AJAX Football Club

The AJAX (acronym for the "Associated Judaean Athletic Clubs".[1]) Football Club is an Australian rules football club sited in the inner suburb of St Kilda, Victoria. The squad competes in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).[2]

AJAX
Names
Full nameAJAX Football Club
Nickname(s)Jackass
Club details
Founded30 January 1957 (1957-01-30)
Colours              
CompetitionVAFA
PresidentRonnie Lewis
Ground(s)Gary Smorgon Reserve, Albert Park
Uniforms
Home
Other information
Official websiteajaxfc.com.au

Having been established by the Melbourne Jewish community in 1957,[3] Ajax is notable as Australia's first and only fully Jewish club in the sport.[4][5] The club has also a junior section, founded in 1974. Their under-age teams compete in the Moorabbin Saints Junior Football League.

Club Presidents

Maurice Ashkenazy (1980-1985)

History

Jewish presence in Australia dates back to 1788, with the arrival of Jewish convicts during the penal era. Melbourne's Jewish community embraced Australian Rules football as a way to be integrated into Australian society and share a common activity.[6]

Most of Melbourne's Jewish community initially lived in the inner suburbs of Carlton and Fitzroy, although the Jewish community then spread to St Kilda and Caulfield.

In 1955, Daryl Cohen, a football enthusiast playing for Old Collegians, proposed a new team formed by Jewish members to compete in the VAFA. The club was named Associated Judaean Athletic Clubs (acronym "AJAX") and was admitted into the association in 1957. The club adopted the St Kilda FC's red, white and black colors. St Kilda president donated a set of guernseys for the club.[1] The Christian cross of the St Kilda badge would be replaced by a star of David.[6]

AJAX would be embrace by the Jewish community as their own team, establishing as a strong team in the region.[2]

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References
  1. Barry Markoff, The Road to A Grade: A History of the Ajax Football Club, Brownhall Printing: Clayton South, 1980
  2. For the Love of the Game: The Centenary History of the Victorian Amateur Football Association, 1892-1992 by Joseph Johnson – Hyland House Publishing: South Yarra, 1992
  3. Anthony Hughes, The Jewish Community, in Richard Cashman, Philip Mosely, John O’Hara and Hilary Weatherburn (eds), Sporting Immigrants, Walla Walla Press, Crows Nest, 1997
  4. Mark Williams on joining Ajax by Corinna Hente on Mojo News, 2017
  5. People of the Boot: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Australian Jews in Sport by Dashiel Lawrence, Ashley Browne – Hybrid Publishers, 2018
  6. Bob Stewart, Rob Hess and Chris Dixon, Australian Rules Football, in Richard Cashman, Philip Mosely, John O’Hara and Hilary Weatherburn (eds), Sporting Immigrants, Walla Walla Press: Crows Nest, 1997
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