1998–99 AFC Ajax season

Having waltzed to the title during the previous season, Ajax suffered a complete collapse this season to finish 6th, 23 points adrift of champions Feyenoord. This was the club's lowest finish since 1965. The club also suffered poor form in Europe, finishing bottom of their Champions League group stage. Manager Morten Olsen had paid for the club's poor form in December with his job; his replacement, promoted reserve-team coach Jan Wouters, was unable to reverse the team's fortunes but managed to lead Ajax to the KNVB Cup.

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Edwin van der Sar
2	DF	Ole Tobiasen
3	DF	Danny Blind (captain)
4	DF	Frank de Boer
5	DF	Tom Sier
6	MF	Ronald de Boer
7	MF	Tijani Babangida
8	MF	Richard Witschge
9	FW	Gerald Sibon
10	MF	Jari Litmanen
11	MF	Georgi Kinkladze
12	GK	Fred Grim
13	MF	Richard Knopper

No.	Position	Player
14	FW	Dani
15	MF	Sunday Oliseh
16	MF	Jesper Grønkjær
17	FW	Benni McCarthy
18	MF	Andrzej Rudy
19	DF	Mario Melchiot
20	MF	Dean Gorré
21	DF	Kofi Mensah
22	MF	Peter Hoekstra
24	FW	Shota Arveladze
25	FW	Wamberto
29	FW	Brutil Hosé
	MF	Martijn Reuser

Transfers

In

Wamberto - Standard Liège, August
Georgi Kinkladze - Manchester City, £5,000,000
Jesper Grønkjær - AaB, £3,500,000, July^[1]

Out

Edwin van der Sar - Juventus, approx. £5,000,000
Ronald de Boer - Barcelona

Results

Champions League

Group stage

16 September 1998	Croatia Zagreb	0–0	Ajax	Maksimir, Zagreb
		Report		Attendance: 33,000 Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

30 September 1998	Ajax	2–1	Porto	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
	Rudy 57' Litmanen 86' (pen.)	Report	Zahovič 68'	Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Piero Ceccarini (Italy)

21 October 1998	Olympiacos	1–0	Ajax	Spiridon Louis, Athens
	Alexandris 39'	Report		Attendance: 73,250 Referee: Manuel Díaz Vega (Spain)

4 November 1998	Ajax	2–0	Olympiacos	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
	Witschge 33' Gorré 88'	Report		Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Stefano Braschi (Italy)

25 November 1998	Ajax	0–1	Croatia Zagreb	Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
		Report	Šimić 68'	Attendance: 46,000 Referee: Marc Batta (France)

9 December 1998	Porto	3–0	Ajax	Estádio das Antas, Porto
	Zahovič 54', 80' Drulović 73'	Report		Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)

References

↑ The transfer for Grønkjær was completed in October 1997, but the player remained at his club until the start of the new Dutch football season.

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax

Players M F Managers Honours Seasons Cup Europe Records and statistics Current season

History	History of AFC Ajax

Teams	I. Ajax 1 (First team) II. Jong Ajax (Reserves) III. Ajax Zaterdag (Amateurs) Ajax Vrouwen (Women's)

Grounds	Het Veldje (1893–1900) Amsterdam-Noord (1900–1907) Het Houten Stadion (1907–1934) De Meer Stadion (1934–1996) Olympic Stadium (1934–1996) Amsterdam ArenA (1996–present)

Training grounds	Sportpark De Toekomst (1996–present) adidas miCoach Performance Centre (2011–present)

Academies	Ajax Youth Academy Ajax Hellas Youth Academy

Tournaments	Amsterdam Tournament (1975–2009) U19: Copa Amsterdam (2005–present) U17: Future Cup (2010–present)

Rivalries	De Klassieker (with Feyenoord) De Topper (with PSV) Noord-Hollandse Derby (with AZ ‧ Telstar ‧ FC Volendam) Hofstad vs. Hoofdstad (with ADO Den Haag) Stadsderby (with Blauw-Wit ‧ DWS ‧ De Volewijckers) Other (with FC Groningen ‧ FC Twente ‧ FC Utrecht)

Supporters	AFCA Supportersclub Ajax Business Associates Supportersvereniging Ajax

Culture	A.F.C.A (clothing) A.F.C.A (hooligans) AFC Ajax N.V. "Ajax" Ajax Experience "Ajax Hup Hup Hup" "Ajax is niet dood!" "Ajax-mars" "Ajax, Olé Olé Olé" Ajax Supportershome Battle of Beverwijk Big Three "Bloed, zweet en tranen" Club van 100 F-side Halte ArenA "Hava Nagila" De kabel Lucky Lynx "Mijn Stad" De Mistwedstrijd North Up Alliance "Oei Oei Oei (Dat Was Me Weer Een Loei)" South Crew Staafincident "Three Little Birds" "Tokyo" Total Football VAK410 "De Voetbalmatch" Vuurwerkincident "We gaan naar Londen" "We gaan naar Rome" "Wij zijn Ajax" World of Ajax

Media	1900 (magazine) Ajax Life Ajax Magazine Ajax TV Ajax, dit is mijn club Ajax-nieuws Ajax: Hark the Herald Angel Sings Ajaxjournaal Becoming Zlatan The Price of Heaven Superjews

Former teams	Ajax Baseball Club (1922–1972) Ajax Orlando Prospects (2002–2007)

Affiliated clubs	Ajax Cape Town Almere City Barcelona Cruzeiro Beijing Guoan Palmeiras AS Trenčín

List of AFC Ajax seasons

1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17

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