Royston Drenthe

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Royston Drenthe
Personal information
Full name	Royston Drenthe
Date of birth	April 8, 1987
Place of birth	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Feyenoord Rotterdam
Number	24
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2006–present	Feyenoord Rotterdam	18 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 January 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Royston Drenthe (born April 08, 1987) is a Dutch footballer who currently plays for Feyenoord Rotterdam. Drenthe mainly plays as a left back, but often rushes forward. That in combination with his determination and kicking technique makes him also suitable for the left winger or left forward positions.

Contents 1 Youth 2 Feyenoord youth career 3 Feyenoord first team 4 Statistics

[edit] Youth

Royston Drenthe was born in Rotterdam and grew up in the western part of the city. He has no brothers or sisters, but always had several people around him. He spent lots of time with his uncle and aunt who lived across the street. Their two daughters are like sisters to him and he has their names tattood on his body.

As a kid he was always on the streets, playing football or just making fun with his friends. His nephew who lived in the same street told his parents that they might wanted to make Drenthe a member of the football department of Neptunus, which they did, although he did not want to in the first place. In two weeks time he was promoted from the sixth to the second team of the F-youth system at the club. With this F2 team he became champions immediately and was also asked to play in the championship decisive match for the F1 team that season. He started from the beginning and Neptunus won.

The next year he played for the E2 team and was promoted to the E1 three months later. With the E1 he again became champions of their league. Feyenoord Rotterdam scouts had seen him play several times and asked him to join their club, which he did.

[edit] Feyenoord youth career

At Feyenoord he came into the D2 team, where also Tim Vincken and Gianni Zuiverloon were part of. Drenthe played mainly as a left winger and was improving year by year. Together with Vincken and Zuiverloon he moved from D2 to D1 and later to C3, where he played for two years due to an age range change in the system. Eventually he was promoted to the C1 team, which was coached by Henk Fräser. At this point Drenthe faced some problems. Still as a C player he was invited to join the B squad on a trip to Switzerland. Drenthe misbehaved during this trip, which coach Marcel Bout disliked and wanted him to leave the club. Thanks to technical director Rob Baan Drenthe was able to stay and only was temporary suspended by the club. After his suspension he played some more time in the C-team before moving to the B-team where he again faced Marcel Bout as his coach.

Bout hardly used Drenthe in his line-up, but mostly Darryl van der Veer instead. Later, at the end of the season he played some more time, but was named as one of a total of eleven players who were having a questionable future at the club. Drenthe then decided to switch teams and moved to Feyenoord's feeder club Excelsior Rotterdam.

The two years he played at Excelsior he learned a lot. Coach Marco van Lochem wanted to try him as a left back, which turned out to be a success. Drenthe seemed to be a talent at this position and became a team regular. With his new team he played at Varkenoord (Feyenoord's youth sport center) with Tim Vincken as his opponent. In the second half he played as a left winger and hit the post in the dying minutes of a match ending in 2-2. He impressed the Feyenoord coaches and he was asked to join them again.

[edit] Feyenoord first team

In the 2005/06 season he reached the A1 team of Feyenoord, managed by his former coach Henk Fräser. Fräser honoustly told him he had to fight for his position with his team mate Mohammed Hammouti. During the match for the Super Cup Fräser started with Hammouti as the left back, while Drenthe came in as a substitute at the right side of the pitch. Several minutes later Drenthe made a mistake and the opponent scored a goal. During the Otten Cup, a youth tournament at PSV Eindhoven he played the first two matches, but was on the bench in the third. This third match was lost 4-1 and in the next match against Ajax Amsterdam he played again. As a left winger during this match he scored three goals. Since that match he always played and even became captain of the team. In the meantime he also became a team regular in Feyenoord's second team. From this moment on he felt he could probably make it as a professional footballer.

Drenthe was offered a professional contract not much later. That same week he won an away match versus Ajax' second team 1-5 and was asked to train with Feyenoord's first team for the first time in his life. He played a few more times in youth and second team before manager Erwin Koeman eventually brought him in his regular squad. He made his debut in the match against Vitesse in the Gelredome and finished the season with a total of three professional matched played.

In the 2006-07 season Feyenoord signed Belgian international player Philippe Léonard at Drenthe's position, while Pascal Bosschaart was also still part of the squad. Due to the injury of Léonard and the switch of Bosschaart to play for ADO Den Haag Drenthe was awarded a chance, which he grabbed immediately. In a short time Drenthe became a fans' favourite player, being one of the few positive highlights in a dramatic season for the club.

[edit] Statistics

Season	Club	Competition	Apps	Goals
2005/06	Feyenoord Rotterdam	Eredivisie	3	0
2006/07	Feyenoord Rotterdam	Eredivisie	15	0
Total			18	0

Feyenoord Rotterdam - Current Squad
2 Saidi | 3 Derijck | 4 Bahia | 6 Lucius | 7 Buijs | 8 Lensky | 9 van Hooijdonk | 10 Hofs | 11 Huysegems | 14 Pardo | 15 Charisteas | 16 Schreuder | 17 Léonard | 18 Greene | 19 Boussaboun | 20 Vlaar | 21 Tiendalli | 22 Kolkka | 23 Abubakari | 24 Drenthe | 26 Davids | 28 Castelen | 29 Vincken | 30 Lodewijks | 31 Timmer | 32 Ekramy | 33 de Guzmán | 39 Collen | Manager: E. Koeman