Sjaak Swart

Jesaia Swart (born 3 July 1938), commonly known as Sjaak Swart, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger for Ajax. During his career at Ajax, he amassed a total of almost 600 matches, a record for the club.

Sjaak Swart

Swart in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Jesaia Swart
Date of birth	(1938-07-03) 3 July 1938 (age 86)
Place of birth	Muiderberg, Netherlands
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Winger
Youth career
	OVVO
	Amsterdam
	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1956–1973	Ajax	461	(170)
International career
1960–1972	Netherlands	31	(10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Biography

Swart is Jewish^[2][3] and was born in Muiderberg, a fishing village about 20 kilometers east of Amsterdam.^[4][5] His Jewish fisherman father sold herring at the market.^[5][3] As a child, he and his father concealed themselves as non-Jews during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands from 1940 to 1945, hiding from Germans and Dutch colluders, who rounded up any Jews; nearly 75 per cent of the Dutch Jewish population was killed in those years.^[5]

Nicknamed Mr. Ajax, he played for Ajax a total of almost 600 matches, a record for the club, starting in 1956.^[3][4][6] He was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972, 1973.^[5]

For the Netherlands national team, Swart earned 31 caps, scoring ten goals.^[7]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ajax	1956–57	Eredivisie	5	0	1	0	0	0	6	0
	1957–58		19	3	0	0	2	0	21	3
	1958–59		7	3	5	4	0	0	12	7
	1959–60		34	18	0	0	0	0	34	18
	1960–61		33	7	7	3	2	1	42	11
	1961–62		33	5	2	1	10	4	45	10
	1962–63		28	5	2	0	3	1	33	6
	1963–64		30	12	5	0	1	0	36	12
	1964–65		29	11	1	0	0	0	30	11
	1965–66		30	10	4	3	0	0	34	13
	1966–67		34	23	5	3	6	3	45	29
	1967–68		32	11	7	1	6	2	45	14
	1968–69		32	13	3	2	10	3	45	18
	1969–70		31	13	6	1	10	6	47	20
	1970–71		31	16	6	1	8	1	45	18
	1971–72		33	11	5	3	9	3	47	17
	1972–73		25	9	1	0	3	1	29	10
Career total			461	170	65	22	70	25	596	217

Honours

Ajax

• Eredivisie (8): 1956–57, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73
• KNVB Cup: 1960–61, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72
• European Cup: 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73
• Intertoto Cup: 1962
• European Supercup: 1972, 1973
• Intercontinental Cup: 1972

See also

• List of Jewish footballers
• List of select Jewish association football players

References

1. "Sjaak Swart". www.footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
2. Buchheister, Hendrik (4 October 2013). "Football: Why Tottenham and Ajax Fans Have a Jewish Identity". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
3. Ajax, the Dutch, the War: The Strange Tale of Soccer During Europe's Darkest ... - Simon Kuper
4. Quixano, Jordi (2 November 2014). "Escribimos parte de la historia del fútbol" [We wrote part of the history of football]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 January 2016.
5. "Sjaak Swart: the forgotten genius of an Ajax legend"
6. Mister Ajax: de eeuwige jeugd van Sjaak Swart - Raymond Bouwman
7. Stokkermans, Karel (5 February 2010). "Sjaak Swart – International Appearances". RSSSF.