Winston Bogarde

Winston Bogarde

Bogarde in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Winston Lloyd Bogarde
Date of birth	(1970-10-22) 22 October 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back, left-back
Youth career
	Alexandria '66
	Sparta Rotterdam
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1991	SVV	11	(1)
1990	→ Excelsior (loan)	10	(0)
1991–1994	Sparta Rotterdam	65	(14)
1994–1997	Ajax	62	(6)
1997	AC Milan	3	(0)
1998–2000	Barcelona	41	(4)
2000–2004	Chelsea	9	(0)
Total		201	(26)
International career
1995–2000	Netherlands	20	(0)
Managerial career
2017–2020	Jong Ajax (assistant)
2017	Jong Ajax (interim)
2020–2022	Ajax (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Winston Lloyd Bogarde (born 22 October 1970) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. He was known for his physical strength, and played mostly as a centre-back although he could occasionally play as left-back. ^[1]

He had spells at Ajax, Barcelona and Chelsea. ^[2] With the latter club he garnered worldwide attention when he received little playing time (no Premier League level appearances in his last three seasons combined), and nevertheless insisted on seeing out his lucrative contract. ^[3]

Bogarde represented the Netherlands national team in one World Cup and one European Championship, being an international for five years.

Club career

Early years and Ajax

Born in Rotterdam, Bogarde started his career at SVV in the Eerste Divisie, as a winger, ^[1] then switched to the Eredivisie in summer 1991, playing with hometown club Sparta (he previously had a short loan spell with neighbouring Excelsior in the second division) and scoring a career-best 11 goals in the 1993–94 season as it qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Bogarde signed for Ajax in 1994. After a slow first year – he did not leave the bench in the final of the team's victorious campaign in the UEFA Champions League ^[4] – he became a defensive stalwart.

Milan and Barcelona

A.C. Milan signed Bogarde from Ajax for 1997–98, but he only made three Serie A appearances throughout his short stay. In January 1998, he moved to compatriot Louis van Gaal's Barcelona, playing 19 matches in the second part of the campaign as Barcelona won La Liga and the Copa del Rey. ^[5]

As the Dutch influence at Barcelona was reduced, so was Bogarde's, who only managed one league contest in his first full season, partly due to injuries, ^[6] although he bounced back for a second respectable one (21 games, two goals). ^{[7] [8]}

Chelsea

Bogarde signed for Chelsea in 2000–01, after following the advice of compatriot Mario Melchiot to join him at the Premier League side. ^[9] He was signed when Gianluca Vialli was manager, although the latter had no idea the transfer was happening, it arguably being conducted by director of football Colin Hutchinson – Emerson Thome, also a centre-back, was shipped off to Sunderland; ^{[10] [11]} only weeks after arriving, newly appointed coach Claudio Ranieri wanted the player to leave. ^[12]

According to Bogarde, it would be next to impossible to find a team that would offer him a contract comparable to the one he had at Chelsea: he was astounded at the salary the club had agreed on, as his value depreciated severely due to lack of first-team action, and decided to stay and honour his contract to the letter and appear for training every day, despite being only rarely selected to play. ^[13] In the end, he only appeared 11 times during his four-year tenure, reportedly earning £40,000 a week during this period. ^{[14] [15]}

After playing as a substitute against Ipswich Town on Boxing Day in 2000, ^[16] Bogarde only played one more competitive match before his contract expired in July 2004, featuring from the bench, against Gillingham for that season's League Cup on 6 November 2002. ^[17]

During his spell at Stamford Bridge, the club attempted to sell Bogarde due to his large salary, and demoted him to the reserve and youth teams in an effort to pressure him to leave. ^[18] In response to concurrent UK press criticism, he said:

Why should I throw fifteen million euro away when it is already mine? At the moment I signed it was in fact my money, my contract. Both sides agreed wholeheartedly. I could go elsewhere to play for less, but you have to understand my history to understand I would never do that. I used to be poor as a kid, did not have anything to spend or something to play with. This world is about money, so when you are offered those millions you take them. Few people will ever earn so many. I am one of the few fortunates who do. I may be one of the worst buys in the history of the Premiership, but I don't care. ^[19]

International career

Bogarde (right) with Dennis Bergkamp, Jordi Cruyff and Richard Witschge at Euro 96.

Courtesy of steady performances at Ajax, Bogarde was summoned to UEFA Euro 1996 by Netherlands manager Guus Hiddink, who also included him in the squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. ^[20] A starter in the first competition, he only backed up Arthur Numan in the second.

Bogarde had the chance to feature in his first start at a World Cup match against Brazil in the semi-finals, after starter Numan was suspended in the previous encounter against Argentina, but he sustained a serious shin injury during training and was hospitalised, ^[21] being replaced by Philip Cocu.

