 |
 Logo F-side, founded in 1976 | |
| Named after | Vak-F, De Meer Stadion |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Amsterdam |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Territory | Mainly Amsterdam and surrounding towns |
| Membership | at the peak 350(today not exactly known) |
| Criminal activities |
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| Allies | |
| Rivals |
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The F-side is a Dutch football hooligan group associated with AFC Ajax. The name came from the stand in Ajax' former stadium De Meer Vak F. [4] [5]
The F-side was founded in 1976. The biggest rivalry was between the F-side and Vak S of Feyenoord. The F-side has also many clashes with the North Side of ADO Den Haag and the Bunnikside of FC Utrecht. After the infamous Staafincident ( Iron bar incident ) in 1989 Ajax took measures. After a very high fence was installed in front of the F-side's traditional seating in Vak F, the F-side decided to move to Vak M, next to the stand for away supporters. Other supporters from other cities in the Netherlands came to use the old F-side stand. The old F-siders came mainly from Amsterdam. In the F-side there were now two groups - the old and the new generation. [4] [5] [6]
On 23 March 1997 the F-Side boys met with Feyenoord hooligans on a freeway outside Amsterdam in Beverwijk and the violence which followed has been come to be known as the Battle of Beverwijk. Feyenoord and Ajax had not played that day. During the battle Carlo(s) Picornie, an F-Side top boy, was killed and several other people were seriously injured. According to some it was a miracle that "just" one man was killed. The fighting only lasted about five minutes. When the police arrived, the fighting had already stopped and no arrests were made. Feyenoord fans came armed with bats, chains, bottles, Molotov cocktails, and tasers, many of which were seized by police after the battle. The death of Picornie is still fresh in the minds of Ajax fans and, to this day, his seat is left unoccupied at the stadium in remembrance of his murder. [4] [5]
In 1996 Ajax moved to a new stadium: the Amsterdam Arena. The Ajax board decided to spread the members of the F-side in the stadium. The F-side made an agreement with the Ajax board to give the F-side a stand in the south side of the stadium (old and new generations on the same stand). In 2009 another Ajax hooligan group called (Ultras) VAK410 was moved from the north side of the Arena to the south side above the F-side. VAK410 and the F-side dominate a large area on the south side of the stadium. [6]
Because the hooligan problem in the Netherlands was a big problem, the government decided to make a combi arrangement. The away supporters can only come to the game by train (or by bus) from their city to the other stadium. There is also a chopper above the train the whole rail track. Nearby the other stadium the away supporters go from the (separate) rail station in a tube to the away stand. In spite of this the games AFC Ajax - Feyenoord, Feyenoord - Ajax, Ajax - ADO Den Haag and ADO Den Haag - Ajax are played without away supporters because there is always trouble and there is an enormous police force power needed.
In the last few years, the F-side has become less active. Most of the original members are no longer active as hooligans and because the F-side is nowedays not the only "hardcore group" of Ajax (the hooligans of Ajax also includes members from VAK410 and other groups). The F-side (and the other Ajax groups) use to name A.F.C.A (hooligans) to identify themself as the Ajax hooligans. Nevertheless the influence of the F-side is considered one of the strongest among the Ajax hooligans.
Ajax is popularly seen as having "Jewish roots" and in the 1970s supporters of rival teams began taunting Ajax fans by calling them Jews. Ajax fans (few of whom are Jewish) responded by embracing Ajax's "Jewish" identity: calling themselves "super Jews", chanting "Joden, Joden" (Jews, Jews) at games, and adopting Jewish symbols such as the Star of David and the Israeli flag. This Jewish imagery eventually became a central part of Ajax fans' culture. At one point ringtones of "Hava Nagila", a Hebrew folk song, could be downloaded from the club's official website. Beginning in the 1980s, fans of Ajax's rivals escalated their antisemitic rhetoric, chanting slogans like "Hamas, Hamas/Jews to the gas" ("Hamas, hamas, joden aan het gas"), hissing to imitate the flow of gas, giving Nazi salutes, etc. The eventual result was that many Jewish Ajax fans stopped going to games. In the 2000s the club began trying to persuade fans to drop their Jewish image, but did not achieve success in this pursuit. Supporters, on and off the field, still employ imagery associated with Jewish history and the Israeli nation. Tottenham Hotspur's Yid Army use similar symbols. [7] [8] [9]
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax, also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax is the most successful club in the Netherlands, with 36 Eredivisie titles and 20 KNVB Cups. It has continuously played in the Eredivisie since the league's inception in 1956, and along with Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven, it is one of the country's "big three" clubs that have dominated that competition.
