Board
Alex Kroes: Managing Director
Kroes (Utrecht, 23 September 1974) is a business economics graduate and co-founder of Sports Entertainment Group, a large international firm of business agents: mainly in football, but also in other sports. From February 2019 to August 2022, Kroes served as (major) shareholder of Go Ahead Eagles and between December 2022 and September 2023, he was employed by AZ as director of International Football Strategy. Kroes went through Ajax's youth training from the age of nine to 19 as a player. He has since been a member of the Ajax club for more than 30 years and is still active as a footballer with Ajax's Saturday league.
Menno Geelen: Commercial Director (executive)
Menno Geelen (Huizen, 22/01/1982) studied Business Administration at Radboud University in Nijmegen. Geelen has been working for Ajax since the summer of 2010. Before that, he worked for Eyeworks Sport and Sportmarketingbureau Trefpunt. At Ajax he worked for two years as Head of Sponsorship, and has been responsible for the entire commercial department the last four years.
On 1 November, 2016, Geelen joined the board of Ajax as Commercial Director (ex-officio). He was appointed executive director under the Articles of Association at the Shareholder General Meeting on 16 November, 2018.
Susan Lenderink: Finance Director
Susan Lenderink (Warnsveld, 30/08/1977) studied accountancy at the University of Amsterdam, where she also completed postgraduate training to become an IFAC Registered Controller. She started her career in 2000 with PricewaterhouseCoopers as an accountant.
In 2003 she switched to De Bijenkorf, where she performed various financial and commercial roles, eventually joining the board in 2012 as CFO. Susan Lenderink joined the board of Ajax as Finance Director on 1 July 2019.
Marijn Beuker: Director of Football
Marijn Beuker (Arnhem, September 21, 1984) studied, among other places, at the Cruyff University. In 2007, he began as a coordinator of talent development at AZ. Then, from 2013 to 2021, he worked within the Alkmaar club in the role of Head of Football Development & Strategy. At the end of 2021, he joined Queen's Park FC as Director of Football.
The 39-year-old Beuker reached an agreement with Ajax for a contract that runs from December 1, 2023, to July 1, 2028. He is responsible for the youth academy, all directly supportive disciplines, and for the Scouting and Football Analytics departments.
Supervisory Board
Michael van Praag
Michael van Praag (Amsterdam, September 28, 1947) has been chairperson of the Supervisory Board since November 17, 2023. His term of appointment is three years until the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in 2026. He was connected to Ajax as a board member between 1989 and 2003. Under his chairmanship, Ajax won the UEFA Champions League in 1995, and the club moved to the Amsterdam ArenA, now known as the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
Van Praag has multiple additional functions: moderator of UEFA Academy, member of the Supervisory board of the Acibadem International Medical Center, board member of Esther Vergeer Foundation, and ambassador Nierstichting.
Leo van Wijk
Leo van Wijk (Amsterdam, October 18, 1946) was part of the Supervisory Board between 2012 and 2020 and chairperson of the administrative body between 2016 and 2018. Van Wijk joined the Supervisory Board on November 17, 2023, with a term of appointment of three years. Van Wijk was awarded the title of Honorary Member of Ajax in 2021. He had been a Member of Merit since 2000.
The 77-year-old Amsterdam native had several top positions at KLM. In 2003, the fusion between AirFrance and KLM was settled by Van Wijk on behalf of the Dutch airline. Furthermore, he was chairperson of Skyteam, a collaboration between twenty airlines.
Between 2007 and 2012, Van Wijk was a board member at the sports organisation NOC*NSF.
Danny Blind
Danny Blind (August 1, 1961) worked for Ajax as a board member from April 23, 2018, until August 4, 2021. The former football player had a contract at Ajax between 1986 and 1998. After his footballing career, he had multiple board and coaching positions within the club. Blind joined the Supervisory Board on December 27, 2023, with an appointment term of four years.
Blind is a board member and ambassador of the foundation Spieren voor Spieren and an ambassador for the foundation Niet Blind and the Food Bank. He is also a football analyst at Ziggo Sport.
Annette Mosman
Annette Mosman (August 23, 1967) is chairperson of the Supervisory Board at APG. She formerly worked at KPMG Accountants, KPMG Consulting (now Atos Consulting) and Generali Netherlands.
Her additional functions are board member NOCNSF, member Supervisory Board Jeroen Bosch Hospital, board member Stichting TBI and member Supervisory Board Netspar.
Cees van Oevelen
Cees van Oevelen (April 30, 1971) is a notary and managing partner at Greenberg Traurig. As a football player, he played in the youth and amateurs at Ajax. Over the last years, he had multiple voluntary board positions at the club, at the Ajax Foundation, for example. He was a member of the board of directors but gave up his membership after formally joining the Supervisory board.
Georgette Schlick
Georgette Schlick (August 4, 1971) is CEO at Fremantle Netherlands and Belgium. She was CEO at DutchView (now NEP) and SBS Netherlands (now Talpa Network). One of her additional functions is a role as commissioner at SD Worx.
Association
The AFC Ajax association has over 700 members with voting rights and possesses 73% of AFC Ajax limited company shares.
Members of the Association are:
Junior, senior and former amateur football players
Members of Merit
Honorary members
Extraordinary members
Members based on other qualities
All players of Lucky Ajax
Board of Directors
Ernst Boekhorst (chairman)
John Busink
Marjon Eijlers
Giovanni Fränkel
Sirik Goeman
Pim van Dord
René Zegerius
Edo Ophof (counselor)
Christian Visser (counselor)
Annual General Meeting
All members are welcome to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM). However, junior members and extraordinary members are not allowed to vote.
The meeting is held four times a year. The chairperson is Ernst Boekhorst, the secretary is Ed Lefeber.
Bordjesclub
The 'Bordjesclub' is accessible to everyone who has been a member of the association for over 25 years. The club was founded in 1946 and has 130 members.