Coaching career

On 8 November 2005, 34-year-old Bogarde announced his retirement from professional football. ^[22] He returned to Ajax in the summer of 2017, being named assistant manager at their reserves under former teammate Michael Reiziger. ^{[23] [24]} When the latter took interim charge of the first team following the dismissal of Marcel Keizer, Bogarde took the same role in the second team for a 7–0 home win over Volendam on 22 December 2017. ^[25]

In March 2020, Bogarde was temporarily promoted to the first-team coaching staff by manager Erik ten Hag, as Christian Poulsen was absent due to possible contact with COVID-19; after the 3–1 win at Heerenveen, the upgrade was made permanent. ^[26] In July, he was given a three-year contract in the role. ^[27]

Bogarde was ousted by Ajax on 1 June 2022, with one year remaining on his contract with the national champions. ^[28]

Personal life

Bogarde's nephews, Melayro and Lamare Bogarde, are both footballers and Dutch youth internationals. ^[29]

Honours

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 1994–95, 1995–96
• Dutch Supercup: 1995
• UEFA Champions League: 1994–95
• Intercontinental Cup: 1995
• UEFA Super Cup: 1995

Barcelona

• La Liga: 1997–98, 1998–99
• Copa del Rey: 1997–98
• UEFA Super Cup: 1997

References

1. "Winston Bogarde". BBC . Retrieved 25 September 2009.
2. "¿Qué hacía Bogarde en el Granada-Barça?" [What was Bogarde doing in Granada-Barça?]. Sport (in Spanish). 14 May 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
3. "No way out for Bogarde". UEFA. 8 January 2004. Archived from the original on 16 April 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
4. "Kluivert strikes as Ajax force changing of the guard". UEFA. 24 May 1995. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
5. Soria, Miki (4 April 2014). "La Copa de Hesp y del doblete de Van Gaal" [The Cup of Hesp and Van Gaal's double]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 October 2015.
6. "Cuatro holandeses que fracasaron en el Barcelona" [Four Dutchmen who failed at Barcelona] (in Spanish). Sphera Sports. 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
7. Criado, José (21 November 2016). "Valcarce rememora la hazaña del Málaga CF del 1–2 en el Camp Nou 17 años después" [Valcarce remembers Málaga CF's 1–2 exploit at the Camp Nou 17 years later]. La Opinión de Málaga (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 October 2017.
8. Besa, Ramón (3 April 2000). "El Barça acaba con la leyenda del Piojo" [Barça finish legend of the Louse]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 October 2017.
9. Johnson, William (1 September 2000). "Vialli signs Bogarde". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 12 December 2010.
10. Thomas, Russell (1 September 2000). "Vialli ups the stakes with Bogarde". The Guardian . Retrieved 3 January 2018.
11. Marshall, Adam (2000). "Bogarde move still in pipeline". Sky Sports . Retrieved 3 January 2018.
12. Hanif, Tahira (15 October 2007). "Premier League's biggest transfer flops". Soccer Lens. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
13. Bogarde, Winston. Deze neger buigt voor niemand[This negro bows for no one].
14. Bouwes, Ernst (12 December 2005). "Money for nothing". ESPN Soccernet. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
15. Rice, Simon (25 August 2010). "The worst transfer deals in Premier League history". The Independent . Retrieved 12 December 2014.
16. "Ipswich fightback thwarts Chelsea". BBC Sport. 26 December 2000. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
17. "Cole ends Gills hopes". BBC Sport. 6 November 2002. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
18. "Money for nothing, the history of Winston Bogarde". Red and White Kop. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
19. "Money for nothing, the history of Winston Bogarde". Red and White Kop. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
20. "The Netherlands squad". BBC. 3 May 1998. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
21. "Bogarde out with fractured shin". Sports Illustrated. 5 July 1998. Archived from the original on 15 September 2000. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
22. "Gone but not forgotten — loyal stalwart of the Stamford Bridge wage bill". The Times . 12 November 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2009.^{[ dead link ‍]}
23. "Bogarde komend seizoen assistent van Reiziger bij Jong Ajax" [Bogarde to assist Reiziger at Jong Ajax next season]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 23 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
24. Capdevila, Sergi (24 December 2017). "Kluivert brilla en el estreno de la dupla Reiziger-Bogarde" [Kluivert shines in debut of tandem Reiziger-Bogarde]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 December 2017.
25. "Bogarde: "Heel leuk om voor de groep te staan"" [Bogarde: "Very nice to be in front of the group"] (in Dutch). Goal. 23 December 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
26. Timmer, Marco (13 March 2020). "Ajax schuift Bogarde definitief door naar technische staf van hoofdmacht" [Ajax permanently moves Bogarde to first-team coaching staff] (in Dutch). Voetbal International . Retrieved 26 June 2023.
27. Verweij, Mike (7 July 2020). "Winston Bogarde tekent nieuw contract bij Ajax" [Winston Bogarde signs a new contract with Ajax]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 June 2023.
28. Jansen, Frank (1 June 2022). "Ajax gaat niet verder met Bogarde" [Ajax will not continue with Bogarde] (in Dutch). Voetbal International. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
29. "Grootmachten vechten om 'Dutch wonderkid' Lamare Bogarde (16)" [Superpowers fight over "Dutch wonderkid" Lamare Bogarde (16)]. Voetbalzone.nl (in Dutch). 13 April 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.

External links

• Beijen profile (in Dutch)
• Stats at Voetbal International (in Dutch)
• Winston Bogarde at BDFutbol
• Winston Bogarde at Soccerbase
• Winston Bogarde at Wereld van Oranje (archived) (in Dutch)
• Winston Bogarde at National-Football-Teams.com
• Winston Bogarde – FIFA competition record (archived)
• 11V11 profile