Jakob Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. Stam played for several European clubs including

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, wh ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

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), by the ancient Gree ...

before retiring in October 2007. As well as club trophies, he won several personal awards, including being voted the best defender in 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 co ...

, as well as being included 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 English football; the Premi ...

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

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, 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, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

s and the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for th ...

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

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a tot ...

and Ajax before making his managerial debut with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in 2016. He later managed

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

in 2019 and

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

Club career

Early career

Born in Kampen, Overijssel, Stam started his career with local amateur football club

DOS Kampen DOS Kampen (acronym of ''Door Oefening Sterk Kampen'') is a Dutch football club based in the city of Kampen Campen or Kampen may refer to: Places Finland * Kampen, the Swedish name of Kamppi, a district in Helsinki Germany * Campen, G ...

. On 15 August 1992, Stam made his professional debut for

FC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a tot ...

in a 1–1 draw against

SC Heracles Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as th ...

. He became a first team regular right away and moved to

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

club

Cambuur Leeuwarden SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 ...

for the following season, but relegated in his first season which brought him back into the Eerste Divisie. Two seasons at Cambuur earned him a transfer to Eredivisie club

Willem II Willem II may refer to: People * William II, Prince of Orange (1626–1650), stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands * William II of the Netherlands (1792–1849), King of the Netherlands Other uses * Willem II (football club), a Du ...

. At Willem II, he immediately impressed at the Eredivisie level, which meant his final breakthrough. A shock 1–0 home victory over

led to Stam's transfer to

in the same season in which they eventually won the

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

, his first professional trophy.

PSV

Stam was a key player for PSV in the 1996–97 season, as the team won the Eredivisie league championship and 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 footba ...

. Individually, Stam won the VVCS Footballer of the Year award. In 1998, Stam became the then most expensive defender in history when

bought him for £10.6 million.

Manchester United

Stam spent three seasons at Manchester United, during which time United won three

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

titles, one

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

, the Intercontinental Cup and the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

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

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

. Early in the 2001–02 season, Stam was controversially sold to

in Italy after Manchester United manager

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

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 South African-British author. He writes about sports "from an anthropologic perspective." Kuper was born in Uganda of South African parents, and moved to Leiden in the Netherlands as a child, where his father, Adam Kuper, was ...

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 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 androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) which is used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate (brand name Durabolin). Nandrol ...

in his system following a

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

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

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...

Milan

Stam joined

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 football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

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

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

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

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

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 on 20 October 2007.

International career

Cristiano Ronaldo (links unten) im EM-Halbfinale gegen die Niederlande

Stam made his debut for

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Nether ...

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

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. 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 Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Ered ...

; 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 wa ...

, 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 ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. 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 ''Soccer Aid'' is a British annual (formerly bi-ennial) charity event that has raised over £38 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is a friendly-style football match between ...

, 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 called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...

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

Coaching and managerial career

Said_Bakkati,_Jaap_Stam_&_Jack_Stern_2020-08-21

In 2009, Stam became an assistant coach for PEC Zwolle, and on 30 October was appointed caretaker manager. Following his stint with Zwolle, Stam penned 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 () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

, 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 system ...

club

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 van Bronckhorst (born 5 February 1975) is a Dutch football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Formerly a midfielder, he moved to left-back later in his career. ...

'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

announced that Stam would succeed interim manager

Yoann Damet Yoann Damet is a French association football coach who is currently an assistant coach with the LA Galaxy in the Major League Soccer. He twice served as interim head coach of FC Cincinnati at ages 29 and 30, making him the youngest head or assist ...

. 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, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began p ...

side managed by his former international teammate

. Stam was dismissed on 27 September 2021, with Cincinnati second-from-bottom in the Eastern Conference having won four of 25 games.

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 unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population was 24,497 at the 2011 Census. History Toponymy Wilmslow derives its name from O ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Managerial statistics

*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 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Manchester United *

: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01 *

: 1998–99 *

: 1998–99 * Intercontinental Cup:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

Lazio *

: 2003–04 Milan *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seas ...

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 ...

Ajax *KNVB Cup: 2006–07 *Johan Cruyff Shield: 2006,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

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 Div ...

: 1997 * Dutch Golden Boot: 1997 *

UEFA Club Best Defender of the Year In recognition of the best players in the UEFA Champions League each year, UEFA gives out several awards to the most outstanding performers of the European club football season. The awards are presented in August each year at a special gala in Monac ...

: 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 The Premier League 10 Seasons Awards were a set of English football awards which marked the first 10 years of competition in the Premier League, the top-level domestic league competition of professional football in England. The awards celebrated ...

(1992–93 – 2001–02) * FIFPro World XI Nominee 2005

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 People from Kampen, Overijssel Footballers from Overijssel Dutch footballers Association football defenders PEC Zwolle players SC Cambuur players Willem II (football club) players PSV Eindhoven players Manchester United F.C. players S.S. Lazio players A.C. Milan players AFC Ajax players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Premier League players Serie A players UEFA Champions League winning players Netherlands 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 footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate 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 coaches PEC Zwolle non-playing staff Dutch Protestants Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States FA Cup Final players