| Competition | Mat | Total points | Win | Drw | Loss | GF | GA | F-A | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Division West C | 14 | 26 | 12 | 2 | 61 | 14 | 47 | Endranking: 1 | |
| Champions Competition 2nd Division West | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Promotion Competition 2nd Division West | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | Endranking: 2 |
| Gouden Kruis | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | Lost in round 1 | ||||
| Friendly | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 17 | 7 |
| Pos | Club | Mat | Win | Drw | Loss | Total points | GF | GA | F-A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax | 14 | 12 | 2 | 26 | 61 | 14 | 47 | |
| 2 | VVA | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 54 | 23 | 31 |
| 3 | VRA | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 34 | 24 | 10 |
| 4 | Allen Weerbaar | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 18 | 22 | -4 |
| 5 | DEC | 14 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 22 | 38 | -16 | |
| 6 | HC & FC Victoria 1893 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 35 | -22 |
| 7 | Kampong | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 44 | -27 |
| 8 | Hilversum | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 29 | -19 |
| Pos | Club | Mat | Win | Drw | Loss | Total points | GF | GA | F-A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blauw-Wit | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2 | Ajax | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | DVS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | |
| 4 | HFC Haarlem | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 |
| Player | Team | Matches | Goals | Yellow | Red | Assists | Minutes | Own Goals | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Boesbach | Unknown | 5 | 1 | 450 | |||||
| Theo Brokmann Sr. | A | 16 | 22 | 3 | 1470 | ||||
| Freek Gehrels | A | 14 | 1290 | ||||||
| Jan Goosen | Unknown | 1 | 90 | ||||||
| Jan Grootmeijer | Unknown | 4 | 2 | 2 | 390 | ||||
| Wim Gupffert | A | 17 | 11 | 2 | 1560 | ||||
| Antoon ten Herkel | Unknown | 1 | 90 | ||||||
| Henk Hordijk | A | 14 | 3 | 1260 | |||||
| Rinus Lucas | A | 18 | 16 | 1650 | |||||
| Jan de Natris | A | 14 | 2 | 1269 | |||||
| Fons Pelser | A | 12 | 6 | 1110 | |||||
| Joop Pelser | A | 14 | 1 | 1290 | |||||
| Frans Schoevaart | A | 14 | 1290 | ||||||
| Frits Terwee | A | 15 | 1380 | ||||||
| Gerard Ziegeler | A | 17 | 1560 |
| Player | Position | Contract Type | Contract From | Contract To | Loan Out From | Loan Out To | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerard Ziegeler | Keeper | Unknown | |||||
| Freek Gehrels | Defender | Unknown | |||||
| Fons Pelser | Defender | Unknown | |||||
| Frans Schoevaart | Defender | Unknown | |||||
| Henk Hordijk | Midfielder | Unknown | |||||
| Joop Pelser | Midfielder | Unknown | |||||
| Frits Terwee | Midfielder | Unknown | |||||
| Theo Brokmann Sr. | Forward | Unknown | |||||
| Wim Gupffert | Forward | Unknown | |||||
| Rinus Lucas | Forward | Unknown | |||||
| Jan de Natris | Forward | Unknown |
| Player | Position | Contract Type | Contract From | Contract To | Loan Out From | Loan Out To | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heere Schappert | Keeper | Unknown | |||||
| Abel Velzing | Forward | Unknown |
| Player | Position | Contract Type | Contract From | Contract To | Loan Out From | Loan Out To | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gé Bosch | Unknown | Unknown |
| Player | Position | Contract Type | Contract From | Contract To | Loan Out From | Loan Out To | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Boesbach | Defender | Unknown | |||||
| Pruis | Defender | Unknown | |||||
| Joop van Dort | Midfielder | Unknown | |||||
| Jan Goosen | Midfielder | Unknown | |||||
| Antoon ten Herkel | Midfielder | Unknown | |||||
| Jan Grootmeijer | Forward | Unknown | |||||
| Jan-Willem Lucas | Forward | Unknown |
| Player | Role | Contract Type | Contract From | Contract To | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Reynolds | Head coach | Contract | |||
| Willem Egeman | President | No Contract | |||
| Han Dade | Vice president | No Contract | |||
| Jan Grootmeijer | Secretary | No Contract | |||
| Tjerk de Munnik | 2nd Secretary | No Contract | |||
| D.R. Rixke | Treasurer | No Contract | |||
| Carel Reeser | 2nd Treasurer | No Contract | |||
| Chris Holst | Commissioner | No Contract | |||
| Joop Pelser | Commissioner | No Contract | |||
| Frans Schoevaart | Commissioner | No Contract |
| Player | Next Club | Type | Announced | Start | Duration | End | Amount | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egbert Hillegonds | Sloterdijk | Transfer | 07/01/1915 |
| Player | Previous Club | Type | Announced | Start | Duration | End | Amount | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wim Gupffert | Blauw-Wit | Transfer | 07/01/1915 | |||||
| Antoon ten Herkel | HFC Helder | Transfer | 07/01/1915 | |||||
| Fons Pelser | Unknown | Unknown | 07/01/1915 |
See this overview for an explanation of the categorization of the various competition types.
