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Ruud Gullit

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PositionMidfielder
Height / weight1.91 m / -
Born1 Sept 1962 (63 years)
NationalityNetherlands flagNetherlands

Ruud Gullit is a former professional football player and manager. He started his playing career with HFC Haarlem but spent the majority of his career with AC Milan, where he made 125 appearances. In 1987, he was the Ballon d’Or, and in the following year, he came in second in the voting. After his professional career, he became a manager for teams such as Chelsea, Newcastle United, LA Galaxy, and several others.

Player Profile, Personal Life, and Youth Career

Ruud Gullit, born Rudi Dil, was born on September 1, 1962, in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father is Surinamese who immigrated to the Netherlands. He started playing football at a young age and started his youth career with the ASV Meerboys.

Professional Career

His first professional club was HFC Haarlem. There, he was coached by West Bromwich Albion and by Barry Hughes. In total, he made 91 appearances for Haarlem before he moved to play for Feyenoord. In the 1983-1984 season, he helped the club win the KNVB Cup.

From 1985-1987, he played for Philips Sports Vereniging, PSV. After that, he signed with AC Milan and played with the club from 1987 to 1994. While with Milan, he appeared in 125 games. They also loaned him to Sampdoria in the 1993-1994 season before he eventually signed with the club and played for them in the 1994-1995 season.

He spent his last years as a professional football player with Chelsea, making 48 appearances for the club and scoring a total of four goals.

In his time with Chelsea, he also crossed over as their manager. He later managed Newcastle United, Feyenoord, LA Galaxy, and Terek Grozny.

Career Highlights:

Player

HFC Haarlem

  • 1980–81 - Eerste Divisie

Feyenoord

  • 1983–84 - Eredivisie
  • 1983–84 - KNVB Cup

PSV

  • 1985–86, 1986–87 - Eredivisie

AC Milan

  • 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93 - Serie A
  • 1992, 1994 - Supercoppa Italiana
  • 1988–89, 1989–90 - European Cup
  • 1990 - UEFA Super Cup
  • 1990 - Intercontinental Cup

Sampdoria

  • 1993–94 - Coppa Italia

Netherlands

  • 1988 - UEFA European Championship

Individual

  • 1984, 1986 - Dutch Footballer of the
Year
  • 1986 - Dutch Golden Shoe
  • 1987 - Dutch Sportsman of the Year
  • 1987 - Ballon d'Or
  • 1988 - Ballon d'Or Runner-up
  • 1987, 1989 - World Soccer Magazine
World Footballer of the Year
  • 1987–88 - UNICEF European Footballer
of the Season
  • 1987, 1988, 1989 - Onze de Onze
  • 1988, 1989 - Onze d'Argent
  • 1988, 1992 - UEFA European
Championship Team of the Tournament
  • 1991 - FIFA XI
  • 1995–96 - Premier League PFA Team of
the Year
  • 1996 - Chelsea Player of the Year
  • FIFA 100
  • Golden Foot: 2011, as football
legend
  • AC Milan Hall of Fame
  • 2017 - Italian Football Hall of Fame

Manager

Chelsea

  • 1996–97 - FA Cup

Team History:

National Team

  • 1979 - Netherlands U-21
  • 1981–1994 - Netherlands

Teams Managed

  • 1996–1998 - Chelsea (player-manager)
  • 1998–1999 - Newcastle United
  • 2004–2005 - Feyenoord
  • 2007–2008 - LA Galaxy
  • 2011 - Terek Grozny