On 18 March 1900, in a café in the centre of Amsterdam, three friends founded the club that would later become a football school for the whole world. On 18 March 2027 Ajax turns 127. And its shirt, white with one broad red stripe, is among the most recognisable on the planet.

Three friends on the Kalverstraat

Floris Stempel, Carel Reeser and Han Dade met at Café Oost-Indië, on the second floor of a building on the Kalverstraat. They were not starting from scratch: back in 1894 they had formed a team called "Union", which was later renamed Ajax. That first team played in the Vondelpark, but it soon faded away.

Stempel became the new club's first chairman. He was lost at sea in 1910, at around thirty, when the ship he was travelling on never reached its destination. So he never saw the first title, or the shirt that made Ajax famous.

A Greek hero in Amsterdam

The name sounds familiar to every Greek. The club is named after Ajax, the legendary hero of Greek mythology. In 1928 the warrior's head was put on the crest and became the club's trademark.

In 1990 the crest became more abstract, drawn with eleven lines, one for each player in a team. But in November 2024 Ajax announced a return to the classic 1928 crest from the 2025-26 season.

From black to the white shirt

The first kits looked nothing like today's. Ajax started out in a black shirt with a red sash, a nod to the red, black and white of Amsterdam. A little later it switched to red and white stripes.

In 1911 the team was promoted to the top division, and that caused a problem. Sparta Rotterdam wore the same stripes and, as the older club, had priority. So from the 1911-12 season Ajax wore a white shirt with a broad vertical red stripe, and it has never changed it.

There is also an unexpected interlude. From 1946 to 1949 the team played in Arsenal shirts, brought over by goalkeeper Gerrit Keizer. In the hard years after the war, nobody wanted to throw them away.

The shirt changes over the years

In 1972, in the European Cup final against Inter, a manufacturer's logo appeared on the shirt for the first time. The next season the crest was printed in the centre of the chest for the first time.

The first sponsor was TDK, from 1982 to 1991, followed by ABN AMRO, with its name written vertically. From 2007-08 stars were added above the crest, one for every ten Dutch titles, and the third came after the 2011 title.

Wembley, Cruyff and three in a row

The first great European night has a Greek flavour. In 1971 Ajax beat Panathinaikos 2-0 at Wembley to win its first European Cup.

Led by Johan Cruyff, the team lifted it again in 1972 and 1973, three in a row. In 1995 a new generation beat Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final, with a goal by 18-year-old Patrick Kluivert.

Its academy produced Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank Rijkaard and, more recently, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt. The team's home was De Meer from 1934 to 1996, and since then the Arena, which took Cruyff's name in 2018.

Celebrate with us

The white shirt with the red stripe carries 127 years of history, from Stempel to Cruyff and the academy's new kids. It is a shirt worn with pride, in the stadium and on the street.

Happy birthday, Ajax! Keep producing talent and keep giving us beautiful football.

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Ajax line-up with Cruyff before the European Cup semi-final against Benfica, 1972 – Anefo / Nationaal Archief, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC0.