About Ajax - the hero and the football club

by Amit

Hello :)

I have a silly question..do you happen to know why the founders of the club decided to name it Ajax?
I know that he is a greek hero, but is there anywhere I can read about the proccess which brought them to decide that this should be the club's name?


Hello Amit,
it's not a silly question at all!
Here is what I found in Wikipedia: "The club was named after the mythological hero Ajax, a Greek who fought in the Trojan War against Troy. In The Iliad, Ajax was said to be the greatest of all the Greeks next to his cousin Achilles, and even fought an inconclusive duel with Troy's champion Hector. According to most accounts, Ajax died by committing suicide. Thus, unlike Achilles, he died unconquered."
I think the key is the last sentence: Ajax the Greek hero had never been defeated, so maybe the founders of the club wanted their players to never be defeated! In the end, they got very close to that goals, as Ajax Amsterdam is one of the most successful clubs in the world :-)

Thank you very much!
My email is listed below :)