Sander Westerveld
Encyclopedia
Sander Westerveld is a Dutch
professional football goalkeeper. He left Sparta Rotterdam
at the end of the 2007–08
Eredivisie
season to play for Monza
, and is currently playing for South Africa
n Premier Soccer League
club Ajax Cape Town.
in 1994. After two seasons at Enschede he moved to Vitesse Arnhem
where, in the course of three seasons, he developed into a goalkeeper of national stature.
Following the 1998–1999 season, during which he helped Vitesse to qualify for Europe, Westerveld was sold to Liverpool
, where he succeeded David James
. He became the most expensive goalkeeper in British football when he joined the Reds for a reported fee of £4 million during the summer of 1999. Westerveld made his Liverpool debut against Sheffield Wednesday on the 7 August 1999 in a 2–1 away win. The giant keeper was Gérard Houllier
's first choice to succeed James as Anfield's number one, and Westerveld fully justified the manager's confidence by playing a leading role in Liverpool's return to Europe, conceding the fewest goals in the 1999–2000 Premiership season.
He played a key role in the treble season of 2000–2001 for Liverpool, emerging as the hero of Liverpool's League Cup
final victory over Birmingham City
, making the match winning save from Andy Johnson in the penalty shoot-out.
However, towards the end of his two season spell on Merseyside, he was often subjected to criticism from the media
. After a major mistake in a game against Bolton Wanderers
on 27 August 2001 he was put on the bench by then-manager Gérard Houllier, who promptly signed two new goalkeepers – the Polish international Jerzy Dudek
(who would become a Champions League-winning hero) and the injury-prone but impressive Englishman Chris Kirkland
. Westerveld was then sold despite being part of a team that had won three trophies the previous season.
A move abroad saw a successful spell with Spanish side Real Sociedad
culminating in Champions League participation and finishing as runner up in La Liga
of the 2002=2003 season.
In July 2005 he moved back to England with Portsmouth
, being signed by Alain Perrin, where he was to be first choice ahead of Jamie Ashdown
and Greek keeper Konstantinos Chalkias
. However, after an inconsistent time at Fratton Park
, in February 2006 he was allowed to move on a short term loan to Everton
, rivals of his former club Liverpool, because of a goalkeeping crisis which saw Nigel Martyn
, Richard Wright
and Iain Turner
all unavailable. Westerveld played only two games.
Once he returned to Portsmouth he remained a substitute and was released by Harry Redknapp
in May 2006.
During the summer of 2006, Westerveld signed with Spanish Second division
club UD Almería
for one season, in which he helped them to achieve promotion to the Spanish First division
before leaving the club at the end of his contract.
In September 2007, he joined Sparta Rotterdam
on a short-term contract and in May 2008 he announced that he was to leave Sparta.
During the summer of 2009 he signed for Italian
Lega Pro Prima Divisione outfit A.C. Monza Brianza 1912
, after a successful trial with the club. He later joined Ajax Cape Town in South Africa where he is the number 1 goalkeeper. He was at Sanlam head office on 25 November 2011 to signed autographs where he was crowded by Liverpool fans for previous achievements and special bond with the club.
|1994–95||rowspan="2"|Twente
||rowspan="2"|Eredivisie
||3||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1995–96||11||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97||rowspan="3"|Vitesse||rowspan="3"|Eredivisie
||34||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997–98||34||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1998–99||33||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–00||rowspan="3"|Liverpool
||rowspan="3"|Premier League||36||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||38||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2001–02||1||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2001–02||rowspan="3"|Real Sociedad
||rowspan="3"|La Liga
||20||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2002–03||37||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2003–04||20||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2004–05
||Mallorca
||La Liga
||6||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06||Portsmouth
||Premier League||6||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06||Everton
||Premier League||2||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006–07||Almería
||Segunda División
||34||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2007–08||Sparta Rotterdam
||Eredivisie
||29||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2009–10
||A.C. Monza Brianza 1912
||Lega Pro||23||0||||||||||||||||
|-
144||0||||||||||||||||
83||0||||||||||||||||
117||0||||||||||||||||
23||0||||||||||||||||||
344||0||||||||||||||||
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
professional football goalkeeper. He left Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands, established on April 1, 1888. Sparta is one of three professional football clubs from Rotterdam, the others being Excelsior and Feyenoord , the latter playing in the Eredivisie.-History:Sparta was first founded in 1887....
