Alje Schut (born 18 February 1981) is a Dutch former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender for

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

and Kozakken Boys.

Career

Born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, Schut began his career with his hometown club

, making his professional debut on 3 October 1999. In 2004 he spent seven months injured following a bacterial infection in his knee. In March 2005 he suffered another knee injury, ending his season. He was still suffering from that same injury in January 2006; at that time he was expected to return to fitness in April 2006. He suffered further injuries, and only played 51 league matches between 2005 and March 2010. On 10 May 2011, during a training session with his team, Schut collided with his Romanian teammate Mihai Neșu, breaking Neșu's cervical vertebrae and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. In August 2011, after spending thirteen seasons with FC Utrecht, Schut was the longest-serving player of any club in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

. By October 2011, Schut was the club captain of FC Utrecht.

Personal life

In February 2015, Schut stated his desire to become a primary school teacher after retirement.

Honours

Utrecht *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 2002–03, 2003–04 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

1981 births Living people Footballers from Utrecht (city) Dutch men's footballers Men's association football defenders FC Utrecht players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Kozakken Boys players Eredivisie players South African Premier Division players Derde Divisie players Netherlands men's youth international footballers 21st-century Dutch sportsmen Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers FC Utrecht non-playing staff Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa {{netherlands-footy-defender-stub