Gerard Wiekens

Gerard Wiekens (born 25 February 1973) is a former Dutch footballer who played for Veendam of the Eerste Divisie. Wiekens was born in Oude Pekela. He usually played as a defender, but could also play in midfield or as a sweeper.

Club career

Wiekens made his professional debut with Veendam in the 1990–91 season, and went on to make 26 appearances in his first season. He stayed at Veendam for nine seasons, and was named as club captain at the age of 20. In 1997 Wiekens made a £500,000 move to English club Manchester City, who were then playing in the First Division. Wiekens made his debut for Manchester City on the opening day of the 1997–98 season, scoring in a 2–2 draw with Portsmouth. Wiekens was a first team regular for five seasons, and in each of them Manchester City were either relegated or promoted, first suffering relegation to Division Two, then achieving consecutive promotions to reach the FA Premier League, before being relegated and promoted again.

Wiekens was Manchester City's Player of the Year for the 1998–99 season, a season in which he missed just four games. Wiekens lost his first team place during the 2001–02 season, and subsequently made only sporadic appearances for Manchester City. His final appearance for Manchester City was in August 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in a UEFA Cup match against TNS. He was released by Manchester City in May 2004, and rejoined his former club Veendam.

In September 2005, Wiekens broke his leg while playing for Veendam against Omniworld, an injury which was blamed on the artificial pitch on which the match took place.^[1]

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