at the end of the 2007–08
Eredivisie 2007-08
The 2007–08 Eredivisie was the 52nd season of the Eredivisie, the top division of association football in the Netherlands. The season began in August 2007 and ended on 18 May 2008, with defending champions PSV retaining their title with 72 points....
Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
season to play for Monza
A.C. Monza Brianza 1912
Associazione Calcio Monza Brianza 1912 is an Italian football club based in Monza, Lombardy.Founded in 1912, Monza currently plays in Lega Pro Prima Divisione group A, having last been in Serie B in 2000. Monza spent the last few years in Serie C1 and Serie C2.-History:Monza was founded on 1...
, and is currently playing for South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n Premier Soccer League
Premier Soccer League
Premier Soccer League is the trading name of the National Soccer League of South Africa. The top league is the ABSA Premiership, sponsored by ABSA...
club Ajax Cape Town.
Career
His first professional match was for the Enschede club FC TwenteFC Twente
FC Twente is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Eredivisie Champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys...
in 1994. After two seasons at Enschede he moved to Vitesse Arnhem
Vitesse Arnhem
Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse is a Dutch football club from Arnhem, which was founded on 14 May 1892. Vitesse has had considerable success in the Eredivisie, and featured in the UEFA Cup competition, but has never been considered a close competitor of the top three clubs of Netherlands...
where, in the course of three seasons, he developed into a goalkeeper of national stature.
Following the 1998–1999 season, during which he helped Vitesse to qualify for Europe, Westerveld was sold to Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, where he succeeded David James
David James (footballer)
David Benjamin James is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bristol City.On 14 February 2009, he achieved the all-time Premier League appearance record with 536 appearances, overtaking Gary Speed. He held this record until being overtaken by Ryan Giggs on the 14th May 2011...
. He became the most expensive goalkeeper in British football when he joined the Reds for a reported fee of £4 million during the summer of 1999. Westerveld made his Liverpool debut against Sheffield Wednesday on the 7 August 1999 in a 2–1 away win. The giant keeper was Gérard Houllier
Gérard Houllier
Gérard Houllier, OBE , is a French football manager, who was last manager of Premier League club Aston Villa. He stepped down on 1 June 2011, following hospitalisation over heart problems towards the end of the 2010-2011 season....
's first choice to succeed James as Anfield's number one, and Westerveld fully justified the manager's confidence by playing a leading role in Liverpool's return to Europe, conceding the fewest goals in the 1999–2000 Premiership season.
He played a key role in the treble season of 2000–2001 for Liverpool, emerging as the hero of Liverpool's League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
final victory over Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
, making the match winning save from Andy Johnson in the penalty shoot-out.
However, towards the end of his two season spell on Merseyside, he was often subjected to criticism from the media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. After a major mistake in a game against Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
on 27 August 2001 he was put on the bench by then-manager Gérard Houllier, who promptly signed two new goalkeepers – the Polish international Jerzy Dudek
Jerzy Dudek
Jerzy Henryk Dudek is a retired Polish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.After beginning his career in his home country, he went on to have successful spells in Netherlands and England, winning the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, appearing in 186 official games for the club over...
(who would become a Champions League-winning hero) and the injury-prone but impressive Englishman Chris Kirkland
Chris Kirkland
Christopher Edmund "Chris" Kirkland is an English footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Wigan Athletic in the Premier League. He also has one cap for the England national team....
. Westerveld was then sold despite being part of a team that had won three trophies the previous season.
A move abroad saw a successful spell with Spanish side Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...
culminating in Champions League participation and finishing as runner up in La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
of the 2002=2003 season.
