This is the place to discuss the Ajax kit sponsor, currently Adidas.

-- Anonymous, September 09, 1999

Answers

In response to Menno's note regarding seeing Ajax stuff on eBay. Did anyone notice the number of "fake" Ajax jerseys out there? It's quite interesting with most of them coming from Asia I think. It's real cheap but it looks weird. For example, on the home shirt, the ABN AMRO sign is not parallel to the adidas logo or the Ajax badge. Some have the stripes on the current home strip.

It's not the real thing but some of them are "collector" items if we can call it that!

damien Halifax, Canada

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2002

This is not about kit sponsors, but about the classic Ajax shirt itself...

There was a survey on the official KNVB website, asking which club has the most beautiful jersey in Holland. Guess who won it? :-)

41.0% for Ajax. Runner-up was F-Word, with a meagre 17.4%. The results are on this page on KNVB.nl.

By the way, now we're talking about Ajax jerseys: I was very surprised to see how many highly collectible Ajax jerseys are offered at eBay.com... You should take a look.

-- Anonymous, October 27, 2002

AAAA what are you talking about nike is the best brand in the world thats what you need

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2001

UMBRO IS THE BEST, GUYS!!! IT LOOKS GREAT!!! IT MEANS FOOTBALL

ADIDAS, NIKE......AHHH.....THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!!!!....THEY LOOK UGLY!!!.....CHILD ABUSE ( nike)

NO COMMENTS ABOUT THOSE !!!!!

I WILLL ALWAYS SUPPORT FOR TEAMS THAT WEAR UMBRO!!! I USED TO BE A BIG FAN OF AJAX , BUT NOW......SORRY...I HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE TO AJAX....

UMBRO FAN!!!

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

Lately, the Ajax Ster site4s discussion forum has received some e- mails repudiating the F-Side4s complaints about Adidas, and rightly so. I DON4T like the new home kit, but all this rubbish about Adidas being German (and therefore unacceptable) etc is beyond ridiculous. Sure, I4d rather see Ajax play in Kappa or Umbro wear, but who really cares? I4m not buying the new kit, and others aren4t obliged to either. And who remembers last year4s kit? It was ugly beyond belief. Not to mention some of the away kits over the years (ranging from purple to green to multi-coloured, with horrific graphics covering the whole thing). Adidas? So what...

-- Anonymous, September 14, 2000

Of course it's perfectly okay to dislike the new jersey. I don't like the home kit that much either. The away kit is GREAT, though, if you ask me. All opinions are respected.

But the F-Side is soooo short-sighted about it, hating Adidas because they're German and used to sponsor Feyenoord... One day they'll probably start beating up inhabitants of New Jersey... :-D

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2000

I Know it look pretty much to same as the spurs Kit. Nut let's face teh facts guys.! It's Adidas.. Adidas a german brand that stands for Hard work and Non attractive Soccer..! I hate The New Jersey. I hate The Stripes and I'm not gettibng uses to it or anything it all.! This will never pass..! No Adidas..

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2000

The new away kit is the best they4ve had in years! Best of all, it4s quite similar to the new Spurs away kit...THFC for ever etc...the new home kit, on the other hand, is horrific. Tragically, a certain club from Rotterdam (and I don4t mean Sparta or Excelsior) are now being sponsored by Kappa, who in my opinion produce the classiest shirts around, with minimal adornment...

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2000

So far, Andrew has contributed two postings on the Adidas subject. One over here and one in the thread he started himself: 'Should we take action against Adidas?' The funny thing is: he's posted two messages, describing Ajax' contract with Adidas as if Ajax just signed an agreement with a bunch of neo-nazi's, but he has not provided any argumentation whatsoever for that.

We have now seen Ajax play at home in both Adidas kits. The home jersey (against Lazio) and the away jersey (against Arsenal). And I've got to say: I think the away jerseys are the nicest Ajax has had in years. The marine-blue and gold combination is pretty stylish. I liked it. I still do not like the home jerseys, though. The 'three stripes' are the main reason for that. I went to a sports store the other day and saw the last few shirts of last year's Umbro collection (on sale now) hanging next to the new Adidas collection. The red of the Umbro shirts was much 'redder' (is that a word?), much more flashy. I liked that better than the Adidas ones.

But the most important thing (even Andrew will agree on this one): who cares? It's all about the football - and the football was GOOD, for the first time in two years. I am REALLY looking forward to this season.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2000

I like the Umbro kits, but Adidas offers much more money and it will do ajax a lot of good financially. And, three stripes down the side of the sleeves wont change a thing, it's the football (soccer) that matters)!!!

-- Anonymous, February 19, 2000

Well at the moment AJAX has signed a contract with adidas for the next coming seasons and that is unacceptable.

Every year I purchase the latest Ajax-shirts (home & away). It's a tradition. A tradition that will come to an end, because I will defenitely not buy an adidas-shirt.

-- Anonymous, February 03, 2000

The Feyenoord away jersey was green until this season. This year it's grey and red, but it's still awful. I've got nothing against Adidas as a company, but I wouldn't like three stripes on the Ajax sleeves, that are supposed to be completely white.

