Ajax Cape Town

History

Ajax Cape Town was formed in October 1998 through the merger of two well established Cape Town clubs namely; Seven Stars Football Club and Cape Town Spurs Football Club.

Rob Moore, the Chairman and owner of Seven Stars Football Club went to Ajax Amsterdam to conclude the transfer of Benni McCarthy from Seven Stars to Ajax Amsterdam. During the transfer talks the board of Ajax Amsterdam indicated that they would like to establish a Football Development Academy in South Africa where they could source and develop players with the possibility of finding another "Benni McCarthy".

During a flight to New York, Rob Moore developed a blue print for the Football Development Academy as discussed with the Ajax Amsterdam board. The blue print was accepted by the Amsterdam board and Rob Moore returned to Cape Town charged with initiating the establishment of the Academy.

After careful consideration Rob Moore invited John Comitis (Chairman of Cape Town Spurs) to join this exciting venture and Ajax Cape Town was born.

The establishment of Ajax Cape Town caused ripples in the local soccer fraternity as the Moore and Comitis faced opposition from the National Soccer League as well as the local council.

Despite this opposition Ajax Cape Town played their first official game against Kaizer Chiefs in the Iwisa Charity Spectacular on the 17 July 1999. Ajax caused the upset of the year when they beat Chiefs 1-0 with Sam Pam, the Ajax Cape Town captain scoring the winning goal.

During their first year, Ajax Cape Town trained at the Thornton Sports fields due to opposition from local residents in Athlone against the construction of offices and playing fields at a site identified in the area.

Ajax developed their Academy at a site of the Tygerberg Cricket Club on the corner of Frans Conradie Drive and Bertie Genade Street, Parow. Coincidently this site is opposite the soccer fields of Vasco da Gama with whom the Comitis family had a close association.

As Ajax Cape Town, we believe in giving children the best possible facilities in which to grow and learn with the goal of becoming future world-class players.

Ikamva, the Club's headquarters, is a facility that is on a par with the best around the world. Fans are able to watch Ajax teams practice and play youth matches in the comfort of a superb environment.

Our achievements in a short space of time - with the implementation of the new, exciting, attacking flair of Ajax philosophy football - have clearly marked the beginning of some exciting days for the Club and South African football as a whole.

Ajax Cape Town has been bold in its decision to constantly promote young players into the senior professional squad and allow them to gain valuable experience. At the same time the players have shown that they are ready for the jump both technically and mentally and credit must be given to the entire technical team who train and prepare the boys so admirably.
Besides football, the Club also believes in striving to develop the academic and social qualities of its players. In the modern world players need to present themselves professionally at all times and a solid educational background is becoming increasingly essential, not only for the players but also the communities hence the introduction of the Ajax Cape Town Community Scheme.

In conjunction with the South African Police Services, the Ajax Cape Town Community Scheme provides football opportunities to young people within our catchment areas regardless of race, gender, social status or disability, facilitated through structured programmes in a safe, fun and learning environment.

Since its inception, the Ajax Cape Town Community Scheme has been implemented in more than 120 schools across the Western Cape as far as the Cape Winelands, reaching more than
8 000 children.

Ajax Cape Town is totally committed to making sure that the by-product of this great initiative will result in Ajax Cape Town becoming the leading football club in Africa on and off the field of play.

Development

Successful football clubs around the world can all proudly boast effective youth development schemes. However, what separates Ajax Cape Town from the rest is that we have pioneered a youth development structure on the African Continent in-line with the best youth developers in Europe.

We see our club as leaders in the African football industry as a whole; from marketing objectives, technical know-how, state of the art facilities to effective management and administration. Our direct link with partners and shareholders Ajax Amsterdam, keeps us ahead of the pack with consistent updating of the latest technical developments in the game - world trends implemented in Cape Town.

"No youth, no future" is a simple Dutch viewpoint that has given the South African youth development market a new direction, which we proudly lead. Our search for talent knows no boundaries with young players from Gauteng to Mpumalanga to Newcastle pulling on the famous red and white Ajax shirt.

Club records

Honours