Michael Alexander Mols (born 17 December 1970) 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 striker.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

to Indo (Eurasian) parents, Mols, a product of local

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 ...

's youth system, never appeared officially for its first team, making his professional debuts in the second division, with Cambuur, which he helped obtain

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 ...

promotion in 1992. Early into the following year, he signed with another club in the top level, Twente, continuing to score regularly with this and his following team,

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 ...

. In the 1999 summer, Mols signed for Scottish side Rangers, scoring nine times in his first nine

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

matches. However, during a

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 ...

clash against Bayern Munich, he collided with opposing

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 ...

Oliver Kahn, which resulted in a serious knee injury – in the same competition, he previously helped his club crush

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 ...

4–1 at home by scoring twice, whilst in the league, he put four past former Ranger

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for ...

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. Mols made his return from the injury on 9 September 2000 in a league game against

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. In the following years, Mols endured a tough rehabilitation process, eventually recovering fully and scoring 13 times in 27 matches during the 2002–03 championship-winning season, which earned him a one-year extension in his contract. In December 2002, he notably scored the winner in the

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

contest against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

(3–2), and left club and country in June 2004, having collected a total of five trophies. He got sent off on his final appearance for Rangers against Dunfermline. After an unassuming year with Utrecht, Mols signed with

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

, where he played two seasons and netted eight league goals combined. At the end of 2006–07, as his side relegated to the second division, he decided to retire, at almost 37. However, after sacking agent Mark Brandon, he later reconsidered: He began his attempt to find a new club with an unsuccessful trial with Australian club Perth Glory, before he signed a one-year deal with

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 ...

, as cover for also recently signed Roy Makaay.Michael Mols toegevoegd aan selectie Feyenoord
Feyenoord's official website, 9 July 2007 He retired for good at the end of 2008–09 (18 matches, two goals).

International career

During a four-year span, Mols won six caps 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 ...

, the first coming on 18 January 1995 in a 1–0 friendly defeat to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in

Honours

Rangers * Scottish League: 1999–2000, 2002–03 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

: 2001–02, 2002–03 Feyenoord * Dutch Cup: 2007–08 Individual * Dutch Golden Shoe:

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 ...

References

External links

Beijen profile

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mols, Michael 1970 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Indo people Dutch people of Indonesian descent Sportspeople of Indonesian descent Footballers from Amsterdam Men's association football forwards Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players AFC Ajax players SC Cambuur players FC Twente players FC Utrecht players ADO Den Haag players Feyenoord players Scottish Premier League players Rangers F.C. players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Blauw-Wit Amsterdam players