-- Anonymous, January 28, 2000

I think that the adidas kit will look cool, I mean all their kits are nice plus the nike ones aren't that great anyway. Plus I am dutch, football is my life, and i lived in the states and i got the impression football (or soccer... whatever)doesn't even exist there! And it is obvious that adidas makes the best quility football equipment, nike is good for other stuff, but adidas is the best. And Feiyenoord don't wear green!!!They wear one side red and the other white withe balack shorts,not that i care anyway!

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2000

No i don't think so, I agree with Sjaak. The latest news is that adidas will put his three stripes on the virgin white sleeves from the AJAX AMSTERDAM jersey. This is the worst development in years!! The Ajax jersey has never been changed a lot and this is totally UNACCEPTABLE!! Therefore i hope everyone will join the Boycot!! AJAX AMSTERDAM 4 LIFE! Hope they win tonight!! Cu Ben

-- Anonymous, December 09, 1999

I think you see it the wrong way: first Adidas practiced on Feyenoord, and now they're worthy Ajax. And besides, Adidas is making jerseys the longest of everyone, so they will be able to make something of the Ajax jersey.

-- Anonymous, November 24, 1999

somewhere in june 2000 adidas will start fabricating the ajax jerseys. The fanatic supporter following of Ajax have already decided NOT to buy any adidas shirts or anything else. Reason is that adidas used to fabricate the feyenoord jersey, and we feel that adidas therfore is not Ajax-worthy. Therefore I ask all usa fans to support us, so that the clubs presidents (who don't love ajax even a tenth of the way we do) will see that the real fans are fed up with this kind of b*llsh*t. As soon as they won't be making any money off the new shirts, they'll gent another brand (money is all they care for anyway) Thanx!!!

-- Anonymous, November 09, 1999

FYI, you can view (and purchase) the current Ajax shirt from Ajax here: home | away.

-- Anonymous, November 08, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

Next season Ajax will play in Adidas.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

A good friend of mine owns a soccer store here in Virginia, he met with the Lotto reps. today and they are not making any of Ajax' kits. The reps. didn't elaborate on the subject or state if this was only a temporary thing, but according to my friend it sounded like they were not going to be their kit supplier. My friend is meeting with other representatives real soon and will try to get information from them (ie nike, addidas etc.).

-- Anonymous, November 03, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

I think Rick misunderstood my previous comment (or I was unclear.) I think Nike does well at highlighting individuals...not team identities. Witness what they did to MLS, where all the teams that wear Nike kits had almost identical shirts, only with different colors. Adidas did better with their MLS teams. I believe it was/is crucial for a new league to create team identities with recognizable uniforms. Nike made it difficult to distinguish between most of the MLS teams they outfitted. And although I don't expect it, it would be great if the MLS teams kept their shirts the same for a few years, so when you think of the team you can envision the "permanent" characteristics of the kit (e.g. Ajax's white with red band, Real's all white kit, etc.) Anyway, I hope Ajax stays with Umbro or switches to a non-Nike company.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

Well, hey! Here's the latest news. Several Dutch newspaper wrote that Ajax is currently working out the details of a contract with... Adidas. I'm wearing Adidas shoes at this very moment, but mostly I don't really like their football kits. Feyenoord has walked around in the ugliest thinkable stuff for years (dark green with terrible white diagonal stripes... yuk!). I think the Ajax jersey should be plain and simple. Just white with a red band - no spots, stripes, patterns and little irritating design thingy's. I'd prefer Nike, personally.

-- Anonymous, October 26, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

Lincoln is right. ManU just signed a new $75 million kit deal. I'm not saying Nike is giving Ajax that much, but from a public relations/marketing standpoint, this is a good move for Ajax.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

Ajax will benefit from the sale of jersey. This season(or last), Barcelona switched to Nike.... they sold ten times more replica jersey than the previous year. Nike know how to market their products. It became a desire for anyone to own a Nike product.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

I disagree with Neil. I think Nike does a pretty good job of highlighting the personalities of the individual players, be they Ronaldo or Edgar Davids. I think jerseys will be more easily available to Ajax fans around the world as well.

-- Anonymous, September 28, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

I prefer that Ajax stay with Umbro. I believe Nike does not recognize the importance of the individuality of the teams and wants people to see Nike "swooshes" rather than any particular team badge or colors.

-- Anonymous, September 27, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

While Nike indeed makes quality gear, it is not entirely good that Nike should invade Ajax. Problem with Nike is, they're under constant fire for labor abuses in SouthEast Asia (whether true or not is unknown) and in the Nike stores, you can NEVER find Holland jerseys. Like any good business, Nike only sells what seems to be popular, but not necessarily in demand...

The only good to come out of this merger if indeed it happens is that Nike's version of sizes are larger than Umbro's, so big buggers like me can wear a Nike XL and it'll fit, rather than an Umbro XL which is entirely too tight.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

I read it on ajax.netwerk.to (in Dutch)

-- Anonymous, September 16, 1999

Response to Should we be happy with Nike?

Absolutely! Nike makes quality products and does a tremendous job of lifting the profile of the clubs it sponsors. Here in the United States when you go to a Nike Store you can get Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and Brazil jerseys. Nothing but good can come from Nike partnering with Ajax. Where did this story originate from? This is the first I have heard of it.

-- Anonymous, September 16, 1999