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. [1] [2]
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. [1] [2]
North Up Alliance was founded in June 2012 as a collective atmosphere group of the upper North ring of the Stadium. [3] With approximately 300 members occupying rows 409 to 414 of the second ring, the various supporters groups united to create much larger banners, and to help bring more atmosphere near the section for the away supporters. [4] Due to their close proximity to the away supporters section, the group are more restricted then others in the Stadium. [5] The group have reached an acceptable agreement with the club and were granted permission to occupy the Northern ring, as long as they stay within their boundaries and adhere to the guidelines which were agreed upon. [6] Every Thursday night the group actively meet at the Amsterdam ArenA to prepare their massive banners for the weekend. [7] The group distance themselves from the hooligan nature of other groups, such as the F-side and VAK410, but are known in Dutch media for their Tifosi activity, and for the manner in which they deliver messages revolving around Ajax current events. [8] North Up Alliance and the South Crew are also the two groups at Ajax responsible for the graffiti pieces that are found inside the tunnels of the Amsterdam Arena, from the players entrance to the locker rooms. [9]
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 actually 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 (genuinely) Jewish Ajax fans stopped going to games. In the 2000s the club began trying to persuade fans to drop their Jewish image, yet have achieved no 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 and fans of Rangers F.C use similar symbols. [10] [11] [12]
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax, also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply 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.
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves conflict between gangs, in English known as football firms, formed to intimidate and attack supporters of other teams. Other English-language terms commonly used in connection with hooligan firms include "army", "boys", "bods", "casuals", and "crew". Certain clubs have long-standing rivalries with other clubs and hooliganism associated with matches between them is likely to be more severe.
"Hava Nagila" is a Jewish folk song. It is traditionally sung at celebrations, such as weddings. Written in 1918, it quickly spread through the Jewish diaspora.
The Johan Cruyff Shield is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national football league, Eredivisie, and the winner of the national KNVB Cup. In the event of a team winning both the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup, the Johan Cruyff Shield will be contested between that team and the runner up in the national league.
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.
Eddy Hamel was an American football player for Dutch club AFC Ajax. Hamel was the first Jewish player for Ajax. He was murdered by the Nazis in 1943 in Auschwitz concentration camp.
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.
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).
Superjews is a 2013 documentary film produced and directed by independent Israeli-Dutch filmmaker Nirit Peled.
The Iron rod incident was an incident of football hooliganism at the De Meer Stadion of Dutch football club Ajax Amsterdam on 27 September 1989. During a home match against Austria Wien, the Austrian goalkeeper Franz Wohlfahrt was struck by an iron rod launched onto the pitch by an Ajax supporter from the F-side hooligan group. As a result, Ajax had to concede the match by default and were excluded from competing in European football for a year.
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 railway station or the Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA railway station. Many away supporters also commonly arrive at the stadium by bus as well.
The AFCA Supportersclub is an independent and official supporters' association linked to AFC Ajax football club, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A.F.C.A is a brand of urban lifestyle clothing founded by the late Sven Westendorp, a Dutch fashion designer, graffiti artist and famed supporter of association football club AFC Ajax. His brand has been popular since the mid 2000s and moved into the mainstream urban culture in the late 2000s. It is most often associated with association football. The style is based on graffiti art, hip-hop, association football culture, hooliganism and Ajax Amsterdam.
Sven Westendorp, "HIGH" was a criminal, graffiti artist, and designer from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Since his early years as a graffiti writer in the 1980s Sven was tagging the name "HIGH" helping to pioneer the movement in the Netherlands. He was a well known supporter of the association football club AFC Ajax, and a member of the hooligan firm F-side. He is also the creator of the A.F.C.A clothing brand.
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.
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.