 |
| A run of five wins in seven league games have helped right things a little for Ajax, but the damage done over the past 18 months will take years to remedy. Peter Lous/Photo by BSR Agency/Getty Images |
For Ajax supporters who'd witnessed 18 months of steady decline, this season's nadir didn't come when their Europa League group stage exit was confirmed. Nor was it when they were at the foot of the Eredivisie after a 5-2 loss to PSV Eindhoven.
It was Sunday, Sept. 24. Ajax were playing rivals and reigning champions Feyenoord at the Johan Cruyff Arena, the hosts looking to rediscover their form following two defeats and a pair of draws in the Eredivisie. By the 56th minute, the match had been abandoned after supporters threw flares and fireworks onto the field in protest. Ajax were down 3-0 and the unrest in the stands soon spread beyond the stadium, with fans rioting and parts of the stadium vandalised. Ajax manager Maurice Steijn had been on the job three months and called it a "jet black day."
As workers boarded up the smashed glass doors at the stadium, director of football Sven Mislintat was sacked by interim CEO Jan van Halst; Mislintat had been on the job 129 days and had spent €109m on 12 new players that summer.
"That match was the lowest point. We as club supporters are always behind the club, but when the bucket is full, the bucket is full," Fabian Nagtzaam, director-manager of the Ajax Supporters Association, told ESPN.
The match was completed behind closed doors three days later, with Feyenoord winning 4-0. A month later, Ajax were bottom of the Eredivisie for the first time in the club's history and their Europa League campaign was limping to a premature finish.
