{"id":723,"date":"2017-04-26T17:28:07","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T16:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ajaxdaily.com\/?p=723"},"modified":"2017-04-26T17:28:07","modified_gmt":"2017-04-26T16:28:07","slug":"ray-clarke-an-englishman-in-amsterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ajaxdaily.com\/2017\/ray-clarke-an-englishman-in-amsterdam\/","title":{"rendered":"Ray Clarke: An Englishman in Amsterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"
How many Englishmen do you think have played for the Ajax first team? Considering the club has been going for 117 years, you would think there must be quite a few. So I decided to do some research and remarkably could find the name of only one. I accept that some of the websites I researched may not be the most reliable, take a bow Wikipedia, and there may be more. However the only Englishman I could find was a player called Ray Clarke.<\/p>\n
If this statistic is correct, why is that? As far as I know the Dutch and English have been on good terms for all of that time, so it’s not as though we hate each other. Holland is not far away and the cultures are similar. The Dutch language might be a problem for an Englishman, but thanks to the Dutch education system, English is almost universally spoken as a second language.<\/p>\n
I might have the answer though, and it lies in what is to me, one of life’s great mysteries. According to the label, that great British classic, HP Sauce, is surprisingly made in The Netherlands. So why is it impossible to get any of the stuff when I’m in that country? Seriously though, I have no idea about the reasons for the lack of English players, if you do, then answers on a postcard please.<\/p>\n
Right, if the Brits amongst you have finished checking your sauce bottles then we will continue.<\/p>\n