Ajax friendlies

[Cedric]

Amsterdam Tournament : Ajax will (again...) play against Inter (8 august) and Arsenal (9 august). The third guest will be Sevilla.

Playing Arsenal and Inter at least once a year is a bit boring I must say. And we're lucky that Ajax doesn't want to play the Champion's League anymore...

[Kowalczyk]

Bollocks to that.

I'm not going. Not interested.

K.

[Over Pasanens Head]

Bollocks to that.

I'm not going. Not interested.

K.

That old problem of your's has surfaced again Ko in that you must learn to speak your mind and not sit on the fence all of the time.

[Kowalczyk]

Yeah. So, what about this then?

Cardiff vs Ajax on August 1st, apparently...

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/football ... -21056117/

K.

[saddlerian]

Once again...."shit!". I'm away on holiday when AJAX hit England....and, oh, what's that little place called......yeh, that's it, wales!!!

[SylvievdVaart]

Actually not much smaller than Holland I think

[Bluebirds22]

If anyone wants any info regarding hotels/places to go in Cardiff for the friendly and over the weekend then get in touch with me.

[Kowalczyk]

Ajax have announced that they will go ona training camp to the Algarve, South-Portugal, in January. No friendlies have been announced just yet, but that's a matter of time.

K.

[Blind3]

Must be nice. Hope they'll take the time in the sun to find a richer, more consistent vein of form. And a playmaker .

[Kowalczyk]

For those who give a fuck: the roster for the 11th Amsterdam Tournament has been revealed: Ajax, Atlético Madrid, Benfica and Sunderland.

Friday 24 July: match 1 at 19.00, match 2 at 21.15 CET.

Sunda6 26 July: match 3 at 19.00, match 4 at 21.15 CET.

Fixtures t.b.a., day tickets 27 euros - or even more.

K.

[SE6Ajacied]

and Sunderland.

K.

What's that all about?

No disrespect intended but they're hardly top draw - we used to get Liverpool/ManUre/Arsenal but now Sunderland. Has our stock sunk that low??

[jamie]

Well we did only end up on third place in the Dutch league. I am sure that we will get better teams once we start winning the league again and start doing better in Europe.

[The Purple Cow]

How the might have fallen.

What a sad little line-up.

[Kowalczyk]

It is not Ajax's tournament, by the way...

It is independently organized - and Ajax participate every year. But they are not the 'hosts'.

I think the poor line-up has more to do with the budget of the organizing company, which must have been affected by the economic crisis and poor ticket sales of some recent editions. I don't think the not-so-spectacular line-up has anything to do with Ajax's status, to be honest.

K.

[jamie]

So Ajax has no say in which teams are being invited?

Anyway, I read somewhere before that there was the possibility that HVS would be invited as a form of compensation for Jol. I guess that was just a rumor.

[Mr_Holte]

Most Ajax fans didn't care much about the torunament before and less so now I would imagine.

Wish they invited my club to play there though!

[Frans]

Every time Arsenal came people would complain there was no variety. Now they get some different teams and...

[Kowalczyk]

So Ajax has no say in which teams are being invited?

That is correct, as far as I know. It is organized by Football World Series, an independent company. They have a contract with the Amsterdam ArenA (also an independent company; not Ajax's stadium) and also a contract with Ajax, based on which Ajax are invited every year (for obvious reasons: the tournament is in Amsterdam, so it would be kind of stupid commerically to not include the local club in the line-up).

But Man Utd, Real Madrid or FC Barcelona saying yes or no to an invitation for the Amsterdam Tournament...? I don't think it has anything to do with Ajax's current reputation. It has to do with the timing (does it fit into their pre-season campaign?) and perhaps the sack of money FWS offer them.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

By the way: July 15th, Bristol City vs Ajax @ Ashton Gate.

Cockney Cloggies, what do you reckon?

I've been to Bristol a few times and I actually visited Ashton Gate before, eight years ago or something. Bristol City vs Grimsby Town (4-1). I had a great time there and out of the smaller British towns I visited, Bristol was one of the liveliest (good nightlife, good pubs). I'll look into it, for sure, but another U.K. fixture might be in the pipeline, so I'll wait for that before I book.

K.

[Ajaxfanuk]

Got some friends in Bristol that i always promise i will visit, i might actually leave London and go west for this one!!

[Rooie]

Ajax also plays a friendly against Southampton on the 18th of july.

[Kowalczyk]

Ajax also plays a friendly against Southampton on the 18th of july.

Wow. Southampton and Bristol... That really sounds like a nice little safari...

K.

[SPL]

I will certainly be at Southampton

[Mr_Holte]

So Annoying!!

Bristol will be a great trip for Ajax fans. Big City, plenty of pubs and an old style football ground. Problem for me is it's midweek, making it impossible for me to get to from work.

Southampton, nice place, tidy stadium, although I did much prefer the old ground. Problem for me on that one is I have already got tickets to see Villa at Peterborough the same day.

Hoping that they announce another game.

[Orange14]

But Man Utd, Real Madrid or FC Barcelona saying yes or no to an invitation for the Amsterdam Tournament...? I don't think it has anything to do with Ajax's current reputation. It has to do with the timing (does it fit into their pre-season campaign?) and perhaps the sack of money FWS offer them.

K.

Both Madrid and Barca will be in the US for friendlies along with Milan and Chelsea. they can make a lot of money by filling 70,000 seat stadiums for friendlies at outrageous ticket prices. I think ticket prices the Milan-Chelsea match in Baltimore (up the road from me) run from $50-125 US. I doubt that the Amsterdam Tourney can offer such a return. My home club DC United has a match set up for the beginning of August against Madrid. All of the Oranje players will probably be sold off by then to buy Kaka and Ronaldo.