Birth of a Classic: Feyenoord-Ajax in 1921

Well my friends… I am one of the lucky to be able to watch Feyenoord-Ajax tonight LIVE on Setanta. Yea! I’ve seen many a classic classic… But where does this rivalry came from… VI had an article on it and this is how I remember it. (Please note I wasn’t born in 1921 yet…)

It’s 1921 and Feyenoord administrator Bert Heesakker is happy as Larry with the promotion of his club to the First Division of The Netherlands. But, there’s also some worries… Where to put all the fans who’ll come to watch his team play? At this time, Feyenoord can only manage to seat a couple of 1000 of fans, while the interest in the Rotterdam based club explodes.

It’s symbolic that Feyenoord replaces the Dutch top club Sparta in that particular competition. Sparta has won 5 national titles and is the reigning Rotterdam club. But Feyenoord is on it’s way. English manager Bill Julian will be the first foreign coach Feyenoord employs (later we’ll see the likes of Ernst Happel and Bengtson to name a few) and the club employs it’s own club doctor. The Amsterdam-based media also recognize that the new kid on the block offers a real contribution to the highest football division in Holland.

At that time, Ajax is the reigning champion. But Feyenoord manages to secure the first spot in the standings after a couple of matches. Ajax is still the favorite though, with coach Jack Reynolds at the helm and many Dutch internationals in the team.

On October 9, 1921 the first Feyenoord – Ajax will be played. Feyenoord plays a dramatic first half against the blue-white (!) Ajax. The first opportunities are for Feyenoord but every time the Ajax defense or goalie clears the ball. Out of nothing, Ajax scores not one, but two goals and 0-2 is the half time score. Feyenoord opens furiously in the second half, but is never really dangerous. The thousands of enthusiastic fans scream Feyenoord forward and late in the second half, Feyenoord scores the 1-2.

And with ten minutes to go it happens. Ajax player Delsen gets the ball 20 meters from the Feyenoord goal and pulls the trigger. The ball hits the cross bar and bounces on the goal line, back into the field. The players play on, but the ref decides that Ajax just scored: 1-3!!

The fans can’t believe their eyes! The injustice, the blindness. Ajax can easily end the game, although Feyenoord does score one more goal: 2-3.

Feyenoord immediately files a complaint. The complains-committee of the Federation cancels the result, for the time being, and starts to work. Feverishly, witnesses are called and after ample consideration, the Federation decides that Ajax hadn’t scored and the official end-result was determined as 2-2.

Ajax responds with fury! The Ajax administrators smacked the rules of the competition on the table, which states that any protest against a referee decision should be made within 5 minutes of the last whistle, by the teams captain and witnessed by the opponent’s captain and the referee. Ajax, expecting Feyenoord to protest the decision, had paid attention and declared that Feyenoord’s protest was filed 9 minutes after the game.

The Federation wasn’t prepared to overrule their own decision and despite months of bickering and protesting, they ignored Ajax’ suit.

And thus, the first Classic Feyenoord-Ajax ended in a huge row between the two behemoths of Dutch football, with the Amsterdam club as losers.

On March 5, 1922 they take revenge, defeating Feyenoord 2-0. The Rotterdam club doesn’t care. They ended the competition as the number 2, with a point more than Ajax. And that was good enough.

The rivalry between the two would only grow in the seasons coming. In the 1923/24 season, Feyenoord beats Ajax as the champion in a turbulent apotheosis of the competition. Feyenoord needed one point against Ajax to win the title. Ajax needed a victory. Ajax got to 1-0 but Feyenoord equalized late in the match, resulting in the title for Feyenoord. In the dying minutes of the game, Ajax got a penalty kick. A shiver of fear went through the crowd and most Feyenoord players fell on the pitch or turned their backs to the situation. Ajax took the penalty and the player hit the post. The game ended in 1-1 and Feyenoord won their first title.