THE INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS FOR AJAX ROLE

If you have been reading the VAFA website then you would have known that AJAX had appointed Leigh McQuillen as their senior coach for the 2013 season, however you may not have known about the number of international candidates that McQuillen beat off to secure the top job. 
This story appeared in Daryl Timms’ Sport Confidential section of the Herald Sun last week. 
Double Dutch Response
It was a case of find and seek for Victorian Amateur Football Association club AJAX when it recently advertised for a senioor coach to replace the legendary Bernie Sheehy. 
Club secretary Peter Kagan secured a deal with an online employment form to advertise the position. 
The club was inundated with applications from places such as South Korea, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. 
Kagan received so many responses he had to take the ad down. 
Why would applicants from all these countries want to coach a suburban football club?
It seems they presumed the role was with Dutch soccer powerhouse Ajax Amsterdam. 
The confusion didn’t end there. 
When the VAFA tweeted news of the appointment of former Old Trinity assistant Leigh McQuillen as AJAX coach, the tweet was retweeted by @UEFAnl, the official UEFA twitter account for the Netherlands. 
It raised the idea that an easy way to get exposure for Australian rules on the  the international stage would be to start naming our clubs after some of Europe’s giant soccer clubs. 
Any new clubs forming might consider calling themselves FC Barcelona.