{"id":1080,"date":"2017-05-26T19:22:58","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T18:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ajaxdaily.com\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2018-03-21T15:00:39","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T15:00:39","slug":"never-say-to-cruyff-that-you-want-to-leave-ajax-a-scots-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ajaxdaily.com\/2017\/never-say-to-cruyff-that-you-want-to-leave-ajax-a-scots-tale\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Never say to Cruyff that you want to leave Ajax’ – A Scot’s Tale"},"content":{"rendered":"
In my last article I wrote about Ray Clarke the only Englishman I could find that had ever played for the Ajax first team. This got me to thinking if any players from the other countries that make up these Islands had ever represented Ajax. After extensive research, well Wikipedia actually, I could find no Welsh or Northern Irish players. In fact my research revealed the name of one solitary Scot, Ally Dick, (no sniggering at the back please).<\/p>\n
Many Ajax fans may not remember or know of him as he was injured for much of the two years he spent at the club. He was however signed by Johan Cruyff which should tell you something about the potential that Dick possessed. In fact from a young age he was tipped for greatness, but due to a serious knee injury he never even got to represent the Scotland senior team and his time playing at the top levels of club football was cut cruelly short.<\/p>\n
Alistair John (Ally) Dick was born in Stirling, Scotland on 25 April 1965. As a youngster he played for Stirling Boys Club. Blessed with fantastic touch and pace on the left wing, Dick attracted the attention of many professional clubs. However, he really came to prominence as part of the Scotland schoolboy side that defeated England 5-4 at Wembley in June 1980. That match, incidentally, was watched by a crowd of 69,000 with many millions more watching on live television. It’s sad that in these days of Premier League domination, schoolboy football no longer attracts that amount of attention. Still I digress.<\/p>\n
After that game, Dick, had a staggering 42 offers from professional clubs. The club he chose to join on leaving school was Tottenham Hotspur. He made his first team debut for Spurs at home to Manchester City in February 1982. Remarkably he was just 16 years and 301 days old. At the time he was the youngest ever player to appear in the Tottenham first team.<\/p>\n
In 1984 Dick won a UEFA winners medal as Tottenham beat Anderlecht on penalties. What happened to Dick that night is an example of how the care of players has improved immeasurably in the modern game. Dick came on as a substitute with 17 minutes of normal time remaining. He tore his right knee ligaments after being on the pitch for only 10 minutes. There were no more substitutions left and with extra time looming, he was told by the bench that he would have to stay on the field and see it through. After the match he apparently complained to his physio about the pain in his knee, but was told to forget about it, enjoy himself and to come in for treatment the next day. Instead he ended up in hospital having an operation on the knee.<\/p>\n