Sieb Dijkstra

Sybrandus Johannes Andreas Dijkstra (born 20 October 1966) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach at Fortuna Sittard.

Sieb Dijkstra
Personal information
Full name Sybrandus Johannes Andreas Dijkstra[1]
Date of birth (1966-10-20) 20 October 1966
Place of birth Kerkrade, Netherlands
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Fortuna Sittard
(Goalkeeping coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1991 Roda JC 0 (0)
1989–1990 → AZ Alkmaar (loan) 11 (0)
1990–1991 → KSC Hasselt (loan)
1991–1994 Motherwell 80 (0)
1994–1996 Queens Park Rangers 11 (0)
1994 → Bristol City (loan) 8 (0)
1996 → Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 13 (0)
1996–1999 Dundee United 86 (0)
1999 Ipswich Town 0 (0)
2000 VV Sittard
2000–2001 RBC 34 (0)
2001–2002 Germania Teveren
Total 243 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player, he was a goalkeeper who notably played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers and in the Scottish Premiership for Motherwell and Dundee United. He also played in the Football League for Bristol City and Wycombe Wanderers, as well as in his home country for Roda JC, AZ Alkmaar, VV Sittard and RBC. He also had spells in Belgium and Germany with KSC Hasselt and Germania Teveren.

Playing career

Dijkstra began his career with Roda JC but failed to make an appearance, spending time on loan at AZ[2] and Hasselt.

In 1991, he moved to Scottish side Motherwell,[3] where he made his debut in an August 1991 League Cup tie against Raith Rovers. He would spend the next three seasons at Fir Park, replacing Ally Maxwell in the squad and eventually winning a battle for the starting place with Billy Thomson. The club challenged for the 1993–94 Scottish Premier Division title, eventually finishing third.[2] He was regarded as a cult hero at Motherwell.[4][5]

A £250,000 move to English side Queens Park Rangers followed, but he played just 11 times in two years; the manager who signed him, Gerry Francis, soon moved on to Tottenham Hotspur and after a minor injury, Dijkstra found the new manager Ray Wilkins chose other goalkeepers ahead of him.[5] After loan spells at other English clubs, Dijkstra moved back to Scotland with Dundee United[6] for £50,000, reuniting with manager Tommy McLean whom he had worked under at Motherwell.[5] Dijkstra's time in Scotland was successful again, with over 80 appearances for the Terrors, including another third-place finish in the Scottish League in 1996–97 and a Scottish League Cup runners-up medal later in 1997, after he again took the place of Ally Maxwell in the team.

After a contract dispute, Dijkstra left Tannadice in 1999 and returned to the Netherlands to play for amateur side VV Sittard (via a week's spell with Ipswich Town), although he would end the season with RBC Roosendaal as a replacement for injured Belgian goalkeeper Jurgen Belpaire.[7] Another year with RBC followed before a final playing spell with German Verbandsliga side Germania Teveren.

Coaching career

He was appointed goalkeeping coach at Fortuna Sittard in June 2017.[8]

Personal life

Dijkstra is married and has a daughter. He also has three children with his first wife.[2] He has his own goalkeeping academy in Kerkrade.[5][9] In a 2020 interview, Dijkstra reflected upon his time playing in Scotland as the happiest in his career.[10]

Honours

Dundee United

References
  1. "Sieb Dijkstra". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  2. Oude kaas: Sieb Dijkstra - AZ (in Dutch)
  3. "Sieb Dijkstra". MotherwerWELLnet. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  4. The Foreign Legion: Sieb Dijkstra, Motherwell F.C.
  5. Matt Nelson (3 May 2011). "There's some thing about Sieb". In Bed With Maradona. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  6. Sieb Dijkstra - Player Profile - Dundee United Archive
  7. RBC wil niet verder met geblesseerde doelman - Volkskrant (in Dutch)
  8. SIEB DIJKSTRA KEEPERSTRAINER BIJ EERSTE ELFTAL FORTUNA SITTARD - Fortuna Sittard
  9. "About us" - Keeperschool Parkstad (in Dutch)
  10. "Sieb Dijkstra: The story of a Scottish football cult hero". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
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