Ton Blanker (born 15 September 1960) is a Dutch former 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 ...

er 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 ...

Career

Blanker started his career with

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 ...

winning the

1979–80 Eredivisie The Dutch Eredivisie in the 1979–80 season was contested by 18 teams. Ajax won the championship. League standings Results See also * 1979–80 Eerste Divisie * 1979–80 KNVB Cup References Eredivisie official website - info on all se ...

, and reaching the Semi-finals in the

1979–80 European Cup The 1979–80 European Cup was the 25th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football competition. The tournament was won by holders Nottingham Forest in the final against Hamburg. The winning goal was scored by John Robertson, who d ...

, where he scored four goals against

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...

in the first round, then a hat-trick against Omonia in the next round. Afterwards, Blanker played abroad for

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

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 ...

and

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, then he eventually returned to

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 ...

to play for

S.B.V. Excelsior Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024– ...

and

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024 ...

. After a short spell in the United States with

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los ...

, Blanker played two years in Belgium for

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian association football, football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from Belgian First Division 1999–2000, 1999–2000 ...

and Cappellen.

Personal life

Blanker is married to Anita Heilker of the

Dolly Dots Dolly Dots are a Dutch pop girl band that formed in 1979. With their style of upbeat dance/pop, they scored many hits throughout Europe. The sextet consisted of Angela Groothuizen, Angéla Kramers, Anita Heilker, Esther Oosterbeek, Patty Zomer a ...

, they had a daughter, Robin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanker, Ton 1960 births Living people 20th-century Dutch sportsmen Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Amsterdam Men's association football midfielders Eredivisie players AFC Ajax players Vitória S.C. players Real Zaragoza players UD Salamanca players Excelsior Rotterdam players FC Volendam players Los Angeles Lazers players Beerschot A.C. players Royal Cappellen F.C. players