appearances and scoring 122 goals before being forced into retirement due to a back injury in 1958.
As a player, he helped the club to two Dutch top-flight titles in the seasons 1946-47 and 1956/57.
His managerial career is well-documented, with the highlight of his managerial career with Ajax winning the European Cup in 1971 and the Eredivisie title on four occasions in 1966. 1967, 1968 and 1970.
Johan Cruyff
Cruyff is widely regarded as one of the best players ever to grace a football pitch. Although Cruyff had his own ideas of how football should be played, he was very much a disciple of Michels ‘Total Football’ style.
In contrast to his mentor, Cruyff enjoyed more success with Ajax as a player than he did as a manager. The forward won the Dutch top-flight title on eight occasions, as well as the European Cup three times in back-to-back seasons from 1971 until 1973.
Cruyff coached Ajax from June 1985 until January 1988. While with the Amsterdam giants, he won the KNVB Cup twice in seasons 1985–86 and 1986–87, as well as the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987.
Frank de Boer
The defender came through the famous Ajax youth system after joining the club from the Dutch capital in 1984 as a youngster. From 1988 until 1999, he enjoyed a trophy-laden playing career.
As an Ajax player, De Boer experienced immense success, winning the Dutch top-flight title on five occasions, as well as winning the Champions League in 1995, among other numerous trophies.
De Boer didn’t manage the team badly, either, although it was always going to be difficult to match his trophy haul as a player. His spell in charge from December 2010 until May 2016 yielded four Eredivisie titles.
Louis van Gaal
Van Gaal is regarded as one of the most outspoken Dutch football personalities but also a master tactician. However, long before he was masterminding victories from the sidelines, he started his football career with the Amsterdam giants.
He joined Ajax from a local amateur club, RKSV de Meer, in 1972. Koeman never actually played for the club from the capital of the Netherlands. The defender is more known as a player for his eight years with Sparta Rotterdam.
After he retired from playing, he moved into management. Ajax was his first managerial post, as he began his stay in Amsterdam in September 1991 and stayed in the Dutch capital until June 1997.
His spell as Ajax boss proved to be highly successful, with the high points being winning the Eredivisie four times and also the Champions League once in 1995. He also guided the club to the UEFA Cup in the 1991/92 season and the KNVB Cup in 1993.
Winning the Champions League in 1995 saw Van Gaal claim the World Soccer Manager of the Year, as well as the Onze d’Or Coach of the Year and the El Pais Manager of the Year.
Ronald Koeman
The former Netherlands international holds the distinction of being the only person in Dutch football history to have both managed and played for all of the country’s big three, Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven.
Despite growing up in the nearby city of Zaandam, Koeman didn’t come through the youth system at Ajax. Instead, he started his career at Groningen.
However, he joined Ajax in 1983 and went on to play 114 games for the Amsterdammers over three seasons, scoring 30 goals in the process.
While with the club, he won both the Eredivisie title and the KNVB Cup before moving on to Ajax’s rivals PSV Eindhoven.
Following his retirement from playing, Koeman moved into managerial and returned to Ajax in December 2001 and stayed until February 2005.
Koeman actually won more silverware as Ajax coach than a player, as he guided his team to two Eredivisie titles in 2002 and 2004. He also won the KNVB Cup in 2002.
Marco van Basten
The forward is a legend not only of Ajax but also of Dutch football in general. His football journey kicked off as a player in Amsterdam in season 1980-81, when he made his debut.
In his five full seasons as an Ajax player, he helped the club win the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup on three occasions, as well as the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987.
Van Basten went on to enjoy an illustrious career before being officially forced to retire due to an injury at just 30.
He moved into coaching after the end of his playing career. His stay as Ajax’s head coach was a short one, as he managed the Amsterdammers from July 2008 until May 2009. Unfortunately, the former Milan forward could only guide the team to a third-place finish in the Eredivisie before resigning from his position.
Danny Blind
The former Netherlands international was an Ajax stalwart from 1986 until 1999 after joining the club from Sparta Rotterdam.
Blind’s playing career was certainly trophy-laden, as he won the Dutch top-flight title five times, as well as the KNVB Cup on four occasions.
However, the biggest triumph of his playing career came in 1995 when Blind helped the club from the Dutch capital become European champions. He also won numerous other trophies at home and abroad with the Amsterdam giants.
When he retired from the game, Blind moved into coaching. He returned to take up the role of Ajax boss in March 2005, but he only lasted until May 2006.
During his short stint in charge, Blind guided the team to the KNVB Cup in 2006, having lifted the Johan Cruyff Shield the previous year.