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Richard Witschge
Dutch footballer

Richard Witschge

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
Dutch footballer
Work field
Gender
Male
Place of birth
Amsterdam
Age
55 years
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Richard Peter Witschge (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈriʃɑrt ˈʋɪtsxə]; born 20 September 1969) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a defensive 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 AFC Ajax's prolific youth ranks, he first appeared in the Eredivisie on 26 October 1986, at only 17, and scored his first league goal fairly a year after. His older brother Rob was already playing there.

After being established in the first team, Witschge joined Johan Cruyff's FC Barcelona, being fairly played 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.

Subsequently, Witschge represented FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Blackburn Rovers (on loan from March 1995, he played once against West Ham United, as his team won the Premier League), Ajax (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; additionally, he was loaned to Spanish top flight club Deportivo Alavés in the 2001–02 season), amateurs ADO '20 in Heemskerk and Oita Trinita from Japan, retiring in June 2004 at nearly 35 years of age.

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

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 playing for 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.

Personal life

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

Statistics

Club

Club performanceLeague
SeasonClubLeagueAppsGoals
NetherlandsLeague
1986–87AjaxEredivisie20
1987–88101
1988–89140
1989–90282
1990–91330
SpainLeague
1991–92BarcelonaLa Liga230
1992–93172
FranceLeague
1993–94BordeauxLigue 1271
EnglandLeague
1994–95Blackburn RoversPremier League10
FranceLeague
1994–95BordeauxLigue 1171
1995–96337
NetherlandsLeague
1996–97AjaxEredivisie213
1997–98292
1998–99322
1999–2000202
2000–01152
SpainLeague
2001–02AlavésLa Liga261
NetherlandsLeague
2002–03AjaxEredivisie221
2003–04ADO '20Topklasse??
JapanLeague
2004Oita TrinitaJ1 League90
CountryNetherlands22615
Spain663
France779
England10
Japan90
Total37927

International

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

Honours

Ajax
  • UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1986–87; Runner-up 1987–88
  • Eredivisie: 1995–96, 1997–98
  • KNVB Cup: 1986–87, 1997–98, 1998–99
  • Johan Cruijff Shield: 2002
Barcelona
  • European Cup: 1991–92
  • UEFA Super Cup: 1992
  • La Liga: 1991–92, 1992–93
Bordeaux
  • UEFA Cup: Runner-up 1995–96

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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