Ruud Hesp

Ruud Hesp
Personal information
Full nameRudolfus Hubertus Hesp
Date of birth31 October 1965
Place of birthBussum, Netherlands
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1985–1987Haarlem2(0)
1987–1994Fortuna Sittard238(0)
1994–1997Roda102(0)
1997–2000Barcelona93(0)
2000–2002Fortuna Sittard62(0)
National team
1996-1998Netherlands0(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Rudolfus 'Ruud' Hubertus Hesp[1] (born 31 October 1965) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Born in Bussum, North Holland, Hesp started his career in the 1985–86 season at HFC Haarlem. After two years where he rarely played he moved to another side in the Eredivisie, Fortuna Sittard, where he would remain the following seven years; during his first ten professional campaigns (one with Fortuna was spent in the second division), he did not miss a single game.

After three seasons with Roda JC Hesp joined Spain's FC Barcelona, as the Catalans were being managed by countryman Louis van Gaal, also newly-signed. He played in 73 out of 76 possible La Liga matches as Barça won back-to-back leagues (in 1998, the double befell).

In his last season at the Camp Nou Hesp split first-choice status with youth graduate Francesc Arnau, then moved back to the Netherlands and Fortuna, retiring at almost 37 in 2002. Subsequently, he joined FC Groningen as a goalkeeper's coach.

In the 2013 summer Hesp left Groningen to join PSV Eindhoven, in the same capacity.[2]

International career

Although Hesp was picked by the Netherlands for its UEFA Euro 1996 and 1998 FIFA World Cup squads, he never actually won a cap for the national team, acting as understudy to both first-choice Edwin van der Sar and his substitute Ed de Goey.

He also worked with the national team as a goalkeeper coach.

Personal

Hesp's younger brother, Danny, was also a professional footballer. A defender, the pair shared teams in 1994–95 at Roda.

References

  1. ↑ "Foreign players in the Spanish League (First Division)". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  2. ↑ "Ruud Hesp and John Feskens join PSV backroom staff". PSV's official website. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.

External links