Having won 36 Eredivisie titles and four European Cups/Champions Leagues, Ajax are the most successful club in the Netherlands, with their academy being particularly fruitful.

AFC Ajax, otherwise known as Ajax Amsterdam, are a football club from Amsterdam. They are the most successful team in the history of Dutch football. Ajax have won four European Cups/Champions League titles and have produced several legendary players.

As a club, Ajax have always prided themselves on the quality of their youth set-up, with 'De Meer' bringing through multiple generations of players who would go on to become world-class talents.

Ajax's beginnings in the amateur era

Ajax were founded on March 18, 1900. Eleven years later, they were promoted to the top tier of the Dutch football ladder.

The KNVB Beker in 1917 was Ajax's first major honour and they subsequently won National Championship titles in 1917/18 and 1918/19. The latter saw them become the only team to go unbeaten in the course of the tournament.

In terms of managers, Jack Reynolds was a stalwart at the club and would manage Ajax for an incredible 35 years in total in three separate spells. The Englishman arrived at the club in 1915, helped the club work their way up to the top of Dutch football and stay there ever since.

The successful 1930s

Given that Reynolds was in charge for Ajax's first two National Championship titles, his total tally for the club was eight - won in 1917/18, 1918/19, 1930/31, 1931/32, 1933/34, 1936/37, 1938/39 and 1946/47.

The "Total Football" era

The basic concept of "Total Football" was how players would use space to make themselves available to receive the ball at all times. It was also a commitment to all 11 players working as one unit to be able to attack and defend together as and when they needed to do so.

A trio of European Cups

In winning Europe's premier club competition in the 1972/73 campaign, Ajax became only the second team ever (after Real Madrid) to win the European Cup three times in a row. Bayern Munich achieved exactly the same feat in 1974, 1975 and 1976 but no other clubs have reached this milestone.

The biggest and best teams in Europe were defeated by Ajax at this time, with the Amsterdam outfit establishing themselves at the top table of European soccer.

Continued success in the 1980s

Ajax continued to enjoy success after their European triple triumph. The 1980s saw a changing of the guard as Johan Cruyff retired from playing to take over as manager from 1985 to 1988, with the club struggling for form in Europe - albeit while still winning the Eredivisie on a regular basis in the early part of the decade prior to Cruyff's appointment.

The foundations for that team were partially laid by Cruyff, even though all he had to show for it in terms of trophies was KNVB Cup wins in 1985/86, 1986/87 and the 1986/87 UEFA Super Cup.

Louis van Gaal's managerial term

Ajax in the 21st Century

Former Ajax player Frank de Boer led the club to four successive Eredivisie titles between 2011 and 2014 during his spell as head coach. Peter Bosz took a youthful side to the UEFA Europa League final in 2017, but they lost 2-0 to Manchester United.

They were on course to win the Eredivisie in 2019/20, but no team was awarded the title and the season was cancelled in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ajax picked up where they left off in 2020/21, winning the league by 16 points as well as the KNVB Cup. They lifted their 36th Eredivsie title the following season.

Ten Hag called time on his four and a half year stint at Ajax in May 2022, when he became the manager of Manchester United in the English Premier League.

Former Everton and Fulham centre-back John Heitinga was appointed manager for the rest of the season before Maurice Steijn took the role in the summer of 2023.

Ajax's biggest rivals

The club's fanbase

Ajax's finances

Ajax sanctioned the $190million sales of Matthijs de Ligt to Juventus and Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona following their 2019 UEFA Champions League semi-final exit.

Alongside those mega-moves, they were followed up by the sales of American Sergino Dest to Barcelona, Donny van de Beek to Manchester United and Hakim Ziyech to Chelsea, which brought in another haul of more than €100million in the summer of 2020.

As a result of this, the club reportedly made a €20.7million profit in the 2019/20 financial year.

Ajax's net revenue was €117.2million, an increase of €38.5million, while they had a net profit of €2.5million in the first half of the 2021/2022 season.

For the half year ending December 31, 2022, Ajax reported company sales of €119.77million with a net profit of €76.04million.

Forbes reports Ajax had a team value of $413million in April 2021 with revenue of $172million and an operating income of $2million.