Ulrich Brian Pinas (born 29 December 1978) 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 winger.

Career

Pinas was born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. He started playing football at

DHC Delft Delfia Hollandia Combinatie, commonly known as DHC, is a football club from Delft, Netherlands. DHC is currently playing in the Sunday Hoofdklasse A League (4th tier). History DHC played professional football from 1955 to 1968. The club played ...

, an amateur football club in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

in the Netherlands. He actually started as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, but discovered soon enough that he was better at other positions on the field. Oddly enough, Pinas was discovered by

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, and not their rivals

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, the biggest team in

, where Pinas was living. But due to the distance being too long between

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and

, Pinas soon did move to Feyenoord. In 1996, when Pinas was playing for the reserves of Feyenoord, he was discovered by

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

at a youth tournament in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. In this short spell at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

he never made a first team appearance for the team. Pinas eventually returned to Feyenoord because of the lack of playtime and the departure of his best friends at the team,

Faustino Asprilla Faustino Hernán Asprilla Hinestroza (born 10 November 1969) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as forward or winger, most notably for Parma, Newcastle United and the Colombia national team. Club career Early years Afte ...

and

Jon Dahl Tomasson Jon Dahl Tomasson (; born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Sweden national team. A forward, his most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, with whom he wo ...

. On his arrival at Newcastle in 1997, Pinas was ridiculed by ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' newspaper with regards to his surname's closeness to

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

. The editorial joked that if Pinas was ever addressed by a referee, it would be the first time that a referee had been sent off for using foul language. Having returned to Feyenoord, Pinas soon made it to the A-team under the influence of coach

Leo Beenhakker Leo Beenhakker (; 2 August 1942 – 10 April 2025) was a Dutch football player and coach. Nicknamed "Don Leo" for his role in Spanish football, he had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. After his amateur pl ...

. But despite his move from the reserves to the first team, Pinas never got more than a few chances as a substitute. Knowing that he would not really get more playtime, Pinas was loaned to

SBV Excelsior Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste D ...

in 1999. This time, Pinas soon became a key player. At the end of the season, teams as

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

and Willem II were interested in buying him, but then Pinas suffered a serious knee injury. Eventually, Pinas would stay at Excelsior for two more seasons, until Feyenoord would get him back in 2002. This situation would only last for a few months, because Pinas noticed that he was not getting the playtime he wanted, and he was again loaned to Excelsior. In 2003, Pinas was transferred to

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...

where things all started well for him, until the team started playing with two attackers instead of three. When Pinas' chances of playing decreased, he was offered a trial by the Belgian team

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

, who were desperately seeking for a left-footed winger. Pinas immediately convinced the management of the Belgian

First division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

team and he was offered a contract. Cercle Brugge supporters were pleased with the skills of Pinas, but these solid performances were not constant enough. As a result, Pinas became rather uncertain of his place in the first team. In late August 2006, Pinas was sold to

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

. He left Breda one year later and joined

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

References

Brian Pinas official site

Cerclemuseum.be

Brian Pinas player info at the official NAC Breda site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinas, Brian 1978 births Living people Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Rotterdam Men's association football midfielders Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Belgian Pro League players Feyenoord players Newcastle United F.C. players Excelsior Rotterdam players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players NAC Breda players FC Groningen players FC Dordrecht players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England