January 1988

Ajax... Fifteen Years Ago 

'Happy New Year!'

Those words have a rather ironic undertone on 01 January 1988 in De Meer. At Ajax' home-ground, you can hear the ticking of the time-bomb that is the conflict between chairman Ton Harmsen, a stubborn aristocrat, and the equally stubborn Johan Cruijff. The two are diametrically opposed when it comes to the future club structure for Ajax. Cruijff advocates a modernisation, to which he refers as an 'American model': a team of managers, operating close to the players, should be in charge, whereas the power of the board should be drastically limited. Harmsen is conservative and adheres to the traditional European club structure, in which the board and a Council of Members always have the final word.

The disagreement is deep, structural and probably insolvable. The recent conflicts about player transfers (Busk, Regis and Madjer, who never came, as well as Larsson, who did) were only symptoms. Insinuations fly back and forth in the Dutch media. Harmsen calls Cruijff highhanded and conceited. Cruijff, in his turn, reproaches the Harmsen board with amateurishness and a "shopkeeper's attitude". On New Year's Day, the conflict is on the brink of escalation. During an interview, Harmsen publicly asks himself whether Cruijff's contract should be extended or not, something which - according to Cruijff - the board verbally guaranteed several weeks earlier.

On 03 January 1988, the night before the Ajax squad is due back on the training pitch, the board and Cruijff meet over dinner in the coastal town of Zandvoort, to discuss the disagreements in private. It's about time to talk like grown-up people. However, Cruijff - like so frequently in the past - manages to completely surprise his opposition. By announcing his departure. Effective immediately.

The next morning, on 04 January 1988, the flabbergasted Council of Members formally accepts Cruijff's resignation. Four days into the new year, and only halfway through the season, and Ajax is in a crippled state. Out of control. The news has the impact of a nuclear bomb in the Dutch media. Fans are outraged. The players are pro-Cruijff and are in shock, although - quite remarkably - no initiative is undertaken to make the coach change his mind.

The board has to come up with a solution, whatever it might be, and decides that the vacant position of head coach will be filled in by coaches from within the club. The job to keep the drifting Ajax ship from sinking is assigned to a triumvirate: experienced coach-assistants Spitz Kohn and Bobby Haarms, plus a rookie from the Cruijff generation, 'Golden Ajax' defender Barry Hulshoff.

Luckily for them, they can immediately remove the team from the front-line trenches and withdraw to a peaceful environment: a training camp in the beautiful Algarve region of Portugal, to prepare for the second leg of the European Super Cup final against FC Porto. Ajax had no chance in the first leg against the ultra-defensive, superior holders of the European Champions Cup: 0-1. No-one expects a miracle in Porto's Estadio das Antas. The first opponent of 1988 is Portugese side Portimonense SC, in a friendly. Far away from the squabbling in Amsterdam, the players pull it together and win, 1-2.

In front of 50,000 spectators in Porto, on January 14, nothing surprising happens. Young Danny Hesp (18) is in the line-up (funny detail: he was still a 'ball-boy' during the home game) and does well. Thanks to him and Peter Larsson, Porto's counter-attacks are not as lethal as in the first leg. But once again, John Bosman is a lone warrior upfront. He has no chance against the physically superior defenders. The only goal of the game comes from a low shot by Sousa: 1-0. The Super Cup goes to FC Porto, but Ajax is not unhappy. This game could have been worse, given the circumstances.

The new triumvirate of coaches sees its Eredivisie debut three days later, on 17 January, with a game at Roda JC. An away game to start with. That's a good thing. An extra week for the dust to settle - and for the F-Side to calm down. According to reports in the media, chairman Harmsen received several threats from outraged supporters. His house is put under guard by the police. Ajax, meanwhile, contributes to the appeasement by playing surprisingly well at Roda JC: 0-3. John Bosman, Jan Wouters and John van 't Schip score the goals. The night before, a small miracle occurred. In its first league game after the winter-break, PSV lost its first point of the season: 2-2 against FC Twente. For the first time in this entire season, Ajax closes in on the Eindhoven side! The gap is now 'only' nine points.

A week later, on the 24th, Ajax faces its home crowd for the first time since Cruijff's departure. Protest actions and outraged chants are expected, but the F-Side is remarkably silent. As Ajax scores its first of the day against Sparta, however, it turns out that they deliberately kept quiet. Immediately after the goal, yells start rolling from the stands: 'Jo-han Cruijff, Jo-han Cruijff', long and slow, followed by furious 'Harmsen f##k off!' yells. The game, meanwhile, is won in convincing style: Ajax 4, Sparta 0. Dennis Bergkamp and Arnold Scholten score one each; John Bosman nets two.

Game number three is on 31 January in Dordrecht. Once again the result is good: DS '79 1, Ajax 3. Peter Larsson, who's making an excellent impression so far, opens the scoring with his first goal as an Ajacied. Bosman and Wouters add one each before Gerrie Slagboom pulls one back, in a game which sees the official Ajax-1 début of reserve goalkeeper Lloyd Doesburg. He replaces a slightly injured Stanley Menzo.

Three league wins in a row. The fine results are enough to put a relatively peaceful ending on an extremely grim and chaotic month. Next opponent is the team that's literally unbeatable so far this season: PSV. De Meer is already sold-out. (MP)

Next month:

• Facing the unbeaten: Ajax vs PSV
• A KNVB Cup quarter final slot for Ajax-2?