Feyenoord Rotterdam is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in the Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its neighbourhood in 1912 as SC Feijenoord, updated in 1974 to SC Feyenoord, and then to Feyenoord in 1978, when it split from the amateur club under its wing, SC Feyenoord. Since 1937, Feyenoord's home ground has been the Stadion Feijenoord, nicknamed De Kuip, the second largest stadium in Netherlands.
Alles Door Oefening Den Haag, commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag, is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2020–21 season. The club was for a time known as FC Den Haag, with ADO representing the amateur branch of the club. Despite being from one of the traditional three large Dutch cities, it has not been able to match Ajax, Feyenoord or PSV in terms of success in the Eredivisie or in European competition. There is nonetheless a big rivalry with Ajax and Feyenoord. The Dutch words "Alles Door Oefening" translate into Everything Through Practice.
De Klassieker is the main football rivalry of the Netherlands, between Ajax and Feyenoord. The record attendance was on 9 January 1966, when 65,562 watched in Rotterdam.
Het Legioen is the name of the supporters and fans of Dutch football club Feyenoord Rotterdam.
S.C.F. Hooligans is a Dutch football hooligan firm associated with Feyenoord. The number of supporters in the year 1990 was estimated at around 350 people. The characteristics are a tattoo on the right forearm, some clothing and a hat. The group consists of a mix of men from different backgrounds, both workers and students and working fathers. There are often two distinct groups: the 'old' hard core and the 'new' hard core, also known as Feyenoord third generation Rotterdam (FIIIR).
During the 2009–10 season, AFC Ajax participated in the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup and the UEFA Europa League. The first training took place on 22 June 2009. The traditional AFC Ajax Open Day was on Wednesday 29 July.
During the 2004–05 season AFC Ajax participated in the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup.
Superjews is a 2013 documentary film produced and directed by independent Israeli-Dutch filmmaker Nirit Peled.
Halte Amsterdam ArenA (Asdar) is a single rail train halt in the Bijlmermeer neighbourhood of stadsdeel (borough) Amsterdam-Zuidoost in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Situated right at the Johan Cruyff Arena, a football stadium which was previously known as the Amsterdam Arena, the station is specially built for supporter trains deployed during football matches that are considered high risk to the public, such as when local football club AFC Ajax face either Feyenoord, FC Utrecht, PSV or ADO Den Haag. In away matches supporters arrive and depart via this rail station. Regular attendants of the Ajax matches usually arrive via either the Duivendrecht station or the Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA station. Many away supporters also commonly arrive at the stadium by bus as well.
The Battle of Beverwijk was a violent confrontation between two hooligan supporter groups of Dutch Association football clubs Ajax and Feyenoord, the S.C.F. Hooligans and the F-Side. The incident took place on 23 March 1997 along the A9 motorway near Beverwijk, from which its name is derived.
During the 2014–15 season, AFC Ajax participated in the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. The first training took place on Tuesday 24 June 2014. The traditional AFC Ajax Open Day was held on 3 August 2014.
The AFCA Supportersclub is an independent and official supporters' association linked to AFC Ajax football club, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The VAK410 was a Dutch Ultras group associated with AFC Ajax. The name comes from the name of their initial stand in Ajax's home stadium, the Amsterdam Arena.
The South Crew ("STH-CRW") is a Dutch football tifosi group associated with AFC Ajax. The name is from their location the stand in Ajax' home stadium Amsterdam Arena, namely Zuid-1 and Zuid-2.
The Fireworks incident was a case of football hooliganism which took place on Easter Sunday, 20 April 2014 in De Kuip, Rotterdam, during the KNVB Cup final match between AFC Ajax and PEC Zwolle. Mass amounts of fireworks, flares and smoke bombs were launched into the penalty box around Ajax goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer in the early minutes of the match, which had been thrown onto the pitch by the Ajax hooligan firm VAK410 twice in the early build up of the game. After a 30 minute recess in which marketing director Edwin van der Sar addressed the crowd, Ajax would go on to lose the match 5–1 to Zwolle.
The North Up Alliance ("N.U.A.") is a Dutch football tifosi group associated with AFC Ajax. The name is from their location the stand in Ajax' home stadium Johan Cruyff Arena, namely rows 409 to 414 in the 2nd ring of the Stadium.
A.F.C.A is a Dutch hooligan firm linked to A.F.C. Ajax. In the past the Ajax fans consists only out of one firm: the well known F-side. Nowadays there are more firms active such as VAK410. Although they are separated groups, there is cooperation between them. This is especially the case during riots, the AFCA firm then consists of a mix with members from all of the groups, and they operate as one firm: the AFCA firm.
On 22 October 1989 during an association football match, two home-made nail bombs were thrown by a Feyenoord hooligan at De Meer Stadion, the home ground of AFC Ajax in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The explosions injured 19 people.
The 1999 Rotterdam riots refers to serious riots and clashes between Dutch security forces and football hooligans in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 26 April 1999.
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