 Under the guidance of Jack Reynolds (Kirwan's successor as of 1915), the club was promoted to the highest level in 1917 and won the Dutch national cup final, defeating VSV 5–0.Ajax went on to win their first national championship in 1918.The championship was secured in Tilburg where they faced Willem II without Jan de Natris, arguably the club's first star player, who missed the train to Tilburg and opted to stay in Amsterdam instead, earning him a fine of ten cents.