{"id":39,"date":"2011-11-17T21:56:34","date_gmt":"2011-11-17T21:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stadiumguide.nl\/?p=39"},"modified":"2012-06-20T18:04:33","modified_gmt":"2012-06-20T18:04:33","slug":"demeer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stadiumguide.com\/demeer\/","title":{"rendered":"De Meer"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Club: AFC Ajax | Opening: 1934 | Closing: 1996 | Final capacity: 19,000 | Maximum capacity: 29,500<\/p>\n
For over 60 years AFC Ajax played its home matches at stadium De Meer.<\/p>\n
De Meer opened on the 9th<\/sup> of December 1934 with a friendly match between Ajax and French side Stade Francais (5-1). It had an initial capacity of 22,000. <\/p>\n The stadium changed little over the years. Some small extensions brought capacity to a maximum of 29,500 and roofs were installed on the stands at the short ends. In its latter years capacity decreased again to 19,000 due to the implementation of safety measures.<\/p>\n Due to its limited capacity most of Ajax’s European matches were played at the much larger Olympic Stadium, which could house over 60,000 fans.<\/p>\n A total of 5 matches of the Dutch national team were played at De Meer, all won by the home side.<\/p>\n In the late 1980s and early 1990s it however became increasingly clear that Ajax would need a new stadium to be able to successfully compete internationally, and in the early 1990s construction of the Amsterdam ArenA<\/a> began.<\/p>\n Ajax played its last match at De Meer on the 26th of April 1996. The league match against Willem II was won 5-1 and included a hattrick by Finidi George.<\/p>\n De Meer was located in the south-eastern part of the city of Amsterdam, in the Watergraafsmeer area. Following Ajax\u2019s departure the stadium was demolished and replaced by residential housing and a park. No signs of the past stadium remain, however the new streets have been named after famous football stadiums elsewhere. This has, for example, resulted in an Anfieldroad and Wembleylaan.<\/p>\n