Romeo Zondervan

Romeo Zondervan
Personal information
Full name Romeo Zondervan
Date of birth (1959-03-04) 4 March 1959
Place of birth Paramaribo, Suriname
Playing position Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1978 FC Den Haag 36 (1)
1978–1982 FC Twente 85 (1)
1982–1984 West Bromwich Albion 84 (5)
1984–1992 Ipswich Town 274 (13)
1992–1995 NAC Breda 26 (0)
National team
1981 Netherlands 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Romeo Zondervan (born 4 March 1959) is a former professional Dutch footballer. He was born in Paramaribo in Suriname, and played his early football with FC Den Haag and Twente Enschede before joining West Bromwich Albion, for whom he made 84 appearances.[1] He signed for Ipswich Town in 1984 for £70,000 and went on to make 274 appearances for the club. Then he moved to Dutch club NAC Breda in 1992 and played there until 1995, and then finished his playing career.

Club career

Dutch league clubs

Zondervan started his professional football career in The Netherlands with ADO Den Haag.[2]

Ipswich Town

Zondervan was "discarded" by West Bromwich Albion's new manager, Johnny Giles, and signed for Ipswich, making his debut against Watford in March 1984.[1] During the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons, he captained the club.[3] In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Zondervan stated that "my football days at Ipswich were the best in my career".[4]

International career

Zondervan was selected to play for his country as part of the Dutch qualification campaign for UEFA Euro 1980. His only appearance came in a 3–0 victory over Cyprus in February 1981.[2]

Later career

After retiring as a player, Zondervan went on to scout in Europe for Ipswich under George Burley.[4] He was also the agent for Collins John, whose sale from FC Twente to Fulham came under scrutiny from the Royal Dutch Football Association in 2004. It was believed that Zondervan was not correctly registered with FIFA,[5] but it was later determined that Zondervan was not involved in the transfer.[6]

Personal life

Zondervan is a full qualified pilot.[1] He was arrested at British customs after they discovered a friend of his was carrying pornographic material from The Netherlands. British tabloid, The Sun, referred to him as the "Porno King".[4] He has three sons.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hayes, Dean. The Who's Who of Ipswich Town. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-515-5.
  2. 1 2 "FC Twente '65 Internationals" (in Dutch). FC Twente. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  3. Meston, Tim (6 July 2009). "The 50 greatest Ipswich Town players". The Times. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Starmer-Smith, Charles (9 September 2002). "Total Football". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  5. "Dutch FA probes Fulham deal". BBC Sport. 2 March 2004. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  6. "Fulham in the clear over John move". ESPN. 2 March 2004. Retrieved 2010-05-27.

External links

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