Ajax’s Amsterdam Arena will be named the Johan Cruyff Arena from the 2018-19 season onwards, the club has confirmed.
Ajax will unveil a new logo for the ground on April 25, on the day Cruyff would have turned 71, Beinsports reported on Friday. The Netherlands and Barcelona great died in 2016 after a battle with lung cancer.
Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar told the club’s official website: “Johan Cruyff is the greatest football player Ajax has produced. Partly thanks to him, Ajax is a big name, at home and abroad. It’s nice that the stadium is named after him.”
Cruyff’s family added in a statement: “We’re pleased with this news, and that the stadium can now officially be called the Johan Cruyff Arena from the new football season.”
Cruyff won a wealth of honors in two spells with Ajax as a player, including eight Eredivisie titles and three consecutive European Cups. He returned as coach in 1985 and won two KNVB Becker trophies and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987.
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