AFC Ajax Marks 125th Anniversary With Kit Inspired by 1911 Team Photo

Dutch Eredivisie powerhouses AFC Ajax are throwing it back more than a century to celebrate the club’s 125th anniversary.

Ajax launched the club’s anniversary jersey, made by Adidas, on their website and social media channels on Friday, March 14. It harkens back to the 1911-12 season, which was the first time Ajax wore its now-iconic white-red-white kit.

The jersey — which is only available in a long-sleeved version — is white with a broad red stripe down the middle, along with a red polo collar and red sleeve cuffs.

The anniversary kit is inspired by a team photo taken in September 1911 after Ajax won the “Gouden Kruis” (Golden Cross) tournament against Volharding. It’s the first known photograph of Ajax players wearing the white-red-white kit.

When the club was founded in 1900, Ajax players originally wore all-black kits. But when the team was promoted to the First Division, they needed to come up with a unique kit. They decided to borrow a design from another club that had dissolved its football department two years earlier.

The 2025 version of the kit features the shield from the city of Amsterdam’s coat of arms in the middle of the chest. Beneath that is a retro Adidas trefoil logo and the logo of Ajax’s usual front-of-shirt sponsor, Ziggo, but both are in red to blend in with the stripe. Fans can also add a red 125th anniversary badge to the sleeve of jerseys purchased through Ajax’s online shop.

The jersey will be paired with white shorts and black socks, the latter of which Ajax played in until 1961.

Ajax’s men’s first team will wear the anniversary kits on Sunday, March 16, when they host AZ Alkmaar at the Johan Cruyff ArenA. The club’s women’s team will also wear them on Sunday, March 30, when they host ADO Den Haag. And the Ajax Legends team will wear the kits on Monday, March 17, in the Beckenbauer Cup, a tournament celebrating German giants Bayern Munich’s own 125th anniversary.