Jakob "Jaap" Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. As a player, he played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and is regarded as one of the best defenders of all-time. Stam was part of the Manchester United team that won the Treble of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. Stam played for several European clubs including

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

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 ...

before retiring in October 2007. As well as winning numerous club trophies including an

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 ...

, a

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

, an Intercontinental Cup and three Premier League titles, he won several personal awards including being voted the best defender in both the 1998–99 and

1999–2000 UEFA Champions League The 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League was the 45th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the eighth season since its rebranding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The com ...

s as well as being in three consecutive

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

sides from 1999 to 2001. Stam played 67 international matches for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, scoring three goals. He was in their squads for three

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

s and the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

. After retiring as a player, Stam worked as a coach at

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

and Ajax. He later managed

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 ...

in 2019 and FC Cincinnati of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

Club career

Early career

Born in Kampen,

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

, Stam started his career with local amateur football club DOS Kampen. On 15 August 1992, Stam made his professional debut for

FC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

in a 1–1 draw against SC Heracles in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

. He moved to

club Cambuur Leeuwarden for the following season, but was relegated in his first season. Two seasons at Cambuur earned him a transfer to Eredivisie club Willem II. At Willem II, he immediately impressed at the Eredivisie level, which meant his final breakthrough. Stam transferred to

where he won the

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 ...

in 1995–96, his first professional trophy. He won the 1996–97 Eredivisie, as well as the

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 ...

. Individually, Stam won the VVCS Footballer of the Year award.

Manchester United

In April 1998, Stam became the then most expensive defender in history when

bought him on a five-year contract for £10.6 million. PSV initially valued him at £15 million, but accepted the lower offer after Stam waived his right to 15% of the fee. Stam spent three seasons at Manchester United, during which time United won three

titles, one

, the Intercontinental Cup and the

. He scored his only goal for the club in a 6–2 away victory against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. In the 1999 UEFA Champions League final, Stam's centre-back partner Ronny Johnsen conceded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area when he brought down

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

's Carsten Jancker in the first few minutes.

Mario Basler Mario Basler (born 18 December 1968) is a German Association football, football manager and former professional player who mainly played as a right midfielder. He is currently at TSG Eisenberg as a player and advisor. A dead-ball specialist, Ba ...

scored the free kick and Bayern held the lead for 85 minutes before United scored two goals in added time to win the tournament. Early in the 2001–02 season, Stam was controversially sold to

in Italy after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly upset by allegations Stam had made in his autobiography ''Head to Head'' about the club. Stam made numerous statements in the book about his views on opposing players, and alleged that Ferguson's approach to buy him was done without the permission of PSV. Later,

Simon Kuper Simon Kuper is a British, and naturalized French, author and journalist, best known for his work at the Financial Times and as a football writer. Born in Uganda to South African parents, Kuper spent most of his childhood in the Netherlands and ...

reported that contrary to initial belief, Ferguson had noticed that Stam's tackling numbers were declining and simply assumed the defender was past his playing peak.

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (; born 19 November 1965) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...

was signed as his replacement. In 2007, however, Ferguson described the decision to sell Stam as an error: "At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit. We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. But in playing terms it was a mistake. He is still playing for Ajax at a really good level." On the financial report, Manchester United announced the fee was £15.3 million; Lazio declared the fee was £16 million.

Lazio

During his time with Lazio, Stam was found guilty of having the banned steroid

nandrolone Nandrolone, also known as 19-nortestosterone, is an endogenous androgen. It is also an anabolic steroid (AAS) which is medically used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate ...

in his system following a

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

game, and received a five-month ban, which was eventually reduced by a month after appeals. He was the second Lazio player suspended in 2001, after Fernando Couto. In his last season at the club, he won the

AC Milan

Stam joined

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

after

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

. He reached his second Champions League final with the ''Rossoneri'' in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, but was a runner-up after his team was defeated by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Ajax

On 30 January 2006, it was announced that he would return to the Eredivisie and play for Ajax, where he signed a two-year contract for a €2.5 million transfer fee. Stam was named team captain upon his arrival at the club. In his first season, he won both the Johan Cruyff Shield and the KNVB Cup; another Johan Cruyff Shield was added to his trophies at the start of the 2007–08 season. On 29 October 2007, Stam announced his retirement from professional football with immediate effect after playing six league games for Ajax in the 2007–08 league season. His final game was in a 0–0 draw against

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

on 20 October 2007.

International career

Stam made his debut for

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on 24 April 1996 in a 1–0 friendly defeat to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 was not initially chosen for

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

, but was later added to the squad after an injury ruled out Frank de Boer; he did not however make any appearances at the tournament. He scored his first goal on 6 September 1997 in a 3–1 home win over rivals Belgium in World Cup qualification. He was also an important player in the Dutch team that finished fourth in the

. During

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, he once again reached the semi-finals with the Dutch team, hosted in his home country and Belgium. Stam missed his attempt in the penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals, hitting the ball over the bar in a defeat against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He was not originally scheduled to take a penalty, but had to due to substitutions and fatigue among his teammates. Stam reached his third semi-finals in an international competition with his nation at

in Portugal and retired from international football after the tournament. The reason cited for his international retirement was that he wanted to focus on his new team, Milan, as well as his family. In total, he played 67 matches for the Netherlands, scoring three goals.

