Richard Witschge

Richard Witschge
Witschge in 2013
Personal information
Full name Richard Peter Witschge
Date of birth (1969-09-20) 20 September 1969
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
SDW
Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1991 Ajax 87 (3)
1991–1993 Barcelona 40 (2)
1993–1996 Bordeaux 77 (9)
1995 → Blackburn (loan) 1 (0)
1996–2003 Ajax 139 (12)
2001–2002 → Alavés (loan) 26 (1)
2003 ADO '20
2004 Oita Trinita 9 (0)
Total 379 (27)
National team
1990–2000 Netherlands 31 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Richard Peter Witschge (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈriʃɑrt ˈʋɪtsxə]; born 20 September 1969) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known for his technique and passing ability.

In an 18-year professional career he played mainly for Ajax, but also represented, amongst other teams, Barcelona. He amassed Eredivisie totals of 226 games and 15 goals, over the course of 11 seasons.

Witschge represented the Dutch national side in one World Cup and one European Championship.

Club career

Witschge was born in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland. A product of local club AFC Ajax's prolific youth ranks under Johan Cruyff, he first appeared in the Eredivisie on 26 October 1986, aged 17 years, and scored his first league goal approximately a year later. His older brother Rob was already playing for Ajax.

After becoming established in the first team, Witschge joined Cruyff's FC Barcelona in 1991. Cruyff later admitted to deliberately overpaying for Witschge, as a favour to Ajax's incoming board of directors headed by his associate Michael van Praag.[1]

At Barcelona Witschge was a squad player[2] as the Catalans won back-to-back La Liga championships. He made his debut in the competition on 14 September 1991, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 home win against Real Zaragoza. An injury ruled him out of the 1992 European Cup Final. He also faced intense competition for playing time, as the three allotted slots for foreign players were usually taken up by Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and Witschge's countryman Ronald Koeman.

Witschge's frustration with this state of affairs at Barcelona led him to take a substantial pay cut in joining FC Girondins de Bordeaux for 18 millions francs in 1993. Initially the move was unsuccessful as Witschge was unhappy with his accommodation and clashed with his coaches over their tactics. Amidst ineffectual performances he was booed by the Bordeaux supporters and eventually dropped from the team.[3]

He agreed to join Blackburn Rovers on loan just ahead of the transfer deadline in March 1995. He played once against West Ham United, as his team won the Premier League title. Witschge had been intended as a replacement for Blackburn's injured left-winger Jason Wilcox, but manager Kenny Dalglish preferred the more conservative option of pushing left-back Graeme Le Saux forward, bringing Jeff Kenna into the defence. Unimpressed Witschge later made an outspoken attack on Blackburn, branding the Lancashire town and its inhabitants "poor and ugly".[4]

Upon his return to Bordeaux he found conditions under a new coach Slavoljub Muslin much more congenial, resulting in a sharp upturn in his form. He scored seven league goals and figured prominently in the team which reached the 1996 UEFA Cup Final, after qualifying for the competition through the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup.[3]

In May 1996 he agreed a return to Ajax, who wanted his experience to bolster the team which had begun to break up in the aftermath of the 1995 European Cup win. In his second spell with his main club, he added more than 150 official appearances, helping the club to two leagues and back-to-back domestic cups. After falling into dispute with veteran coach Co Adriaanse, who preferred young Rafael van der Vaart in Witschge's role, he was loaned to Spanish top flight club Deportivo Alavés for the 2001–02 season.

After leaving Ajax for a second time in 2003 he undertook short spells with amateurs ADO '20 in Heemskerk and Oita Trinita in Japan. He retired in June 2004 at nearly 35 years of age, after a failed trial at Glasgow Rangers.[5]

In 2013, Witschge returned to Ajax as a youth coach.[6]

International career

Witschge earned 31 caps for the Netherlands, in which he scored one goal. He made his debut on 21 February 1990 in a 0–0 friendly draw against Italy, and was picked for the 1990 FIFA World Cup under manager Leo Beenhakker.

