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History:
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax, founded in 1900, is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. The club is historically one of three clubs that dominate the Dutch national football league (Eredivisie), the others being PSV and Feyenoord. Ajax is one of five teams that have earned the right to keep the European Cup, which the club won consecutively 1971-1973. In 1972, they completed the European treble by winning the Dutch Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, and the European Cup.
To date, they are the only team to keep the European Cup and accomplish the European treble. They are also one of the only two teams to win the treble and the Intercontinental Cup in the same season/calendar year. This feat was achieved in the 1971/72 season. Together with Juventus and Bayern Munich, they are one of only three clubs to have won all three major European trophies. They have also won the Intercontinental Cup twice, and the Karl Rappan Cup, a predecessor of the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1962.
The club is also particularly famous for its renowned youth program that has produced many Dutch super stars over the years including Johan Cruyff, Edwin van der Sar, Dennis Bergkamp and Marco van Basten. Recent Dutch stars Ryan Babel, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and John Heitinga have also come through the ranks at Ajax and all are now playing for top-flight clubs in Europe.
Sightseeing:
Amsterdam is a city like Venice, Italy that was founded on and to this day is focused around water and waterways. Unlike Venice however, Holland's largest city is not merely a sight seeing marvel. Amsterdam is a living and breathing metropolis with fascinating activities and exotic sights all around.
In the canals beneath the parties, young Internet entrepreneurs strike deals across Europe from their houseboats. Just outside the old core is the RAI, one of the continent's key conference and business hubs. In addition to the common chugging canal boats, the city's waterways also serve as home to massive cruise ships and cargo vessels from all over the world. Today, Amsterdam peddles tourists almost as slickly as it has peddled goods and services over the centuries.
The Dutch capital has clearly come a long way since it was founded, as legend has it, by two fishermen and a seasick dog. The story goes that the dog jumped ship to deposit the contents of his stomach and the two fishermen became the founders of Amsterdam. The real scenario might have been slightly less imaginative, as the River Amstel was actually dammed in the 13th century and spawned a settlement which took the name of Aemstelledamme.The lifeblood of Amsterdam has been its locale near the North Sea. Built on a myriad of canals, which neatly divide the city into easily navigable districts, Amsterdam has a small town ambience. There seems to be a canal around every corner, which is not too surprising, considering that the city is home to a staggering 165 canals (which is actually more than Venice).
During the summer, the city comes together in Vondelpark, where locals and tourists alike relax in the balmy weather. Amsterdam statistically might be one of Europe's wettest capital cities, but as soon as the clouds clear and the sun peeks out, its inhabitants spill out onto the streets to sit in the numerous pavement cafés, take cruises on a canal or even to partake in that most ubiquitous of Amsterdam pastimes, riding bicycles (the city has more than double the number of bikes as it has people).
Amsterdam's winters tend to be cold with plenty of rain, but this seldom seems to deter tourists, who flock to the city. Particularly cold winters also offer the unique chance for visitors to witness Amsterdammers skating across the picturesquely frozen canals. These days, with plenty of rail, bus and air connections to all over Europe and further, the Dutch capital is a year-round tourist destination as well as one of the world's key business hubs.
Amsterdam Arena is home to AFC Ajax football club and is the largest sporting stadium in the Netherlands. It was completed in 1996 at a cost of €140 million and has been used for association football, American football, concerts, and other events. The stadium has a retractable roof combined with a grass surface. It has a capacity of 51,628 seats during sports matches and 68,000 places during concerts if a center-stage setup is used (the stage in the middle of the pitch); for end-stage concerts, the capacity is 50,000, and for concerts where the stage is located in the east side of the stadium, the capacity is 35,000. Located at the south-eastern part of the city the stadium is open to the public for various guided tours and also houses the Ajax museum
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