Ajax is not the most popular club in the Netherlands this season, according to research by the Sports Sector Brand Research of Hendrik Beerda Brand Consultancy. National champion Feyenoord is also number one this season in terms of popularity, followed by cup winner PSV. Ajax has to make do with third place. Feyenoord was also the most popular club in the country in 2012 and 2016.
Ajax has had a disappointing season on both an administrative and a sporting level and that is reflected in the popularity figures. “The prolonged fuss at Ajax is not good for the image,” says brand advisor Hendrik Beerda on the website of his Consultancy. “The average Dutchman still praises the club for the best, most creative game in the most beautiful stadium in the country. But in terms of sympathy, Ajax dangles at the bottom of the lists, partly because of the people who work there and the atmosphere during the matches.”
The research further states that the Ajax Women ‘have the power to restore the damaged image’. Beerda: “The women’s team has the special mix of top quality and sympathy. The club management would therefore do well to try to get the Women as much publicity as possible. Due to the recently won national championship, this does not seem too difficult.” It is also striking that Sparta Rotterdam has become the fifth most popular club in the country, while Vitesse has dropped four places and is now ninth.
William II
Since the first measurement of the survey in 2010, Willem II has experienced the strongest growth in popularity. Thirteen years ago, the Tilburgers were still in eighteenth place, but in 2023 Willem II can be found in eighth place. The fact that football is still by far the most popular sport is reflected in the figures of favorite sports clubs. At place 29, hockey club Bloemendaal is the first non-football club in the ranking.
The top ten most popular clubs in 2023 compared to 2022
1. Feyenoord (2)
2. PSV (3)
3. Ajax (1)
4. FC Utrecht (6)
5. Sparta Rotterdam (9)
6. A-Z (4)
7. FC Twente (7)
8. Willem II (11)
9. Vitesse (5)
10. FC Groningen (10)