Dynasty in Focus: Ajax 1965-1973 Quiz

Answer: 26

Ajax had registered just 26 points in the 1964-65 season, a mere three points above the relegation zone and 19 points behind champions Feijenoord. Within a year, the team ended the season on 52 points, winning 24 out of 30 games and losing just two. They finished seven points ahead of Feijenoord in 1965-66.

Answer: I Feel Fine

The first release of what is known as the Dutch Top 40 occurred on 2 January 1965, although other charts had previously existed. The Beatles had three songs in the 2 January release, with "If I Fell" charting at number 26 and "I Should Have Known Better" placing at 40.

After a 2-2 draw at Anfield, Ajax won 7-3 on aggregate. They were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Dukla Prague.

Answer: Klaas Nuninga

Ajax faced off against NAC Breda in the 1967 KNVB Cup Final, a team that had only finished 12th in Eredivisie. Despite Ajax being heavy favourites, Breda held their own. Cruyff scored the opening goal in the 64th minute, but Karel Vesters equalised for NAC with just two minutes left in the game to force extra time. Nuninga scored in the 99th minute with what was ultimately the winning goal.

Neeskens and Keizer also scored winning goals in KNVB Cup finals, with Neeskens netting the winner in a 2-1 win against Sparta Rotterdam in the 1971 final and Keizer scoring the deciding goal a year later against FC Den Haag.

Answer: +75 goal difference in the league

In 1966-67, Ajax scored a remarkable 122 goals in 34 games and conceded just 34 for a +88 goal difference. They followed this up by scoring 96 goals to a concession of just 19 goals in 1967-68, a +77 difference.

While Ajax beat Feijenoord to the title by five points in 1966-67, they only beat their rivals to the championship by three points the following year. Ajax lost the final of the cup, losing 2-1 to ADO Den Haag. Cruyff won the Eredivisie golden boot in 1966-67, but Feyenoord's Ove Kindvall scored 28 in 1967-68, the league's best scoring record.

Answer: Spartak Trnava

The Dutch giants defeated Spartak Trnava, based in Czechoslovakia, 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals. Ajax had been massively helped by a 3-0 win in the first leg, where goals from Johan Cruyff, Piet Keizer and Sjaak Swart gave the club victory. They also defeated FC Nurnberg, Fenerbahce and Benfica before losing to AC Milan in the final.

Rapid Wien lost in the quarter-finals to the defending champions Manchester United. AEK Athens lost in the quarters to Spartak Trnava. Ajax would have faced Manchester City in the second round but the English champions lost to Fenerbahce in the opening round.

Answer: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Set up in 1955, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was originally established to promote international trade fairs, hence the name. By 1968, many referred to it as the "Runner-up Cup" as it often featured teams who had finished the previous season as the runner-up in their domestic league. Ajax qualified for the competition as a result of finishing second in the 1968-69 Eredivisie while champions Feijenoord participated in the European Cup.

Ajax got to the semi-finals of the tournament, losing to eventual winners Arsenal.

Answer: ADO Den Haag

On 24 May 1970, Ajax drew their final game of the season away at ADO Den Haag, drawing 1-1. The other teams listed were able to take points off the champions that year too. Telstar got a 1-1 draw with Ajax on 10 May 1970, while NAC Breda had achieved the same result a week earlier on 3 May. On 1 February, MVV Maastricht got a 1-1 draw against Ajax.

Ajax's historic rival Feijenoord was the only team to defeat them in the Eredivisie in 1969-70, earning a 1-0 victory on 2 November 1969.

Answer: The game was replayed

The first tie went to extra time, but the competition's rules stated a replay must be played if there was no winner. Cruyff scored twice in the original game, a 2-2 draw, before Ajax won the replayed tie 2-1 with Gerrie Muhren and Johan Neeskens netting this time. This was only the second time this had happened in the KNVB Cup final. (The first time was the 1969 final between Feijenoord and PSV)

Sparta had already won the cup three times before, taking the trophy in 1958, 1962 and 1966. While Cruyff, as mentioned, scored twice in the first tie, he had previously scored in the 1967 and 1970 finals. Michels' last game in charge was a 4-1 loss to Go Ahead Eagles on 6 June 1971.

