The Amsterdam street football tournament was a household name in the city for years, from 1976 to 2017. To celebrate 750 years of Amsterdam, the municipality has revived the tournament: the Cruijff Street League. The tournament is an ode to Johan Cruijff, who also started his football career on the street.
Just like Cruijff, Frank Rijkaard learned to play football on the street as a kid. Little Frank did that on Balboaplein, for example with his buddy Ruud Gullit. “It is the neighborhood where I grew up and always found. It is where we always played football together”.
On the square where he used to play, the children in West play the preliminary rounds today. Amsterdammertjes between 10 and 15 years old will compete with each other in the coming period. The teams that win today continue to the Stadsdelfinale. Eventually the best teams of each district compete against each other on Dam Square on Saturday 5 July.
Sportiness
Part of the tournament is sportiness. Teams can earn points during the match with Fair Play. You can get that by, for example, helping opponents when they fall and do not argue with the referee. If the match ends, the Fair Play points are decisive. The idea is that the Cruijff Street League will return annually.