However, an injury sustained with Barcelona ruled him out of UEFA Euro 1992 and he did not make another major tournament until Euro 1996, held in England. During this time, his place in the national team was taken by his older brother.[7]

Witschge's initial spell in the national team yielded 19 caps and one goal between February 1990 and March 1992. As he subsequently dropped out of contention there was a perception that he had failed to fulfill his early talent. Leo Beenhakker attributed laziness and immaturity when he bracketed Witschge alongside contemporaries including Bryan Roy in the 'Patat Generatie' (English: Fries Generation), the implication being that they ate junk food instead of focusing on improvement.[8] After an upturn in his fortunes at club level he was recalled to the national team in September 1995 during the Netherlands' faltering UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying campaign.[9] He attended the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying play-off in Liverpool but was not named in the 16-man squad. At the final tournament he was preferred to Edgar Davids, contributing to the latter's frustration and eventual expulsion from the squad.[10]

In September 2000 Witschge returned to the national team after a three-year absence, due to an injury crisis.[11] He won his final cap in a 2–2 home draw with Ireland which dented the Netherlands' qualification prospects for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

Witschge's older brother, Rob, was also a footballer and a midfielder.[12]

Career statistics

Club

[13]

Club performance League
Season Club League AppsGoals
Netherlands League
1986–87AjaxEredivisie20
1987–88101
1988–89140
1989–90282
1990–91330
Spain League
1991–92BarcelonaLa Liga230
1992–93172
France League
1993–94BordeauxLigue 1271
England League
1994–95Blackburn RoversPremier League10
France League
1994–95BordeauxLigue 1171
1995–96337
Netherlands League
1996–97AjaxEredivisie213
1997–98292
1998–99322
1999–2000202
2000–01152
Spain League
2001–02AlavésLa Liga261
Netherlands League
2002–03AjaxEredivisie221
2003–04ADO '20Topklasse??
Japan League
2004Oita TrinitaJ1 League90
CountryNetherlands 22615
Spain 663
France 779
England 10
Japan 90
Total 37927

International

[14]

Netherlands
YearAppsGoals
1990110
199161
199220
199300
199400
199530
199670
199710
199800
199900
200010
Total311

Honours

[15]

Ajax
Barcelona

References

  1. ↑ Cruyff, Johan. My Turn: The Autobiography. Pan Macmillan. p. 137.
  2. ↑ "Witschge o Salinas es la duda" [Doubting between Witschge and Salinas] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 27 November 1992. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 Villepreux, Olivier (2 April 1996). "Witschge, enfant gâté et gâché de la balleLe Néerlandais trouve à Bordeaux un standing qu'il avait cru atteindre trop tôt" (in French). Libération. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  4. ↑ Farrell, Ian (November 2002). "Richard Witschge" (189). When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "Witschge extends Gers trial". BBC. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "Overzicht trainers jeugdopleiding" [Youth coaches overview] (in Dutch). AFC Ajax. 23 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  7. ↑ Serné, Marc (26 May 1992). "Feyenoorder Rob Witschge neemt plaats in van geblesseerde broer Richard; Oranje zoekt scherpte in oefencampagne". NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  8. ↑ van der Linden, Frenk (13 June 1992). ""Ik schop, ik word gemener, ik groei'; Het chagrijn van Richard Witschge" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  9. ↑ Verkammen, Matty (6 September 1995). "Als je faalt in Oranje, dan is de volgende aan de beur" (in Dutch). Trouw. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  10. ↑ Verkammen, Matty (18 June 1996). "'Van de coach kun je het toch nooit winnen'" (in Dutch). Trouw. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "Van Gaal prepara Holanda possível" (in Portuguese). Record (newspaper). 2 September 2000. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  12. ↑ "Football's best brothers: As the Nevilles are reunited, we rank 30 of soccer's most celebrated sets of siblings". Daily Mirror. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Richard Witschge". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  14. ↑ "Richard Witschge". European Football. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  15. ↑ http://www.afc-ajax.info/en/season/1986-87
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