Ajaxtalk

Dear Ajacieden--particularly American Ajacieden:

It's occurred to me that we have an opportunity to help ensure that one of our own--the first American to play for Ajax--gets his proper recognition in the US Soccer Hall of Fame.

Eddy Hamel was a New Yorker, and a star defender for Ajax in the 1920s. His story is told in full at the link below, but there are two things that warrant particular consideration--that Hamel was the first American to star at a major European club, and also his tragic death at Auschwitz in 1943.

http://www.ajax-usa.com/history/kuper/t ... hamel.html

If you are interested in putting Eddy Hamel into the US Soccer Hall of Fame, please email me by clicking the 'e-mail' button at the bottom of this post.

Thanks en Ajax voor altijd!

Mike Klein
Arlington, VA

Had to look him up in 'Ajax, de Complete Werken' to know him. But indeed, 125 matches and 8 goals for the first team between '22 and '31. Shame he came to an end in such a sad way. My vote's all his, ofcourse. :yes:

I'll vote for him!

Hamel forever: do you ever go to Summers?

I'd definitely like to see him elected to the Hall. Perhaps I'm wrong , but I've not heard many stories of yanks playing overseas prior to the last 40 years. Hamel may well have been a trail blazer of sorts.Never mind 125 matches, not a small number, for such a storied side.

For Aveslacker:

Of course I go to Summers--I practically live there. Am usually seen wearing a Tottenham shirt and an Ajax scarf--for Spurs matches or matches where Arsenal has a chance to lose.

Edit: Mike, I deleted your e-mail address from this post. It's better not to post that in messages. Many companies use 'internet robots' that scan the whole web for e-mail addresses, so that they can them to their spam lists. If anyone wants to contact Mike: you can send him e-mail by clicking the 'e-mail' button at the bottom of this post.

Cheers,
- Menno

By the way: normally I would have closed this thread and linked it to the existing Ajax History thread. In this case I won't, because this is such a special initiative that is so Ajax USA, if you know what I mean. I support this 'project' whole-heartedly.

:xyxthumbs:

By the way: what are the requirements for this US Soccer Hall Of Fame? I'm asking because Eddy Hamel is a special case: he was born in New York City, but I am not sure if both of his parents were American. As a grown-up, living in The Netherlands, he did not own a passport. Which was quite normal at the time. Travelling abroad was not a common thing for 'normal' people in the 1920s. We would have to find out if Hamel would 'technically' qualify as an American.

Jim, man, you will find this thread interesting... A few years ago Jim and I visited Leon Greenman at his house in London. It was one of the most fascinating, moving and bizarre meetings I ever had. Jim and I decided that one day we should spend an afternoon at the Amsterdam City Archives, in order to find out everything about Eddy Hamel. The next step would be to do the same thing in New York: find his birth certificate, his records -- everything that's still there.

Hamel's story is unbelievable, but there is still a lot of work to do. I mean: we know how he died, but I would want to know how he lived as well... I think a few of his Ajax team-mates are still alive. And we would have to find out if he still has family in NYC.

K.

Hi K...

I agree there's a lot of work to do--but I think the most important work lays right before us--getting the Eddy Hamel story told to the right people, getting it on the radar screens of the various Halls of Fame and other sources of potential recognition, and also to get the question of how Ajax AFC should recognize Eddy back on the club's radar screen as well.

As it happens, I checked out the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame's site and Eddy was not on their list either, which prompted a note on my part to have them review the excellent Simon Kuper article. Their nomination process is easy--a letter of request backed up with documentation is all they need to get the ball rolling.

As for the US Soccer Hall--their process for someone like Eddy is not particularly clear--the US Hall has tended to recognize those who played either in the US or for the US national team (which didn't really exist in the pre-World Cup days when Eddy played). But if Eddy doesn't meet their criteria, there's certainly a case to be made for mounting a campaign for making an exception for Eddy, the first American to be a star footballer in Europe!

Ajax voor altijd!

Mike

just a quick note, mike: eddy was a right winger, not a defender

Kowalczyk schreef: And we would have to find out if he still has family in NYC.

K.

Uh, could you tell me the way to Hamelen? ;)

HamelForever schreef:For Aveslacker:

Of course I go to Summers--I practically live there. Am usually seen wearing a Tottenham shirt and an Ajax scarf--for Spurs matches or matches where Arsenal has a chance to lose.

Edit: Mike, I deleted your e-mail address from this post. It's better not to post that in messages. Many companies use 'internet robots' that scan the whole web for e-mail addresses, so that they can them to their spam lists. If anyone wants to contact Mike: you can send him e-mail by clicking the 'e-mail' button at the bottom of this post.

Cheers,
- Menno

No worries - check your pms Mike!

bluedaddy19 schreef:just a quick note, mike: eddy was a right winger, not a defender

I guess the best defense is a good offense!

Dear Ajacieden...

In my research about Eddy Hamel, I stumbled on another Hall of Fame, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Israel.

I noticed they didn't have Eddy listed on their books--so I sent them a note with the link to the Simon Kuper chapter and a request for info on how to seek induction.

I just got an email from them today which said "Thank you for the heads up on Eddy Hamel--we have never heard of him." So now, there are two halls of fame into which we should seek Eddy Hamel's induction.

The criteria for the International Jewish Hall seem much less strict than the US Soccer Hall--and the opportunity for publicity for the Hamel and Ajax stories (particularly in the US) are much greater with the US Soccer Hall...but this demonstrates some early momentum for the effort.

Happy Hanukkah to all the SuperJoden! Prettige Feestdagen en Gelukkig Nieuwjaar.

Mike Klein
Arlington, VA

If you do a Google search for ' Eddy Hamel' then you end up with a surprising lot of articles in dutch, english and german.

For instance he's the number 87 in the 'Ajax club of 100' ranking. This is him and the people ranked close to him:

Bryan Roy 126 1987 - 1993
Johnny Bosman 125 1983 - 1988
Eddy Hamel 125 1922-1930
Piet van der Kuil 124 1955 - 1959
Johan Neeskens 124 1970 - 1974

Dubbel schreef:For instance he's the number 87 in the 'Ajax club of 100' ranking...

(For the record: that's the list of players who played 100 official games or more for Ajax...)

K.

Of course Eddy Hamel should be in every important and relevant Hall of Fame! That his name and his tragic story will be remembered for ever!

Killed because of an abcess. Fuck's sake. X'C

Of course he should be recognised in the Hall of Fame.

What a fantastic idea. We can help you drum up some support for this initiative, so keep us posted.

Mike Klein, I'd love to talk off-list about this. I sent you an IM. Please email me at jim(at)ajaxusa.com

cheers,
- jim

Has there been any further research on this topic, or updated info about any potential Hall of Fame effort? I just re-read the "Warm Back of Eddy Hamel" story today, and it made me curious.

Thanks for the question--had some initial, albeit cool responses from the US Soccer Hall of Fame and the Intl. Jewish Sports Hall of Fame... Nothing too daunting--but it was clear that we need to be able to mount a half-way decent PR and petition-gathering campaign to shift the "Halls'" opinion.

The challenge on my end is that I need to put together a half-way decent Web site and launch it. I don't personally have the Web skills, and I have yet to make contact with someone who could put together a neat 5-7 page site with perhaps a built-in petition gathering feature.

If there is someone in Ajax-land who can do this, it will help tremendously.

Hup Ajax!

Mike Klein
Arlington, VA