The further you dig into football history, the greater the surprises you find. Sir Matt Busby, the great Manchester United manager played for Liverpool. Brian Clough, despite all his magic just could not win the FA Cup and Barcelona have lost every time they have faced Dundee United in a competitive match. Another curious tale that in many ways is a classic case of blink and you’ll miss it is that of Johan Cruyff and his year spent in the red and white of Feyenoord.
Yes, you read that correctly. The man who was a living, breathing embodiment of Amsterdam as a city and Ajax as a club lead their arch rivals to the league title in his final act as a professional player.
This curious tale begins in 1978, when Cruyff, only 31 at the time, overhastily called time on his glorious playing career. If the great Dutchman had ideals of getting the feet up and taking things a bit slower after two decades in the fast lane, a great slap in the face awaited him.
Problems were brewing with Barcelona over a tax issue which saw Cruyff fork out an eye watering sum to cover a shortfall the club had originally agreed to cover. And then came the biggest own goal of Johan Cruyff’s life.
Part of the enchantment of Cruyff the player was his decision making, his vision. He could pick out a pass nobody else had read. A defender would be certain he was heading in one direction before he darted in the other. At a stroke of his boot the impossible was made possible. But when it came to managing the vast wealth he had accumulated as the best footballer in the world he inexplicably took his eye off the ball and was completely blindsided with ease by a career criminal.
Michel Georges Basilevich had wooed Cruyff and his wife Danny first into trusting him and then into parting with their money, mammoth swathes of it, into investment projects that turned out to be as real as Father Christmas.
Cruyff’s agent and father in law, Cor Coster, was an eye witness to the car crash and was the one who pulled him from the wreckage and sent him on the road again. “Accept your losses and then go and do what you’re good at!”.
And Cruyff did just that.
Back on went the boots and the engine purred once more.
First stop on the reunion tour was the USA. Here Cruyff learned the value of celebrity and dipped his toe in football’s commercial waters for the first time. Sporting wise, the playing standard was poor and the surfaces even worse, but when stateside, Cruyff gained invaluable knowledge about the business end of football which would serve him well on his return to Europe.
He now knew how to market himself and he knew his worth.
A move to Leicester City fell through in early 1981, robbing football enthusiasts the world over of the opportunity to see a spirit so averse to authority as Cruyff operating under the firm management of the austere, drill sergeant Jock Wallace. There was the briefest of sojourns in Spain with Levante before Ajax threw open the doors and clad De Meer in welcome home banners and balloons for the emotional return of their favorite son.
Now it was time to put that new found business acumen to good use.
Ajax needed Cruyff and Cruyff needed Ajax. Cor Coster negotiated a lucrative deal for his son in law and star client which saw Cruyff take home a large percentage of the inevitably increasing gate receipts.
At first, all in the garden was rosy. Cruyff resumed his role as leader and face of the club, guiding and coaching his younger teammates through games and inspiring them to the league title in 1982 and then repeating the feat in 83.
So far so good.
A boardroom reshuffle took place at Ajax that summer, and suddenly everything soured. Something had changed. Muscles were being flexed at administrative level, perhaps someone wanted to make a name for themselves, to put the big shot in his place. Cruyff’s contract was up for renewal and the club moved the goalposts. Not only was he now not worth the money, they even had the temerity to claim he was fat. Cruyff was apoplectic and out went the baby and the bathwater.
Fueled by anger at the pain of the rejection and betrayal, he set out for revenge in the most vindictive manner possible. He joined Feyenoord.
Cor Coster was a well connected man in football circles. By all intents and purposes he was the super agent of his day. It was he who put the feelers out to Feyenoord and it was he who once again negotiated an extremely lucrative and favorable contract for his son in law. Upon signing at De Kuip, Cruyff found himself in the unusual position of being hated by fans on both sides of the De Klassieker.
It brought out the best in him.
From the beginning, trust from the terraces was in short supply. But behind closed doors it was a different story. Cruyff’s all-in attitude rubbed off on everyone at the club. They recognised early on this was no gimmick. He was here to deliver, and deliver he did.
Cruyff’s influence in the team grew as the season went on. He played with his signatory panache and passion. The goals flew in, the victories clocked up and Cruyff pointed and directed everyone where to go. He took the team on his back, rearranged the tactics and whipped everyone into shape.
Huge crowds flocked and Feyenoord secured their first league title in a decade. They then added the cup to make it a double.
In his final league match at De Kuip, Cruyff was hoisted onto the shoulders of his teammates to the roaring adulation of the Feyenoord hardcore. For Ajax, it was the ultimate defeat and the deepest of humiliations. It was death by a thousand cuts. For Johan Cruyff it wasn’t just business, it was personal.
Calum Maltman
Photograph: Rob Bogaerts; Nationaal Archief, Den Haag
