The Cup final opposed the two best teams this season – Ajax vs AZ’67. Normally, Ajax should have been the favourite, but AZ’67 were so strong this season, so it was difficult to bet – still Ajax was the likelier winner: on one hand, they had to compensate for losing the tile; on the other – Alkmaar, playing on three fronts, was under heavy pressure and no matter how good they were, this was not a club used to winning. Predictions, expectations, arguments… on the pitch AZ’67 destroyed Ajax 3-1.
Kees Kist triumphal with the Cup. Treytel next to him was also happy – he was used to winning trophies, but may be this season was special for him too: it was one thing to get titles and cups with Feyenoord and entirely different to win with small club at an age nobody expects anything from you.
Ajax lost twice this year, finishing with nothing – second-best equals failure. The team was not bad, but there was something missing, something not quite good, not quite right – after 1973 Ajax was just unable to make a great team. Of course, it is hardly possible to keep a new team at par with true geniuses, like Cruijff &Co., but Ajax was not getting even close. Unlike Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven, Ajax did nothing wrong and never sunk into a crisis – they sold the great players one by one, adding young talent all the time, plus their special brand of always buying old solid player with big reputation. They stayed strong in Holland, but lost their leading position in Europe – and 1979-80 was just continuing the pattern. Not a single player of the great team remained – Krol moved in the summer of 1980 first to Canada and from there – to Italy. Now the leading veterans were not associated with the glory years at all – Schrijvers, La Ling, Schoenaker. Add Henning Jensen, who arrived from Real Madrid, having made his fame with Borussia Moenchengladbach – unfortunately, he was 32 years old by now and no longer the same. In terms of leadership, the current veterans were not just what was desired. Behind them were young stars – Wim Kieft, Wim Meutstege, Edo Ophof to a point, but largely the Danish midfield duo Soren Lerby and Frank Arnesen. Not a bad ‘skeleton’, but somewhat unfinished – as were previous versions of Ajax after 1974. If Ajax made a mistake in rebuilding, it was in their eagerness to sell stars – veterans were one thing, but may be they sold too quickly younger players – like Tahamata – which left in the position of having half-a-team, never finished and constantly searching for leaders. And it was quite sure now that Lerby and Kieft will not be around for long. A bit shaky, Ajax lost both the championship and the Cup.
AZ’67 won a double – this was the best year in the history of the club: champions, cup winners, and UEFA Cup finalists – this cup they lost just by a single goal, they really came close to win a third trophy. What a season! And the funny white bathrobes donned for the picture, evoking the memories of the great Ajax. As if coming back again. The best season in the history of AZ’67 to this very day, a legendary season. Alas, there were some dark clouds on the horizon: since the typical life span of a strong team is about 5 years, AZ’67 just reached its peak and the inevitable decline was coming. If this was a bigger club, the downfall may have been avoided, but there was the predicament of small clubs instead: once such a club came into focus, there was no way to keep the stars and develop further. Three key players of this wonderful squad were already wetting the appetites of both Dutch and foreign clubs – and Kees Kist was sold to Paris SG in 1982, John Metgod – to Real Madrid in 1982, and Kurt Welzl to Valencia in 1981. AZ’67 were simply not in a position to build a dynasty, but what a season they had, crowning their 5-years long climb with fantastic and difficult to match success. No accident in their case, no just a lucky year.