John Achterberg

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Personal information
John Achterberg
Full name	John Achterberg
Date of birth	July 8, 1971 (1971-07-08) (age 36)
Place of birth	Utrecht, Netherlands
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2+¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Tranmere Rovers
Number	24
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1996 1996-1998 1998-	NAC Breda Eindhoven Trammere Rovers	9 (0) 38 (0) 244 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 August 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

John Achterberg (born July 8, 1971 in Utrecht) is a Dutch footballer currently goalkeeper for Tranmere Rovers in England. He is Tranmere's longest serving current player and has become something of a legend amongst Tranmere's fans. Achterberg is also renown for being found regularly in the club gym an hour before his teammates arrive for training.^{[citation needed]}

The 6ft 1in shot-stopper first signed for Tranmere Rovers, in 1998 after a successful trial from FC Utrecht as a replacement for the Everton bound Steve Simonsen and was thrown into the first team immediately due to an injury to Danny Coyne, making his debut against Swindon Town on September 25th that year. Achterberg then deservedly cemented his place as number 1 at Rovers after Coyne's subsequent transfer to Grimsby in 1999. He became part of the giant killing cup teams that defeated such opponents as Everton, Southampton and other big teams. Achterberg's proficiency in goal was exemplified by the 20 clean sheets he kept during the 2003-04 season under the stewardship of Brian Little. One of his more memorable performances was against Millwall in an FA Cup quarter final at The New Den which was televised on BBC 1. The game finished 0-0 but was largely dominated by Millwall and John managed to save a crucial penalty from Kevin Muscat in the 75th minute despite having to play through injury.

Achterberg's 2005-06 season was less successful. After spending most of the season sidelined with injuries, he was replaced by Steve Wilson and Dino Seremet (on loan from Luton), neither of which played with much conviction.

Achterberg's chances of re-establishing himself as Tranmere's first choice goalkeeper in 2006/07 were hampered by the signing and good form of veteran journeyman Gavin Ward. Later in the season injury to Ward gave Achterberg a chance but a re-occurrence of his own injury problems saw him sit out the closing months of the season with his contract set to expire in May.

He was released by Tranmere on the 25/05/07, resulting in uproar from many Tranmere fans who believed Achterberg deserved a testimonial game, despite him falling just short of the ten years' service usually required to earn a testimonial at the club. But on the 31/05/07 he was given a 2 year coaching/player contract with Tranmere which was down to negotiations between the club and player, and also influenced by an online petition by Tranmere fans which gained over 3000 signatures. Many fans see it as an even toss up between John and Eric Nixon as the clubs greatest ever goalkeeper.

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Personal details and statistics

v • d • e Tranmere Rovers F.C. – current squad

1 Coyne • 3 Tremarco • 4 McLaren • 5 Cansdell-Sheriff • 6 Kay • 8 Zola • 9 I. Moore • 10 Greenacre • 11 Ahmed • 12 Jennings • 14 Chorley • 15 Goodison • 17 Taylor • 19 Davies • 20 Henry • 23 Shuker • 24 Achterberg • 25 Curran • 26 Holmes • Manager: R. Moore