OneFootball x Kensington: Chaos at Ajax is down to the leadership | OneFootball

As part of OneFootball's collaboration series with Shoot Music we're interviewing an artist every week about their love of football.

This week it's Casper Starreveld, guitarist for Dutch rock band Kensington and huge Ajax fan. 

Not only is Casper a supporters of Ajax, Kensington made history in 2018 as the only Dutch band to play a sold-out show at the club's iconic Johan Cruijff ArenA to 60,000 fans

When did you start supporting Ajax and why?

Around 1992 or ‘93, I was about six or seven years old, and the golden Louis van Gaal years inspired me a lot as a kid. First the UEFA Cup victory with Stefan Pettersson, but my big hero was Jari Litmanen, especially after the legendary Champions League campaign and victory in ‘94/‘95. I was starting to play football myself, and all I wanted was to be like Litmanen. Beautiful player, outstanding and underrated at the same time. A true Ajax legend.

What is your favourite memory of supporting Ajax as a child?

Patrick Kluivert scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final in ‘95. My family had a friend's dog over for a couple of days and he was so startled by our sudden cheers when we all jumped, that he bit my brother's leg! Chaos haha.

Close second is the Real Madrid away game in 2019. I watched it in a recording studio in Canada at midday, which was weird, but what a game.

It's now four years since Ajax were last Eredivisie champions - what's happened?

Many reasons I guess. Great talent leaves too soon. We need at least a couple of great years from young talent such as Jorrel Hato. Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Donny van de Beek etc. There's no stable leadership within the club and a lot of chaos. Different opinions and vision. We also haven't brought in players that really raised the level or culture within the club, like Dušan Tadic or Hakim Ziyech did for instance.

On the other hand you've got a PSV that have everything together. 

How do Ajax get back to the top of the Dutch game?

Keep investing heavily in the youth academy, that is in our DNA. Make sure we get that golden combination of young talent, supervised by seasoned veterans who are still in their prime - Daley Blind was great in that role. A good head coach with a strong vision, preferably attacking, but not unrealistic. I liked Francesco Farioli with his passion and drive, I think he could have done great things if he stayed.

Looking ahead to next season, who do you think is the right coach to lead the team in 2026/27?

I’m still rooting for Kjetil Knutsen. After a phenomenal campaign with Bodø/Glimt he’ll be hard to get, but let’s aim high!

Kensington’s new single, 'Livin' For', is out now.

You can follow the band on Instagram here: @kensingtonband