Playing style

Considered by several pundits to be one of the best defenders of his generation, as well as one of the greatest Dutch and Premier League defenders in history, Stam played primarily as a

. He was known for possessing "a rare combination of speed, strength and ball-playing ability", as well as an excellent positional sense and a powerful shot. Due to his wide range of skills, in his prime he was also capable of playing as a full-back on the right flank.

Post-playing career

In October 2008, Stam returned to Manchester United as a scout for the club, responsible for most of South America.

Soccer Aid

Stam has been involved with Soccer Aid, which puts celebrities and football legends together in two teams (England and Rest of the World) for a charity game in aid of

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. Stam has appeared in five Soccer Aid matches 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Coaching and managerial career

In 2009, Stam became an assistant coach for PEC Zwolle, and on 30 October was appointed caretaker manager. Following his stint with Zwolle, Stam signed on for a three-year contract with Ajax in 2013 as an assistant coach, and as defensive coach starting in the

2013–14 Eredivisie The 2013–14 Eredivisie was the 58th season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. It began on 2 August 2013 with the first match of the season and ended on 18 May 2014 with the returns of the finals of the European competition and rele ...

season. On 28 May 2014, Stam was revealed as one of the new managers of

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

, the reserve team in the Eerste Divisie. He was joined by Andries Ulderink and they signed a contract beginning on 1 July 2014 and lasting until 30 June 2016.

Reading

On 13 June 2016, Stam was appointed as manager of English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on an initial two-year contract. He enjoyed a successful first season with the club, leading them to the Championship play-offs. On 4 July 2017, Stam signed a new two-year contract extension with Reading, keeping him at the club until 2019. On 21 March 2018, Reading announced that Stam had left the club with immediate effect following a run of one win in 18 league matches left the team 20th in the league table.

PEC Zwolle

On 28 December 2018, Stam was appointed as the new manager of Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle on a year-and-a-half contract.

Feyenoord

On 6 March 2019, Feyenoord announced that Stam would succeed

Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni Christiaan "Gio" van Bronckhorst (born 5 February 1975) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who last managed Süper Lig club Beşiktaş J.K., Beşiktaş. Originally a midfielder, he moved to left-back lat ...

's new manager. He signed a two-year contract, effective 1 June 2019. Following a 0–4 defeat to Ajax, Stam resigned on 28 October 2019, saying "I've thought about this for a long time. My final conclusion is that it's better for the club, the players and myself if I step aside."

FC Cincinnati

On 21 May 2020,

club FC Cincinnati announced that Stam would succeed interim manager Yoann Damet. He signed a year-and-a-half contract. On 15 July, he won 1–0 on his debut against an

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won one MLS Cup, one U.S. Open Cup, and one Eastern ...

side managed by his former international teammate Frank de Boer. Stam was dismissed on 27 September 2021, with Cincinnati second-from-bottom in the Eastern Conference having won four of 25 games.

DOS Kampen

In February 2024, Stam was appointed manager at seventh-tier DOS Kampen, his hometown amateur club where he had begun playing more than three decades earlier. He agreed to take charge in the summer, for a one-year contract.

Personal life

Stam is a Protestant. He met his wife Ellis when he was 16, and they have two daughters and twin sons. His first daughter's birth was induced two weeks early, to come between the 1998 World Cup and pre-season training for Manchester United. When he played for Manchester United, he lived in

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is south of Manchester. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the parish had a population of 26,213 and the built up area had a p ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. His cousin Maurice van Ham was also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year International goals ''(Source)'' :''Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first.''

Managerial record

*Some of Stam's record comes from the ''MLS is Back'' tournament. However, the tournament is essentially the MLS 2020 season.

Honours

PSV *

: 1996–97 *

: 1995–96 *

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Manchester United *

: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01 *

: 1998–99 *

: 1998–99 * Intercontinental Cup:

Lazio *

: 2003–04 Milan *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

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 ...

runner-up: 2004–05 Ajax *

: 2006–07 *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Individual *

Dutch Footballer of the Year The title Dutch Footballer of the Year ( Dutch: ''Voetballer van het Jaar'') has been awarded in the Netherlands since 1984. The award is determined by a poll of Dutch professional footballers playing in the First (Eredivisie) and Second (Eerste Di ...

: 1997 * Dutch Golden Boot: 1997 * UEFA Club Best Defender of the Year: 1998–99, 1999–2000 *

: 1998–99 Premier League, 1999–2000 Premier League, 2000–01 Premier League * ESM Team of the Year: 1998–99 *Overseas Team of the Decade – Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)

Books

*Stam, J., with Butler, J. (contrib.) (2002), ''Head to Head'', Willow Publishing,

References

External links

*
World Footballer of the Year 1999 12th
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stam, Jaap 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Kampen, Overijssel Footballers from Overijssel Dutch men's footballers Men's association football central defenders PEC Zwolle players SC Cambuur players Willem II Tilburg players PSV Eindhoven players Manchester United F.C. players SS Lazio players AC Milan players AFC Ajax players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Premier League players Serie A players UEFA Champions League–winning players Netherlands men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players UEFA Euro 2004 players Dutch sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in association football Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Dutch football managers Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff PEC Zwolle managers AFC Ajax non-playing staff Jong Ajax managers Reading F.C. managers Feyenoord managers Eerste Divisie managers English Football League managers Eredivisie managers Dutch expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in England FC Cincinnati head coaches PEC Zwolle non-playing staff Dutch Protestants Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States 20th-century Dutch sportsmen