Having waltzed to the title during the previous season, Ajax suffered a complete collapse this season to finish 6th, 23 points adrift of champions Feyenoord. This was the club's lowest finish since 1965. The club also suffered poor form in Europe, finishing bottom of their Champions League group stage. Manager Morten Olsen had paid for the club's poor form in December with his job; his replacement, promoted reserve-team coach Jan Wouters, was unable to reverse the team's fortunes but managed to lead Ajax to win the KNVB Cup.
Players[]
First-team squad[]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
^The transfer for Grønkjær was completed in October 1997, but the player remained at his club until the start of the new Dutch football season.
Notes[]
^Mensah was born in Koforidua, Ghana, but also qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and represented the Netherlands at U-21 level.
^Hosé was born in Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles (now Curaçao), but also qualified to represent the Netherlands internationally and represented the Netherlands at U-21 level before making his international debut for the Netherlands Antilles in 2004.
^Demchenko was born in Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), but also qualified to represent Russia internationally and represented Russia at U-19, U-20 and U-21 level.