Sjaak Swart

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Sjaak Swart
Sjaak-swart-1336939869.jpg
Swart in 2011
Personal information
Full name Jesaia Swart
Date of birth (1938-07-03) 3 July 1938 (age 87) [1]
Place of birth Muiderberg, Netherlands
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Position Winger
Youth career
OVVO
Amsterdam
Ajax
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1956–1973 Ajax 463 (174)
International career
1960–1972 Netherlands 31 (10)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jesaia Swart (born 3 July 1938), commonly known as Sjaak Swart, [1] is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger for Ajax. During his career at Ajax, he amassed a total of 603 official matches, [1] a record for the club.

Contents

Biography

Swart is Jewish [3] [4] and was born in Muiderberg, a fishing village about 20 kilometers east of Amsterdam. [5] [6] His Jewish fisherman father sold herring at the market. [6] [4] As a child, he and his father concealed themselves as non-Jews during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands from 1940 to 1945, hiding from Germans and Dutch colluders, who rounded up any Jews; nearly 75 per cent of the Dutch Jewish population was killed in those years. [6]

Nicknamed Mr. Ajax, he played for Ajax a total of 603 official matches, a record for the club, starting in 1956. [4] [5] [7] He was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972, 1973. [6]

Swart retired from football after the 1972-73 season and was honoured with a goodbye match between Ajax and Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam on 8 August 1973. [8]

International career

For the Netherlands national team, Swart earned 31 caps, scoring ten goals. [9]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [1]
ClubSeasonLeague [10] Cup [a] Europe OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ajax 1956–57 Eredivisie 5010000060
1957–58194002 [b] 000213
1958–5973540000127
1959–60291800005 [c] 43418
1960–61339732 [b] 1004211
1961–623352110 [d] 4004510
1962–63285203 [e] 200336
1963–643012501 [e] 0003612
1964–6529111000003011
1965–6630105300003513
1966–673423536 [b] 3004529
1967–683312722 [b] 0004214
1968–6932133214 [f] 5004918
1969–7031136110 [g] 6004720
1970–713116618 [b] 1004518
1971–723311539 [b] 3004717
1972–73269103 [b] 14 [h] 03410
Career total4631746123702694603227
  1. Appearances in KNVB Cup
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Appearances in European Cup
  3. Appearances in Dutch play-offs for European football
  4. Eight Appearances in Intertoto Cup and two in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  5. 1 2 Appearances in Intertoto Cup
  6. Ten appearances in European Cup and four in Intertoto Cup
  7. Appearances in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
  8. Two appearances in European Super Cup, two appearances in Intercontinental Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year [11]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Netherlands 196031
196141
196264
196350
196400
196510
196653
196731
196830
196900
197000
197100
197210
Total3110
Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Swart goal.
List of international goals scored by Sjaak Swart [11]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
13 July 1960Suriname Stadium, Paramaribo, SurinameFlag of Suriname.svg  Suriname 1–04–3 Friendly
222 March 1961 De Kuip, Rotterdam, NetherlandsFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 4–26–2Friendly
39 May 1962De Kuip, Rotterdam, NetherlandsUlster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland 1–04–0Friendly
45 September 1962 Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, NetherlandsFlag of the Netherlands Antilles (1986-2010).svg  Netherlands Antilles 5–08–0Friendly
56–0
611 November 1962Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, NetherlandsFlag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 2–13–1 UEFA Euro 1964 qualification
723 March 1966De Kuip, Rotterdam, NetherlandsFlag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1–22–4Friendly
86 November 1966Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, NetherlandsFlag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia 1–11–2Friendly
930 November 1966De Kuip, Rotterdam, NetherlandsFlag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1–02–0 UEFA Euro 1968 qualification
101 November 1967De Kuip, Rotterdam, NetherlandsFlag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia 1–01–2Friendly

Honours

Ajax

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Sjaak Swart bij Ajax" [Sjaak Swart at Ajax]. afc-ajax.info (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  2. "Swart Jesaia (Sjaak) - footballfakts.ru". footballfakts.ru. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  3. Buchheister, Hendrik (4 October 2013). "Football: Why Tottenham and Ajax Fans Have a Jewish Identity". Der Spiegel . Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Ajax, the Dutch, the War: The Strange Tale of Soccer During Europe's Darkest ... - Simon Kuper
  5. 1 2 Quixano, Jordi (2 November 2014). "Escribimos parte de la historia del fútbol" [We wrote part of the history of football]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Sjaak Swart: the forgotten genius of an Ajax legend"
  7. Mister Ajax: de eeuwige jeugd van Sjaak Swart - Raymond Bouwman
  8. Bab Barens (21 February 2025). "De afscheidswedstrijd van 'Mister Ajax' Sjaak Swart werd wél een succes" [The goodbye match for 'Mister Ajax' Sjaak Swart did become a success]. historiek.net (in Dutch).
  9. Stokkermans, Karel (5 February 2010). "Sjaak Swart – International Appearances". RSSSF .
  10. "Sjaak Swart - Speler Eredivisie". voetbalstats.nl (in Dutch).
  11. 1 2 "Sjaak Swart - Interlands Nederlands Elftal" (in Dutch).