142: Pierre van Hooijdonk, Nottingham Forest, Merlin’s Premier League Kick Off Sticker Collection, 1998

Today Mat Jolin-Beech takes a look at a man who scored 375 goals in a career which took in some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Transfer windows can produce some great stories and the desire for a prolific striker is something we can all relate to. Especially those of us who have had front row seats for the decline of Christian Benteke over the last few years. Over to Mat.

The late 90s and early noughties were a golden era for the Premier League. As a Manchester United fan, we had one of our greatest ever teams, with THAT night in Barcelona and Ole becoming a legend, but there were great stories across the division.

Arsene Wenger had turned Arsenal from a mid-table cup team (this sounds very familiar) into title challengers (and winners) who played some great football. Dennis Bergkamp and that goal against Newcastle in the 2001/02 season were something else. Kevin Keegan was having his meltdown as Newcastle United strived to break the big time. Leeds United had their financial implosion after a stab at Champions League glory. Liverpool’s latest saviour Michael Owen was establishing himself as one of the best strikers in the world and even England were doing their best to give us fans hope before crushing it one penalty shootout at a time

Further down the league, something that is unlikely to ever be repeated ever again was happening. Now, I mean no disrespect to the clubs I’m about to mention, they each have an esteemed history, but smaller clubs were able to make ridiculous signings. Bolton Wanderers and Big Sam snapped up the big names of Okocha, Djorkaeff, Hierro and Campo. Birmingham City somehow salvaged their season with the signing of Christophe Dugarry. Middlesbrough convinced the little Brazilian Juninho to sign – not once but twice – and Fabrizio Ravanelli. And in 1997, one of the biggest coups of the lot. Nottingham Forest got Dutch maestro Pierre van Hooijdonk in an attempt to save them from relegation.

This is a man who won 46 caps for the Netherlands, scored 14 international goals and wore the shirts of European giants Benfica, Feyenood and Fenerbahce. And also Celtic. The move was unlikely then. But now, it’d be the equivalent of Bournemouth signing Memphis Depay as they drown in the quagmire of a relegation scrap. The modern landscape and financials of football has shot down the likelihood of a superstar signing for the lower echelons of the Premier League ever again. Wage caps, tight budgets and an economic recession mean going for broke is a thing of the past. Financial Fair Play puts the nail firmly into the coffin of those aspirations. Unless you’re Manchester City of course. But, for that decade or so, the likes of Van Hooijdonk and his free kick specialism were able to light up the league.

 

However, his time at the City Ground was not all fairy tales, sunshine and free kicks. Following on from France ‘98, the Forest board had promise squad reinforcements to help the club fend off relegation, but this failed to transpire. Cue a major sulk from Van Hooijdonk. As the club began to fall apart around him, with Scot Gemmill being dropped for not signing a new deal and captain Colin Cooper being sold, he handed in a transfer request, went on strike and trained with NAC Breda. Fans and teammates turned on the Dutchman, before he eventually gave in and returned in November. There was no love lost though, as Forest finished bottom of the league and a move to Vitesse Arnhem ended the purgatory both club and player were in.

 

However, the enigmatic Dutchman has since said he regrets his actions and that things “could have been handled very differently”. While he left England under a cloud, his time here was a bright spot that gave other smaller clubs hope they could also sign genuinely world-class talent. At least they could before the financial gulf between the top 6 and the rest of the league became the vast chasm it is today.