Previously unseen footage of Johan Cruyff is being broadcast on Dutch television on the ninth anniversary of the footballer’s death after being discovered in the archive of an amateur filmmaker.

The films, shot with an 8mm camera, included the earliest known colour images of Cruyff, playing as a 17-year-old in a junior match between Ajax and Volendam in 1964.

Louis van Schoonhoven, a fan from Amsterdam, made the films of Cruyff between 1963 and 1973, a period in which he won the European Cup three times in a row with Ajax.

But their existence was only known to a handful of people, including Van Schoonhoven’s brother Jack. “He kept it to himself,” Jack told NOS. “You had to be a very close friend before he’d offer to show them to you.”

The footage is unique for being in colour at a time when television broadcasts were still filmed in black and white. Extracts are being shown in a special episode of sports documentary programme Andere Tijden Sport at 8.30pm on Monday.

Van Schoonhoven’s archive includes pictures of the famous “match in the fog” on December 7, 1966, when the unfancied team from Amsterdam stunned Liverpool with a 5-1 win in the European Cup, with Cruyff scoring the second goal.

While thick fog hampered the official coverage, Van Schoonhoven managed to film the action from a prime spot behind one of the goals.

Cruyff, widely acknowledged as the Netherlands’ all-time greatest footballer, went on to play for Barcelona and also made 48 international appearances in his career, scoring 33 goals and leading the Dutch team to the 1974 World Cup final.

He died on March 24, 2016, at the age of 68 after developing lung cancer.