| Player | Comp. | Comp. Play Off | Dutch Cup | Europa | Other Off. | Off. Mat. | Friendly | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mat | Goals | Mat | Goals | Mat | Goals | Mat | Goals | Mat | Goals | Mat | Goals | Mat | Goals | Mat | Goals | |
| A. Boesbach | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |||||||||
| Theo Brokmann Sr. | 12 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 25 | ||||||
| Freek Gehrels | 10 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 17 | |||||||||||
| Jan Goosen | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Jan Grootmeijer | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | |||||||
| Wim Gupffert | 13 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 22 | 12 | ||||||
| Antoon ten Herkel | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Henk Hordijk | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 3 | |||||||
| Jan-Willem Lucas | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Rinus Lucas | 14 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 22 | ||||||
| Jan de Natris | 11 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 18 | |||||||||||
| Fons Pelser | 8 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 8 | |||||||
| Joop Pelser | 10 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 1 | ||||||||
| Pruis | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Frans Schoevaart | 10 | 4 | 14 | 4 | 18 | |||||||||||
| Frits Terwee | 11 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 19 | |||||||||||
| Gerard Ziegeler | 13 | 4 | 17 | 5 | 22 | |||||||||||
| Total | 132 | 53 | 44 | 9 | 176 | 62 | 52 | 12 | 228 | 74 | ||||||
Ajax quite easily becomes the champion of the Western 2nd Division C. Afterwards Ajax plays in the championscompetition, but after one match this is replaced by the promotion competition, in which besides the 3 Western 2nd Division champions the number 10 of the Western 1st Division participates. Ajax ends as second team and does not reach the 1st Division. Blauw-Wit wins the promotion competition, so Ajax does have the 1st Division Club it so craves.
Ajax did not participate in the Dutch Cup.
The lineup that Ajax uses a lot: Gerard Ziegeler (goalkeeper), Frans Schoevaart, Freek Gehrels (defense) Henk Hordijk, Joop Pelser, and Frits Terwee (midfield and stopper spil), Jan de Natris, Fons Pelser, Theo Brokmann Sr., Rinus Lucas and Wim Gupffert (attack). This deviates from the lineup that was announced at the start of the season because Jan Grootmeijer was part of the lineup (possibly Wim Gupffert only joined Ajax later) and Joop van Dort was located on the midfield and Henk Hordijk in the attack instead of Fons Pelser. Few matches Gehrels plays on midfield and Boesback in the defense. Frans Schoevaart is captain.
On August 21 it is announced that Reynolds is the new trainer. Ajax quickly signed him when it became clear his intended position as coach of the German olympic squad would not happen.
Before the start of the season there are talks between the board of Ajax and the management of Het Stadion to see whether Ajax can play its home matches for the season in Het Stadion. The problem for Ajax with their current stadium is that it has been designated for building and because of that the lease can be terminated any moment. Ajax indicates these are only some talks and no immediate change is expected.
What to a lesser extend already happened in season 1914-15 will have more effect during this season: because of the Landstormwet many young men will be drafted, because of which teams will be incomplete.
Before the competitions start there are many discussions about the exact compositions of the various divisions. For Ajax there is some hope that there might be a way they will be entered into the first division, but this was always highly unlikely because it seems impossible to remove any team from the first division, but more importantly, they didn't play any championship competition against the other second divsion champions, so they don't have any more rights than those clubs. There are more discussions on how to continue with the divisions setup, and different groups have different views. The NVB basically just wants to continue in a regular way (so as before season 1914-15) with promotion and relegation. Het Gouden Hoofd would like to reinstate the championship competition between the champions of the first division, but does not want any relegation and promotion. The club of 2nd and 3rd division teams suggests to go to 2 first division west groups, and also see this as a potential step towards one country wide competition, in which the western teams should be more strongly represented than the eastern and southern regions. Proponents of promotion and regelation point out that the strength differents within the various groups becomes too large without it. Opponents point out that relegation is unfair because, due to the circumstances of the war, some teams might relegate because they are only temporarily weakened. The NVB chooses to continue with a regular competition system with promotion and relegation with the exception that from the first division west no team can relegate, so in the subsequent season it will consist of 11 teams.
