Richard Sneekes
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| Richard Sneekes | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richard Sneekes | |
| Date of birth | October 30, 1968 | |
| Place of birth |  Amsterdam, Netherlands |
|
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Hinckley United | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1980–1984 | Ajax Amsterdam | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1984–1989 1989–1990 1990–1994 1994–1996 1996–2001 2001 2001–2002 2002–2003 2007 |
Ajax Amsterdam Volendam Fortuna Sittard Bolton Wanderers West Bromwich Albion Stockport County Hull City Herfolge BK Hinckley United |
3(0) 31(7) 126(20) 71(11) 251(34) 10(0) 25(0) ?(?) 3(0) |
| National team | ||
| 1982–1984 1988–1989 |
Netherlands Schoolboys |
22 (0) 2 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Richard Sneekes (born 30 October 1968 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch former footballer, who played as a midfielder.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
[edit] Ajax Amsterdam and Fortuna Sittard
Sneekes started as a Youth player at Ajax Amsterdam, and made 22 appearances for Netherlands National Schoolboys. He made his debut for Ajax at the age of 16, and broke through into the Netherlands U21 team, but never quite fulfilled his potential for the club and was transferred out at the age of 21.
After a short spell at Volendam Sneekes signed for Fortuna Sittard and spent four years at the club before moving to England.
[edit] Bolton Wanderers
Sneekes first came to prominence in England when he signed for Bolton Wanderers in August 1994 for £200,000. He was part of their team that won promotion to the Premier League that season, but was a casualty the following season when Bolton struggled in the Premier League and was transferred shortly before the end of the season.
[edit] West Bromwich Albion
Alan Buckley signed the Dutchman for West Bromwich Albion in March 1996 for £400,000. Despite Buckley claiming it would be a while before he made any difference, Sneekes almost immediately became a cult hero at The Hawthorns. Quite literally an overnight sensation, and many of the Baggies crowd took to wearing long blond wigs as gestures of worship - even the club shop was selling them. Sneekes finished his first season with ten goals from thirteen games, arguably for some Albion fans saving them from relegation. Sneekes spent seven seasons at West Brom before finally being transferred at the start of the 2001–02 season.
[edit] Stockport, Hull and Herfolge
He moved to Stockport County on a free transfer in September 2001[1], but stayed just two months[2] before a move to Hull City. That move also didn't work out and he left the latter club in May 2002.[3]. A further year was spent with Danish club Herfolge BK, before retiring from the professional game at the age of 34.
[edit] Hinckley United
Sneekes was convinced to come out of retirement following a chance meeting with Hinckley United manager Dean Thomas, at the Hong Kong Sixes tournament in July 2007. Sneekes initially trained with the Conference North club, but then decided to sign for them. However his debut was put on hold as his International Clearance was sought after last playing in Denmark.[4] He eventually made his debut in Hinckley's 4-2 FA Cup win over Grantham Town in September 2007. However, a disastrous start for Hinckley United in the league meant that Sneekes was released, after playing only three games for the club, in October 2007.[5] Sneekes immediately went back into retirement, saying "The fact that I was not really enjoying it meant that it became too much of a chore to do it".[6]
In October 2007 Sneekes' daughter Melissa won Miss Netherlands, thus qualifying for Miss World 2007.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ "Stockport snap up Sneekes", BBC Sport, 2001-09-04. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ "Sneekes in County exit", BBC Sport, 2001-11-21. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ "Sneekes leaves Hull", BBC Sport, 2002-05-22. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ "Red tape stops Sneekes", Heartland Evening News, 2007-09-18. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
- ^ "Thomas continues with his hitlist", Hinckley United Independent, 2007-10-19. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- ^ Sneekes, Richard (2007-10-27), “Richard Sneekes' column”, Albion (West Bromwich Albion Matchday Magazine) (CRE8, for West Bromwich Albion) vol. 99 (iss. 9): pp70–71
- ^ "Melissa Sneekes nieuwe Miss Nederland", De Telegraaf, 2007-10-07. Retrieved on 2007-10-28. (Dutch)
