#3 Johan Cruyff – Ajax, Barcelona and Feynoord
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The history of football has seen many greats but none have impacted the sport as a player, manager, philosopher and theorist like the late Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. There are some people who walk the face of this earth and leave an impact on the psyche of everything and everyone they come into contact with – Cruyff was one of them. During the course of his career as a player, Cruyff represented (graced rather) three clubs, which saw him produce exceptional football and greatness.
An Amsterdam-boy, Cruyff inevitably ended up playing for the Ajax youth team and graduated to the senior team in 1964. He represented Ajax for nearly a decade, making more than 300 appearances and scoring around 250 goals for them. Many describe Cruyff’s time at Ajax as the club’s Golden Era, during which Total Football blossomed unlike any other. During his first spell at Ajax, the team won a colossal six league titles and three European Cups along with one UEFA Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup.
Cryuff moved to Barcelona from Ajax in 1973 and became an instant hit with the Catalan public due to his footballing skills and demeanour. To summarise what Cruyff did Barcelona with one example, he helped the Catalans win their first league title since 1960 and also was key in handing bitter rivals Real Madrid a 5-0 bashing at the Santiago Bernabeu. Though his time at Barcelona as a player did not yield many trophies, what Cruyff brought to club in terms of ethos and philosophy changed the face and history of the club.
After leaving Barcelona in 1978, Cruyff had spells in the United States before he returned to Ajax and immediately impacted their performances. Despite influencing Ajax to two league titles in 1981-82 and 1982-83, he was not offered a contract extension and that, quite rightly, hit Cruyff. What did he do? He signed for arch-rivals Feynoord and led them to a historic double (League and KNVB Cup) in his sole season at the club, establishing himself as a legend there as well.