President W.F. Egeman indicates that like other clubs Ajax also had problems with decreasing memberships. From 120 players who were available in season 1913-14 only 60 were available in 1914-15. He also indicates that their request to allow Ajax in the first division by choice was not honored by the NVB. The suggestion to play in Het Stadion is discussed instead of Ajax' own location. The other location has a financial benefit, which is relevant because Ajax ended the previous season with a loss of 1100 guilders and the budget for this seasons shows an expected similar loss if Ajax keeps playing in de Meer (not to be confused with the later stadium De Meer, in the early years it is used to refer to de Watergraafsmeer, the region in which Ajax plays its matches, the location of Het Houten Stadion, while a small positive balance is expected if Ajax moves to Het Stadion. Opponents of a move refer to the larger distance between pitch and audience, afraid of a more sterile experience. Because VRA already will play their matches in Het Stadion in this season a move is not possible, assuming the NVB will require each team to have their own stadium. There is a suggestion (supported by many) to form a committee that will look into the possibilities of the various locations for the next season. With the election for the new board, everyone is reelected. As 2nd secretary Tjerk de Munnik is elected and as committee member replacement of Holst F. van der Lee is elected. Also the squad, survey and audit committee were selected without formal voting. The president mentions that the former audit committee is still working on the audit of season 191314, but the financial administration is a mess. The former treasurer will be asked for explanations on various posts. F. van der Lee from this audit committee exokains that there are various posts, like Tips, for which such an explanation is required. (A remark he makes about this starts to lead a life of its own. He mention tips and the amount 200 guilders, which is not accurate, but is leaked to the press and without checking reported in various newspapers. At a certain moment Tips is changed to Chambermaids in the stories, which makes it more spectacular. Van der Lee apologizes to the former treasurer during a subsequent meeting, while the member that leaked the information to the press is suspended.)
Ajax is playing in the Western 2nd Division C together with Hilversum, Victoria, Allen Weerbaar, Kampong, DEC, VRA, and VVA. This is considered to be a relatively weak group.
It is again not always clear which of the Pelser brothers are playing. We assume Joop Pelser is normally playing midfield and Fons Pelser in attack, and that Adriaan Pelser is no longer playing. It is difficult to be sure, the Pelser in attack is regularly indicated as A. Pelser, v. Pelser, Pelser Jr. or just Pelser.
End of January Ajax, for various reasons, does not let their players join an Amsterdam squad. Nothing is specified about the motivation, but it is possible Ajax is convinced it offers its players sufficient opponent (Ajax regularly plays friendly matches against first division clubs) and also that they offer the Amsterdam audience sufficient soccer matches of high quality. Of course if they would allow several of their players to play for the Amsterdam squad, they would not have a full team for playing and training themselves.
Newspapers contain information about the president of Ajax purchasing the Ajax fields and several other neighbouring fields (for an amount of 112,000 guilders). Right away the speculations start that this would likely mean Ajax will stay at their current stadium and not move their home matches to Het Stadion. Later during a meeting Ajax decides indeed to keep playing their home matches in Het Houten Stadion, for which decision the finances do not play a large role, the more initimate atmosphere at their own stadium is more important.
The promotion competition between the second and first division west is very strange in this season. At first it is already the case that it is in conflict with the regulations because the number last of the first division west (HFC Haarlem) is participating, but cannot relegate. Second is that the NVB changes the regulations when the competition is almost finished. At first the competition is played according to the illogical principle (illogical because it is a competition of 4 teams, not a decisive match between 2) that in case of a draw, there will be extra time and if necessary a replay. The NVB changes this when all regular matches have been played. Ajax is more or less a victim of this change, Ajax looses against DVS, draws against Blauw-Wit and wins from HFC Haarlem. Blauw-Wit wins both its other matches. According to the original regulations Ajax - Blauw-Wit would have to be replayed, which would leave Ajax a chance for the promotion (if Ajax would win both teams would end with 4 points). However after the modification from the NVB Blauw-Wit is promoted straight away. At first there are some official objections. Ajax after their match against Blauw-Wit because it felt that unjustly a goal was disallowed, DVS after their match against Blauw-Wit because it felt that unjustly an off-side goal was allowed. Both objections are rejected by the NVB. Ajax feels defrauded by the combination of these matters and tries to convince the NVB to either let the Ajax - Blauw-Wit match be replayed or promote Ajax vy choice, but the NVB does not waver and Ajax seems destined to spend another season in the second division.
In June 1916 the NVB starts a committee that will look into Ajax' administration. It is suggested in one newspaper that the cause is rumors about a possible bribe by Ajax of one of the linesman during the promotion matches. There are no confirmations about this committee, nor about the result of its investigation.
The general meeting almost solely deals with the promotion competition. The meeting decides to do another friendly attempt with the NVB board to either let Ajax replay the match against Blauw-Wit, or let Ajax get to the first division in another way. In case this does not succeed, the meeting empowers the board to take any necessary steps it deems necessary in Ajax' interest.
It is not clear what happened to the championship competition of the 2nd division west. Ajax beats Blauw-Wit, but after that match nothing is mentioned about it again. Probably the promotion competition that was played, which included all the champions of the 2nd division west, replaced the championship competition.
Information about lineups and goalscorers this season is incomplete and unreliable. The main source used are newspaper reports and information often differs between different newspapers, sometimes newspapers also explicitly mention it is unknown when a goal is scored, and it is common that it is only mentioned that certain regular players are not playing, not who is playing instead. As much as possible we try to point out the information we are uncertain about.