The most notable absence from the
oligarchy of clubs which currently dominate European football must be Ajax.
Revered not just for their success from the 70s onwards, but also their tactical
philosophy of total football, the origins of their eminence lie with English
coach Jack Reynolds.
Born in Bury, Reynolds’ playing
career was similar to that of Jimmy Hogan (MWMMF #7), retiring at the age of 30
after spells in and out of the league with the likes of Burton United, Grimsby
Town, Watford and New Brompton (Gillingham Town). Like Hogan he saw a future in
coaching on the continent, starting in 1912 with St. Gallen in Switzerland
where he impressed enough in a two year spell to be appointed German national
manager. Unfortunately this coincided with the outbreak of World War One so he
moved to the Netherlands instead and in 1915 started what was to become the
first of three spells in charge of Ajax Amsterdam spanning 27 years. By 1919 he
had led the club to their first pieces of silverware winning the KNVB (FA) Cup
in 1917 and back to back Eredivisie (League) titles in 1918 and 1919, the
latter being an invincible unbeaten season. Following the armistice he took
charge of the Dutch national team for one match before fellow Englishman Fred
Warburton was appointed on a permanent basis.
He continued at Ajax until 1947,
apart from three years at Blauw Wit in the mid-1920s, and the Nazi occupation
during World War Two when he was interned in a labour camp in Upper Silesia
alongside PG Wodehouse where he arranged international football games between other
prisoners and laid a cricket pitch.
He won five more Eredivisie titles
in the 1930s and an eighth in his final season in charge in 1947. During this
time he laid the foundations for the Total Football system with which Ajax
would rule Europe under Rinus Michels (MWMMF #18 and coached by Reynolds during
the 1940s) in the early 1970s. After his death in 1962 a stand at Ajax’s De
Meer Stadium was named after him and when the Godenzonen moved
to their current home at the Amsterdam Arena, he
was remembered in the Jack Reynolds lobby.
Known by the Dutch as Sjek Rijnols,
his greatest legacy lies not in the trophies won but the coaching philosophy introduced
whereby all age group teams at the club were coached in the same tactics and
style of play. In this way he changed the club forever.
Ajax expert and author Menno Pot said
that he:
“really reshaped the club into something
professional, even though the players weren't paid at the time. Football was an
amateur game, but he introduced professional training methods, professional
facilities that really allowed Ajax to make a huge leap forward. He was the man
who came up with the idea that every player at Ajax should play the same system
and the same formation. He wanted them to play offensively with skill, rather
than with physical power."
This became the
Ajax tradition which bore such prized fruits in the 1970s that it was seen as
the ideal for all other clubs to aspire to. Today the financial muscle of
Arsenal and Barcelona has allowed them to become its best exponents. If only Ajax
could join them.
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