Tag: Johan Cruyff Arena

From 1996 till 2017 the name of this football stadium was Amsterdam ArenA. After a long period of discussion the Amsterdam ArenA is renamed to the Johan Cruijff ArenA. This decision was made public on the 25th of April 2017, supposed to be 70th birthday of Johan Cruijff. Johan Cruyff was born in 1947 in Betondorp, Amsterdam. During his childhood Cruyff played for AFC Ajax, the football team of Amsterdam from  1959 till 1964. Some years later he played in the first team from 1964 till 1973. After a succesful career in foreign countries, Cruyff came back to Amsterdam to play for AFC Ajax. Later he became trainer of the first team of AFC Ajax. After that he still kept tight relations with Ajax and is still considered one of the most influencing and best Football player at all times. For the Dutch, Johan is a hero. Johan Cruyff died in 2016 due to lung cancer. The Amsterdam ArenA The ArenA was opened by our Queen Beatrix in 1996. After the opening ceremony Ajax, the football club of Amsterdam, played a friendly match against AC Milan. Ajax lost the match with 0-3 in their brand new stadium. Since the opening in 1996 the Amsterdam ArenA makes use of leftover city heat to heat the stadium. Since 2015 the ArenA became a CO2 neutral stadium. The stadium is completely powered by city heat in combination with the latest technology in sun panels. Football On the 18th of August 1996 first edition of the Johan Cruyff Scale was played in the Amsterdam ArenA. The match was between Dutch national winner AFC Ajax and cup winner PSV. This match is the start of a new football competition every year. It takes place in July or August. On the 21st of August 1996 the first official Dutch national league match was played. This match