Answer: Johan Cruyff only scored once in the tournament

Ajax defeated 17 Nentori (4-2 on aggregate), Basel (5-1), Celtic (3-1) and Atletico Madrid (3-1) before defeating Panathinaikos 2-0 in the final. Cruyff's only goal in the tournament came on 10 March 1971 in the first leg of the quarter-finals against 1967 European champions Celtic, a 3-0 win.

Celtic were the only team Ajax faced who would go on to retain their league championship in 1970-71. Celtic, as mentioned, were European champions in 1967 and the only former European champions that Ajax faced. The team actually lost two games in the tournament, losing 1-0 in the second leg to Celtic and losing by the same scoreline in the first leg of the semi-finals to Atletico Madrid.

Answer: 9th

Cruyff was top of the list with 116 points, more than double that of second placed Sandro Mazzola (57). George Best, Gunter Netzer and Franz Beckenbauer completed the top five. Gerd Muller, Josip Skoblar and Martin Chivers also ranked above Keizer.

Answer: Won every home game

Ajax were utterly dominant at De Meer Stadion, winning all 17 games and scoring 66 goals, conceding just seven. The team's biggest win that year came on 19 May 1972, when the team defeated Vitesse Arnhem 12-1.

Ajax lost only one game on the domestic scene in 1971-72, a 3-2 loss away to Go Ahead Eagles on 1 April 1972. While Ajax scored in 33 of their 34 league games that season, the team was held to a goalless draw by FC Groningen on 11 September 1971.

Answer: Celtic

Ajax's victories in the 1971-72 Eredivisie, KNVB Cup and European Cup placed them in very elite company. Before Ajax, only Celtic in 1966-67 had achieved the Treble.

Bayern up to this point had never won the European Cup, but would win three consecutive European titles between 1974 and 1976. The Bavarians did not do the treble until 2012-13. PSV did the treble during their European Cup winning campaign of 1987-88.

Answer: Ajax came runner-up in two different continental competitions

Ajax again won the league with ease, winning 30 and losing four of their 34 Eredivisie games. It was the first time that Ajax had gone a whole league season without drawing a game. They were eliminated in the Round of 32 in the 1972-73 KNVB Cup, losing out to fellow top tier side NAC Breda. It was the team's earliest exit from the domestic cup since a Round of 64 elimination in 1964-65, the year before Michels became manager. Cruyff had been top scorer for Ajax in every season between 1965-66 and 1971-72, but Johnny Rep took the mantle from Cruyff in 1972-73.

In 1972-73, Ajax actually won all three of the continental/intercontinental competitions that they entered, giving the club four trophies overall. Not only did they retain the European Cup, becoming the first team since Real Madrid (1956-60) to win three straight European titles, they also defeated Rangers 6-3 on aggregate in the 1973 UEFA Super Cup and defeated Independiente 4-1 on aggregate to win the club's first Intercontinental Cup.

Answer: 90%

In total, Ajax won 213 out of 238 games in their domestic league in the dynasty years, a win percentage of 89.5%. They won 30 of 34 games twice (1971-72 and 1972-73) and never won less than 24 games in any league season during this period. This time period saw Ajax win six Eredivisie titles, four KNVB Cups, three European Cups, a UEFA Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup.

Answer: Stefan Kovacs becomes France manager

Kovacs, who had taken over in 1971 after Rinus Michels joined Barcelona, left Ajax to become France manager in June 1973. Cruyff played his last game with Ajax in August 1973, a 6-1 win over FC Amsterdam before he reunited with his old coach in Catalonia. (He would later return to the club in 1981)

Without Cruyff, Michels or Kovacs, the three-time defending champions succumbed to a shock second round exit in the 1973-74 European Cup, losing to Bulgarian side CSKA September Flag. Ajax would finish third in the Eredivisie, their lowest finish in nine years. Neeskens joined Barcelona the following summer.

For Ajax, the dynasty was now dead. With the exception of the Super Cup in 1973, Ajax went trophyless in the three years after Kovacs and Cruyff left. They would not win Eredivisie again until 1977 and would not win the European Cup again until 1995.