For this interview, I look back on Johan Cruyff’s Controversial transfer from Ajax to Feyenoord in the summer of 1983.
The Interview will be as a video link companion, while the Blog
will be a presentation of the players.
The Interviewee is:
Mr. Jan Roskott of http://dutchsoccersite.org/
Mr. Roskottt’s contact
info:
Email: jroskott@gmail.com
twitter: @DutchSoccerSite
Website:
https://www.facebook.com/dutchsoccersite
My contact information:
on twitter @sp1873 and on
facebook under Soccernostalgia.
Listen on Spotify / Apple
Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soccernostalgia-talk-podcast/id1601074369?i=1000654253943
Johan Cruyff joining
Feyenoord in the summer of 1983
It was a nostalgic move
when hen Johan Cruyff rejoined his former club Ajax Amsterdam in the early
1980s.
After conquering Europe
with Ajax, he had left the Amsterdam side, traveling the world to Spain with
Barcelona, to the United States and back to the old continent and Spain with
Levante.
Since then, Ajax were no
longer the force they were despite winning a handful of League titles since. It
was not just Cruyff but the majority of the 60s-70s stars had also departed.
During the 1980-81
season, while still a player with Levante, he acted as an advisor for Ajax
Manager Leo Beenhakker.
It would be midway
through the following season (1981/82), precisely in December 1981, that
Cruyff, now in the twilight of his career, rejoined Ajax as a player.
His financial agreement
was based on percentage of gate receipts. His arrival doubled the average
attendance at Ajax.
He was recruited after
Ajax had made a difficult start to the season. However, despite his age, Cruyff
was still a galvanizing force.
He was able to guide and
lift a relatively young side and win the Dutch League title for the (1981/82)
season.
_2589x3636.jpg) |
Photo From: France
Football, Issue 1927, March 15, 1983
_1751x1240.jpg){kind=spacer} |
Photo From: France
Football, Issue 1927, March 15, 1983
This young team consisted
of players who would become household names in the near future. As far as the
Dutch contingent, there was Frank Rijkaard, Gerald Vanenburg, Wim Kieft and
soon to be unleashed a teenage Marco Van Basten.
There was also a group of
young Danish players on the verge of making a splash on the continent, such as
Soren Lerby, Jesper Olsen and Jan Molby.
In the following season
(1982/83), Ajax and Cruyff repeated as Champions. Cruyff was injured early in the
season. There was a feeling that upon his return, he was less interested in
playing but in organizing and played as sweeper.
He then moved from
sweeper to midfield to great effect and Ajax won the domestic League and Cup
double at the end of the season.
Cruyff had increased
attendances in his two seasons back at Amsterdam. At the end of this season, he
requested a future position at the club in the technical domain to help develop
the young players.
Despite Cruyff’s good
performances even at 36 years of age, the Ajax board had enough of him and were
unwilling to give him a new contract and meet his demands.
This would start a chain
of events that would lead to the unthinkable with Cruyff joining arch-rivals
Feyenoord in the summer of 1983.
He had a number of
offers, including from French clubs, Bastia, Toulouse and Swiss side Lucerne
with a lucrative Financial Offer.
However, Cruyff
maintained that money was not his leitmotiv in his decision, despite the image
that he was only interested in money (that by his own admission, he himself had
also cultivated).
He added that if it was
just about money, he would not have joined Feyenoord.
 |
Photo From: World
Soccer, February 1991
In this (1982/83) season,
Feyenoord had been Ajax’s closest pursuers. The Rotterdam side had been chasing
for the League title for nearly a decade (last title in 1974).
The side managed by Hans
Kraay were seen a physical team, in contrast to the more technical game
preached by Ajax.
It was during this season
that it was announced Kraay would be departing. He had heart problems and in
fact could not attend matches.
He was to be replaced by
Thijs Libregts for the 1983/84 season.
The players and fans were
furious of the board’s decision as Kraay was popular.
Libregts was PSV
Eindhoven’s manager that season (1982/83) and in fact Michel Valke had joined
Feyenoord on loan because he did not get along with him.
Valke would return to PSV
at the end of the season.
Feyenoord legend Willem
van Hanegem would also retire at the end of that season.
Nevertheless, Feyenoord
still had the backbone of a strong team. The squad included Juup Hiele in goal,
with Sjaak Troost, the Danish Ivan Nielsen, Ben Wijnestekers, a young Ruud
Gullit, Andre Hoekstra, the Bulgarian Andrei Jeliazkov, Pierre Vermeulen and
Peter Houtman.
_1823x921.jpg) |
Photo From: Foot
Magazine, Issue 30, December 1983
|
(Ruud Gullit) |
a.jpg) |
Photo From: Panini
Holland 8384
|
(Feyenoord squad 1983/84) |
Former defender Michel
van de Korput also returned to Feyenoord (from Italian side Torino).
