Jong Ajax

Jong Ajax—also known as Ajax II or Ajax 2—serves as the reserve squad for AFC Ajax. The team is based at the club’s training ground, Sportpark De Toekomst in Amsterdam, and has played in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch professional football, since 2013. It is the only reserve side ever to win a Dutch professional league title, having secured the 2017–18 Eerste Divisie with a roster that included Noussair Mazraoui, Noa Lang, and Danilho Doekhi.

By national rules, the team cannot be promoted to the Eredivisie or take part in the KNVB Cup. Its main role is to prepare players for Ajax’s senior team. Historically, the squad was more often called Ajax 2. It consists mainly of professional footballers, many of whom have recently moved up from the highest youth level, Ajax A1.

From 1992, Jong Ajax competed in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league for reserve teams, alongside sides like Jong PSV, Jong FC Groningen, and Jong AZ. In that league, it won a record eight titles and also claimed the KNVB Reserve Cup three times, making it the most successful reserve team in the Netherlands. Winning the Beloften Eredivisie allowed Jong Ajax to qualify for the main KNVB Cup, where it reached the semi-finals on three occasions. Its best cup run came in 2001–02 under manager Jan Olde Riekerink, when a semi-final loss to FC Utrecht on penalties after extra time prevented an all-Ajax final.

The 2013–14 season marked Jong Ajax’s debut in the Jupiler League (the Eerste Divisie). Previously, in the Beloften Eredivisie, players could move freely between the reserve and first teams during the season. That changed when Jong Ajax began registering a separate squad for the Eerste Divisie. Now, player movement between squads is only allowed during transfer windows, unless a player has made fewer than 15 first-team appearances, in which case he can still feature for both teams during the season.

Home matches are played at Sportpark De Toekomst, with occasional games at the Amsterdam Arena. The team is not eligible for promotion to the Eredivisie or for the KNVB Cup. Jong Ajax was joined in the Eerste Divisie by Jong FC Twente and Jong PSV, reserve teams that also moved from the Beloften Eredivisie, replacing VV Katwijk, SC Veendam, and AGOVV Apeldoorn and expanding the league from 16 to 20 teams. Jong Ajax left the Beloften Eredivisie in 2013 after 21 years in that league, having won the title a record eight times (1994, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2009).

As of 3 February 2026. Hassie van Wijk, Aad de Mos, Pieter Huistra, Adrie Koster, Michel Kreek, Alfons Groenendijk, Jan Olde Riekerink, Sonny Silooy, Marco van Basten, Louis van Gaal, John van ’t Schip, John van den Brom, Gerard van der Lem, Hans Westerhof, Aron Winter, Fred Grim, Gery Vink, Marcel Keizer, Michael Reiziger, Mitchell van der Gaag, John Heitinga, Willem Weijs.