Jan Jacobus Wouters (born 17 July 1960) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and was

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 ...

in 1990.

Career

Wouters played for several clubs including PSV,

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merg ...

, Bayern Munich 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 ...

. He was also a Netherlands international team member (70 caps, four goals) and was hugely influential in 1988 when the Netherlands won the

European Football 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 ...

. He was a coach of

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

club Rangers under

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three stin ...

and then

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps f ...

. He left Rangers at the end of the 2005–06 season along with McLeish and Andy Watson. Wouters is infamous to England supporters after elbowing

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally tale ...

and fracturing his cheekbone during a World Cup qualifier in 1993 at Wembley stadium. Gascoigne was forced to wear a Phantom of the Opera style facemask to protect his fractured cheekbone until his injury healed. The following day, the ''Daily Mirror'' newspaper labelled Wouters a "Dutch thug". The match was drawn 2–2 and damaged England's hopes of qualifying for the 1994 World Cup finals in the United States, despite England leading the match 2–0.

Career statistics

Honours

Utrecht *

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 ...

: 1984–85 Ajax *

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 ...

: 1989–90 *

: 1986–87 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

: 1986–87 *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

: 1991–92 Bayern Munich *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

: 1993–94 PSV *

: 1995–96 Netherlands *

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 ...

: 1988 Individual *

: 1989–90 * UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1988 *'' kicker''

Team of the Season: 1992–93

References

External links

profile Jan Wouters
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wouters, Jan 1960 births Living people Dutch footballers Footballers from Utrecht (city) Association football midfielders Netherlands international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players UEFA Euro 1992 players UEFA European Championship-winning players UEFA Cup winning players Bundesliga players Eredivisie players FC Utrecht players FC Bayern Munich footballers AFC Ajax players PSV Eindhoven players Dutch football managers Eredivisie managers FC Utrecht managers AFC Ajax managers Rangers F.C. non-playing staff PSV Eindhoven managers Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey