| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jakob Stam | ||
| Date of birth | 17 July 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Kampen, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| ?–1992 | DOS Kampen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1992–1993 | FC Zwolle | 32 | (1) |
| 1993–1995 | Cambuur Leeuwarden | 66 | (3) |
| 1995 | Willem II | 19 | (1) |
| 1996–1998 | PSV Eindhoven | 76 | (12) |
| 1998–2001 | Manchester United | 79 | (1) |
| 2001–2004 | Lazio | 70 | (3) |
| 2004–2006 | Milan | 42 | (1) |
| 2006–2007 | Ajax | 31 | (1) |
| Total | 415 | (23) | |
| National team | |||
| 1996–2004 | Netherlands | 67 | (3) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Jakob "Jaap" Stam (born 17 July 1972 in Kampen) is a retired Dutch football player who was twice voted best defender in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League.[2] He played for several European clubs including PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, S.S. Lazio, A.C. Milan and AFC Ajax before retiring in October 2007. Stam is currently the assistant manager of Art Langeler at his former club FC Zwolle.
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Stam started his career with local amateur football club DOS Kampen. On 15 August 1992, Stam made his professional debut for FC Zwolle in a 1–1 draw against SC Heracles in the Eerste Divisie. He became a first team regular right away and moved to Eredivisie side Cambuur Leeuwarden for the following season, but relegated in his first season which brought him back into the Eerste Divisie. Two seasons at Cambuur earned him a transfer to Eredivisie side Willem II. At Willem II he impressed at the Eredivisie level straight away, which meant his final breakthrough. A shock 1–0 home victory over Ajax led to Stam's transfer to PSV Eindhoven in the same season in which they eventually won the KNVB Cup, his first professional trophy.
Stam was a key player for PSV in the 1996–97 season, as the team won the Eredivisie Championship and the Johan Cruijff-schaal; Stam won the VVCS Footballer of the Year award.
In 1998, Stam became the then most expensive Dutch football player in history and the most expensive defender in history, when Manchester United bought him for £10.6 million.
Stam spent three seasons at Manchester United, during which time United won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League. He scored his only goal for the club in a 6-2 away victory against Leicester City.[3]
Early in the 2001–02 season, Stam was controversially sold to Lazio in Italy, after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly furious with allegations Stam had made in his autobiography Head to Head about himself and the club. Stam made numerous statements in the book about his views on opposing players, and notoriously alleged that Ferguson's approach to buy him was done without the permission of PSV Eindhoven.[4] Laurent Blanc was signed as his replacement.
However, Alex Ferguson has since described the decision to sell Stam: "At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit. We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre-back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. But in playing terms it was a mistake. He is still playing for Ajax at a really good level."[5] On the financial report Manchester United announced the fee was £15.3 million.[6]
During his time with Lazio, Stam was found guilty of having the banned steroid nandrolone in his system following a Serie A game,[7] and received a five-month ban, which was eventually reduced by a month after appeals.[8] He is the second Lazio player suspended in 2001, after Fernando Couto.
In his last season at the club, he won the Coppa d'Italia with Lazio.
Stam joined Milan after Euro 2004. He reached his second Champions League final with the Rossoneri in 2005, but was a runner-up after his team was defeated by Liverpool in a penalty shootout.[9]
On 30 January 2006, it was announced that he would return to the Eredivisie and play for Ajax, where he signed a two-year contract for €2.5 million transfer fee. Stam was named team captain upon his arrival at the club. In his first season, he won both the Johan Cruijff-schaal and the KNVB Cup, and another Johan Cruijff-schaal was added to his trophies at the start of the 2007–08 season.
On 29 October 2007, he announced his retirement from professional football with immediate effect after playing six league games for Ajax in Eredivisie 2007-08.
In October 2008 Stam returned to Manchester United as a scout for the club, responsible for most of South America.[10][11]
Stam made his debut for the Netherlands on 24 April 1996, in the 1–0 defeat to Germany. He was also an important player in the Dutch team that finished fourth in the 1998 FIFA World Cup
During the Euro 2000, he reached another semi finals with the Dutch team, hosted in his home country and Belgium. Stam missed an important penalty kick in the penalty shootout in the semi-finals, which led to defeat against Italy.
Stam reached his third semi finals in an international competition with his nation during Euro 2004 in Portugal and retired from international football after the tournament. The reason cited for his international retirement was that he wanted to focus on his new team Milan and his family.
In total he played 67 matches for the Netherlands, scoring 3 goals.
PSV Eindhoven
Manchester United
Lazio
Milan
Ajax
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Netherlands | League | KNVB Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1992–93 | Zwolle | Eerste Divisie | 32 | 1 | – | |||||||
| 1993–94 | Cambuur | Eredivisie | 33 | 1 | – | |||||||
| 1994–95 | Eerste Divisie | 33 | 2 | – | ||||||||
| 1995–96 | Willem II Tilburg | Eredivisie | 19 | 1 | – | |||||||
| 1995–96 | PSV Eindhoven | Eredivisie | 14 | 1 | – | |||||||
| 1996–97 | 33 | 7 | – | |||||||||
| 1997–98 | 29 | 4 | – | |||||||||
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1998–99 | Manchester United | Premier League | 30 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 50 | 1 |
| 1999–2000 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 47 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Italy | League | Coppa Italia | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2001–02 | Lazio | Serie A | 13 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2002–03 | 28 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2003–04 | 29 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2004–05 | Milan | Serie A | 17 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2005–06 | 25 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Netherlands | League | KNVB Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2006–07 | Ajax | Eredivisie | 25 | 1 | – | |||||||
| 2007–08 | 6 | 0 | – | |||||||||
| Total | Netherlands | 224 | 18 | – | ||||||||
| England | 79 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 120 | 1 | ||
| Italy | 112 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Career total | 415 | 23 | ||||||||||
| Netherlands national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1996 | 4 | 0 |
| 1997 | 6 | 1 |
| 1998 | 14 | 1 |
| 1999 | 4 | 1 |
| 2000 | 8 | 0 |
| 2001 | 8 | 0 |
| 2002 | 4 | 0 |
| 2003 | 9 | 0 |
| 2004 | 10 | 0 |
| Total | 67 | 3 |
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