Feyenoord took advantage
of Cruyff’s problems with Ajax to attract him to Rotterdam.
He was seen as the
missing link for this team to be transformed into Champions.
In this summer of 1983, Feyenoord
lured Cruyff by offering him a percentage of match receipts at home matches (if
average attendances were more than previous season’s 23,148).
He would be paid match by
match, but only if the match attendance in a given home match was more than the
average attendance from the previous season.
Cruyff signed a one-year contract with Feyenoord on these terms.
Departing Ajax goalkeeper
Piet Schrijvers predicted the outcome of the following season, upon Cruyff
joining Feyenoord.
Schrijvers stated, “a
player like Cruyff is just what they need in Rotterdam. Fighting spirit has
brought them back to the top of Dutch Football. But to be champions you need
somebody who can organize: Cruyff is such a player”.
Cruyff and Schrijvers (to
PEC Zwolle) were not the only key players to leave Ajax in that offseason. Ajax
also had to wave goodbye to Leo van Veen (to Utrecht), Soren Lerby (to Bayern
Munich) and Wim Kieft (to Italian side Pisa).
The arrivals at Ajax
included goalkeeper Sjaak Storm (back from loan at Excelsior), a young Ronald
Koeman from Groningen and the Austrian Felix Gasselich from FK Austria (with
the difficult task of replacing Cruyff).
The Cruyff effect was
evident at both clubs for different reasons.
In the previous season,
in July 1982, Feyenoord had sold 2,500 season tickets, in July 1983, that
number had increased to 6,300.
At his former club Ajax,
the absence of Cruyff was felt in their pockets as they were dropped from the
prestigious pre-season Mundialito of clubs Tournament in Milan.
Ajax sued the organizers
for the decision, but the promoters maintained that their agreement was
contingent upon the guarantee of Cruyff’s participation.
As the season started,
both Ajax and Feyenoord were in good form.
On matchday 7 (September
18, 1983), the sides met in Amsterdam. It was Cruyff’s first time back in Ajax
as a Feyenoord player. Ajax won with the unbelievable score of (8-2). At this
point, perhaps, some would have questioned Cruyff’s decision to leave Ajax.
Undeterred, Feyenoord
continued to win match after match, and it became clear that this loss had been
an anomaly.
 |
Photo From: Foot
Magazine, Issue 31, January 1984
|
(Former Ajax teammates, Arie
Haan of PSV Eindhoven and Johann Cruyff of Feyenoord, 1983/84) |
By the midway point of
the season, Feyenoord had won 13 of their 17 matches with three ties.
At this point, Ajax and
Feyenoord were neck to neck, just like the previous season.
It would be the return
fixture between the two sides on February 26, 1984, at Rotterdam that would be
the decider between the sides.
An inspired Feyenoord
side won (4-1) with Cruyff scoring the second goal.
This was the turning point
of the season and from then on Ajax would lose ground.
 |
Photo From: France
Football, Issue 2437, December 22, 1992
|
(Cruyff and Marco van
Basten, February 26, 1984, Feyenoord 4-Ajax 1) |
In the meantime,
Feyenoord had also eliminated Ajax from the Dutch Cup to underline their
domestic supremacy.
Feyenoord would march on
winning the title (the first since 1974) on the penultimate match of the season
on May 6th, 1984, after defeating Willem II (5-0).
Feyenoord would win the
domestic double by winning the Cup title as well defeating Fortuna Sittard
(1-0) in the Final on May 2nd, 1984.
 |
Photo From: Kepes
Sport 1984
 |
Photo From: World
Soccer, November 1983
 |
Photo From: Sport
Magazine-Foot magazine, Issue 20, May 12, 2004
Five days after the title
win on May 11th, 1984, Cruyff announced his retirement upon the end
of the season at the age of 37.
He announced that his
decision was irrevocable, as another season as a player would require too much
energy and sacrifice. He added that he did not feel to have the strength to
continue at that rhythm and since he hated mediocrity….
On May 13th,
1984, in the last match of the season, Feyenoord defeated PEC Zwolle (2-1) with
Cruyff scoring the first goal (his last as a professional).
He had honored his
contract. Feyenoord were champions and the average attendance of Feyenoord had
risen from 21,234 to 25,000 (Cruyff was somewhat disappointed as he was
expecting an average attendance of 40,000).
Cruyff, the Footballer,
ended as a winner. Soon, we would see Cruyff, the Manager, but that is another
story….
_3300x4538.jpg) |
Photo From: France
Football, Issue 1989, May 22, 1984
 |
Photo From: France
Football, Issue 1974, February 7, 1984
References:
World Soccer, January
1982
World Soccer, April,
June, July, August, September, October 1983
World Soccer, February,
March, April, may, August, September 1984
France
Football, Issue 1974, February 7, 1984
France Football, Issue
1988, May 15, 1984
France Football, Issue
1989, May 22, 1984
No comments:
Post a Comment