One of Europe's most storied clubs is at the lowest ebb in their modern history after a series of unfortunate incidents

The scenes resembled something out of a low-budget apocalyptic film. On Sunday afternoon, smartphone footage emerged of a group of balaclava-clad men, shrouded in the red mist of a smoke bomb, smashing their way through a set of glass doors at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.

Crowd disorder is not unheard of when Ajax and Feyenoord face off, with the Netherlands experiencing an unwelcome rebirth of hooliganism in recent times. However, what occurred during De Klassieker this weekend was not your typical flavour of football violence. This was Ajax supporters taking out their frustrations by destroying their own club's property.

The fuse had been lit when Feyenoord scored their third unanswered goal of the first half, with the flares that rained down on the turf after the break eventually forcing an abandonment. Riot police and tear gas were deployed in an attempt to disperse the crowd once it became clear that the game wouldn't be completed. But that did not prevent pockets of Ajax supporters from breaking away from the rabble and forcing their way through the main entrance to the stadium. Eventually, order was restored, but the damage – in a quite literal sense – had already been done.

"It is a jet black day, this makes it even worse," Ajax coach Maurice Steijn told broadcaster after the game.

Getty ImagesThe Overmars affair

On-field humiliation against their fiercest rivals proved to be the final straw, but tensions between Ajax's board and the club's supporters have been brewing for months. The cycle of backroom chaos that has engulfed De Godenzonen recently began back in February 2022, when director of football Marc Overmars left his role after sending a "series of inappropriate messages to several female colleagues".

Upon departing, Overmars said: "Last week I was confronted with reports about my behaviour and how this has come across to others. Unfortunately I didn't realise that I was crossing the line with this, but that was made clear to me in recent days. I apologise. Certainly for someone in my position this behaviour is unacceptable. I now see that but it is too late. I see no other option but to leave Ajax."

While supervisory board chairman Leen Meijaard asserted that Overmars continuing in his role would not have been right, he also described him as "the best football director Ajax has had", with then-CEO Edwin van der Sar echoing this sentiments.

Overmars' abrupt departure left the club with a power vacuum to fill, particularly in the recruitment department. This is where a significant amount of their future issues would stem from.

AdvertisementGettyLosing Ten Hag

Overmars' departure was quickly followed by the exit of Erik ten Hag, who opted to take over at Manchester United last summer. During his time in Amsterdam, Ten Hag won the Eredivisie title in each of his three full seasons, as well as leading Ajax to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019. He also helped develop a host of young players, including Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Donny van de Beek – all of whom would be sold on for huge profits to top European sides.

So, while the club would have preferred the highly-successful coach to stay on, he left Ajax in a pretty healthy position. In summer 2022, they were the dominant power domestically and boasted a healthy bank balance to make the squad even better too.

Getty ImagesNightmare 2022-23 season

Ten Hag would even go on to further strengthen his former employer's hand by convincing United to pay a combined €160 million (£139m/$170m) for Antony and Lisandro Martinez. Along with the transfer fees received for Sebastien Haller and Ryan Gravenberch that summer, they equipped Ajax with even more financial muscle to complete their rebuild.

With Overmars not replaced, transfer dealings were handled by Klaus-Jan Huntelaar and Gerry Hamstra. The pair went big by Eredivisie standards, paying a league-record fee to Tottenham for Steven Bergwijn while also spending big on Rangers defender Calvin Bassey and RB Leipzig frontman Brian Bobbey.

Tasked with getting a tune out of this new-look squad was Alfred Schreuder and, to cut a long story short, he failed to do so. Eventually, a run of six straight league draws between November and January, alongside a disappointing Champions League group-stage exit, led to his dismissal.

Johnny Heitinga was his replacement, though he did not fare much better, with Ajax eventually finishing a distant third in the Eredivisie, crashing out of the Europa League knockout round play-offs to Union Berlin and losing the KNVB Cup final to Feyenoord on penalties.

Of the big-money summer signings, Brobbey and Bergwijn showed promise without setting the world alight, while Bassey became a figure of ridicule in the media due to his error-strewn displays. It was clear that something fairly drastic was required the following summer.

Getty ImagesThe Diamond Eye arrives to save the day

In Ajax's defence, they realised this before the season was even out, finally recruiting Sven Mislintat as their new director of football in March 2023. On paper, it seemed like a smart appointment.

During his time as Borussia Dortmund's chief scout, the German earned the name 'Diamantenauge' (Diamond Eye) due his uncanny ability to spot gems, with Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele, Mats Hummels and Jadon Sancho among the players he identified.

However, his reputation nosedived after he was recruited to perform a similar role at Arsenal. During his spell at the Emirates between 2017 and 2019, he was criticised for an overreliance on signing former Dortmund players, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sokratis and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all joining the club while Mislintat was there and enjoying variable levels of success. Then again, he did take credit for shortlisting William Saliba in an interview with .

In that same conversation he said: "To be quite clear: I don’t feel ashamed of any of those transfers, on the contrary, I will always defend these guys. Not because they were my players but because they were Arsenal players and capable ones."

After leaving Arsenal he performed well at Stuttgart, helping the club secure an immediate return to the Bundesliga in his role as sporting director, and was linked with Liverpool at one point before Ajax snapped him up.