This Day in History: 2023-08-04

Nr. 492

AJAX’S FIRST STEPS TO EUROPEAN DOMINATION (1971)

Dick van Dijk’s goal after just five minutes in the 1971 European Cup final put Dutch champions Ajax on the road to establishing a European supremacy that was to last until 1973. On 2 June 1971, before a capacity 80,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium, van Dijk’s strike and a second from Arie Haan after 87 minutes put the Amsterdam club’s hands on the European Cup for the first time. It would be another two years – and two more European Cup wins – before their grip on it was broken. A five-year dynasty of Dutch ‘total football’ had been hastened in the year before when rivals Feyenoord had won the coveted trophy. Sandwiched between the goals at the two extremes of the game, Ajax dazzled to show their commitment to exciting football. Under the midfield generalship and flair of Johan Cruyff, Ajax set their stall out for future seasons and assured him a place among the best European players of the era.

Ajax captain Velibor Vasovic holds up the European Cup.