Richard Peter Witschge (born 20 September 1969) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He was known for his technique and passing ability. In an 18-year professional career he played mainly for

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 ...

, but also represented, amongst other clubs,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. In 11 seasons in the

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 ...

, he amassed totals of 226 matches and 15 goals. Witschge represented 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 ...

in the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

and Euro 1996.

Club career

Ajax

Witschge was 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 ...

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. A product of local club

's prolific youth ranks under

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

, he first appeared in the

on 26 October 1986 at the age of 17, and scored his first league goal approximately a year later. His older brother Rob was already playing for the club.

Barcelona

After becoming established in the first team, Witschge signed for Cruyff's

in 1991. The manager later admitted to deliberately overpaying for him, as a favour to Ajax's incoming board of directors headed by his associate

Michael van Praag Michael van Praag (born 28 September 1947) is a Dutch association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former referee (association football), referee. He was the Royal Dutch Football Association, President of the Royal ...

. Witschge featured sparingly during his tenure, as the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

won back-to-back

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

championships. He made his debut in the competition on 14 September 1991, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 home win against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

. He faced intense competition for playing time as the three allotted slots for foreign players were usually taken up by

Michael Laudrup Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...

Hristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov (; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional Association football, footballer and current football commentator for TUDN. A prolific Forward (association football), forward, he is widely regarded as the g ...

and his compatriot

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...

, and an injury ruled him out of the 1992 European Cup Final.

Bordeaux

Witschge's frustration with this state of affairs at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

led him to take a substantial pay cut in joining

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

for 18 million francs in 1993. Initially, the move was unsuccessful, as he was unhappy with his accommodation and clashed with his coaches over their tactics. Amidst ineffectual performances, he was booed by his own supporters, and eventually dropped from the squad. Witschge moved to Blackburn Rovers on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

just ahead of the transfer deadline in March 1995, featuring against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, as his team won 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 ...

title. He had been intended as a replacement for injured left winger Jason Wilcox, but manager

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

preferred the more conservative option of pushing

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Graeme Le Saux forward, bringing Jeff Kenna into the defence. An unimpressed Witschge later made an outspoken attack on

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, branding the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

town and its inhabitants "poor and ugly". Upon his return to Bordeaux, Witschge found conditions under new coach Slavoljub Muslin much more congenial, resulting in a sharp upturn in his form. He scored seven league goals and figured prominently in the team which reached the final of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, after qualifying for the competition through the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Later years

In May 1996, Witschge agreed a return to Ajax, who wanted his experience to bolster the team which had begun to break up in the aftermath of their 1995 European Cup win. In his second spell he played more than 150 matches, helping the club win two leagues and consecutive domestic cups. After falling into dispute with veteran coach Co Adriaanse, who preferred the younger Rafael van der Vaart in his role, he was loaned to Spanish top-flight side Alavés for the 2001–02 season. After leaving Ajax for a second time in 2003, Witschge had short spells with amateurs ADO '20 in

Heemskerk Heemskerk ( ) is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located in the Kennemerland region. History The town was formed during the Middle Ages. In an official deed from the year of 1063, the town was ...

and

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club located in Ōita, Capital of Ōita Prefecture. They currently play in J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football. Name origin The club's name, ''Trinita'', is the Italian translation of the word ' ...

in Japan. After a failed trial at Rangers, he retired in June 2004, at nearly 35 years of age. Witschge returned to the

Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...

as a youth coach in 2013.

International career

Witschge earned 31

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the

, in which he scored one goal. He made his debut on 21 February 1990 in a 0–0 friendly draw 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 ...

, and was picked for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

under manager Leo Beenhakker. An injury sustained with Barcelona ruled him out of

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

and he did not make another major tournament until Euro 1996, held in England. During this time, his place in the national team was taken by his older brother. Witschge's initial spell in the national team yielded 19 appearances and one goal, between February 1990 and March 1992. As he subsequently dropped out of contention there was a perception that he had failed to fulfill his early talent, with Beenhakker attributing laziness and immaturity when he bracketed the player alongside contemporaries including

Bryan Roy Bryan Eduard Steven Roy (born 12 February 1970) is a Dutch association football, football manager and a former professional player. As a player he was a winger (association football), winger and notably played for AFC Ajax, Ajax, Nottingham Fore ...

in the 'Patat Generatie' (), the implication being that they ate junk food instead of focusing on improvement. After an upturn in his fortunes at club level, Witschge was recalled in September 1995 during the nation's faltering Euro 1996 qualifying campaign. He attended the play-off tie against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

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 ...

, but was not ultimately selected. In the finals, he was preferred over Edgar Davids by Guus Hiddink, contributing to his teammate's frustration and eventual expulsion from the squad. In September 2000, Witschge returned to the national team after a three-year absence due to an injury crisis. He won his final cap in a 2–2 home draw with the Republic of Ireland, which dented the Netherlands'

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

prospects for the 2002 World Cup.

Personal life

Witschge's older brother, Rob, was also a footballer and a midfielder.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Witschge goal.''

Honours

Barcelona *

: 1991–92, 1992–93 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1991–92 *

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Bordeaux *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Ajax *

: 1997–98 *

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 ...

: 1997–98, 1998–99

References

External links

Stats at Voetbal International
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Witschge, Richard 1969 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Amsterdam Men's association football midfielders Eredivisie players AFC Ajax players La Liga players FC Barcelona players Deportivo Alavés players Ligue 1 players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Premier League players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players J1 League players Oita Trinita players Netherlands men's international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Japan AFC Ajax non-playing staff Dutch football coaches 20th-century Dutch sportsmen UEFA Champions League–winning players