In July 2005 he moved back to England with Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
, being signed by Alain Perrin, where he was to be first choice ahead of Jamie Ashdown
Jamie Ashdown
Jamie Lawrence Ashdown is an English footballer who is currently at Portsmouth where he plays as a goalkeeper.- Career :...
and Greek keeper Konstantinos Chalkias
Konstantinos Chalkias
Konstantinos "Kostas" Chalkias is a Greek footballer, born 30 May 1974 in Larissa, Greece. He stands 2.00 m tall and plays in the goalkeeper position. He currently plays for PAOK F.C..-Greece:...
. However, after an inconsistent time at Fratton Park
Fratton Park
Fratton Park is a football stadium in the English city-port of Portsmouth. It has been the home of professional club Portsmouth F.C. since its construction in 1898.-Description:...
, in February 2006 he was allowed to move on a short term loan to Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, rivals of his former club Liverpool, because of a goalkeeping crisis which saw Nigel Martyn
Nigel Martyn
Antony Nigel Martyn , more commonly known as Nigel Martyn, is a retired English football goalkeeper. He played for Crystal Palace where he became the first £1million goalkeeper in British football and also won the Full Members Cup. Martyn then left to spend six seasons at Leeds United. He went on...
, Richard Wright
Richard Wright (footballer)
Richard Ian Wright is an English professional goalkeeper, currently playing for Ipswich Town, now his third spell with the club having played earlier in the season for the reserves...
and Iain Turner
Iain Turner
Iain Ross Turner is a Scottish footballer who plays for Preston North End as a goalkeeper. He has represented the Scotland under-21 team, the Scotland B team and been selected for the full Scotland squad.-Club career:...
all unavailable. Westerveld played only two games.
Once he returned to Portsmouth he remained a substitute and was released by Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp
Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
in May 2006.
During the summer of 2006, Westerveld signed with Spanish Second division
Segunda División
The Segunda División is the lower tier of the two professional football leagues in Spain. From the season 2008-09 onwards, the name of the league is Liga Adelante.-History:...
club UD Almería
UD Almería
Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1989 as Almería Club de Fútbol, it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos, with a 22,000-seat...
for one season, in which he helped them to achieve promotion to the Spanish First division
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
before leaving the club at the end of his contract.
In September 2007, he joined Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands, established on April 1, 1888. Sparta is one of three professional football clubs from Rotterdam, the others being Excelsior and Feyenoord , the latter playing in the Eredivisie.-History:Sparta was first founded in 1887....
on a short-term contract and in May 2008 he announced that he was to leave Sparta.
During the summer of 2009 he signed for Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Lega Pro Prima Divisione outfit A.C. Monza Brianza 1912
A.C. Monza Brianza 1912
Associazione Calcio Monza Brianza 1912 is an Italian football club based in Monza, Lombardy.Founded in 1912, Monza currently plays in Lega Pro Prima Divisione group A, having last been in Serie B in 2000. Monza spent the last few years in Serie C1 and Serie C2.-History:Monza was founded on 1...
, after a successful trial with the club. He later joined Ajax Cape Town in South Africa where he is the number 1 goalkeeper. He was at Sanlam head office on 25 November 2011 to signed autographs where he was crowded by Liverpool fans for previous achievements and special bond with the club.
Career statistics
|-|1994–95||rowspan="2"|Twente
FC Twente
FC Twente is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Eredivisie Champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys...
||rowspan="2"|Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||3||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1995–96||11||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97||rowspan="3"|Vitesse||rowspan="3"|Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||34||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997–98||34||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1998–99||33||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–00||rowspan="3"|Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
||rowspan="3"|Premier League||36||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01||38||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2001–02||1||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2001–02||rowspan="3"|Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...
||rowspan="3"|La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||20||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2002–03||37||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2003–04||20||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2004–05
2004–05 La Liga
2004–05 season was composed of the following clubs:* Albacete Balompié* Athletic Bilbao* Atlético Madrid* FC Barcelona* Real Betis* Deportivo de La Coruña* Espanyol* Getafe CF* Levante UD* Málaga CF* Real Mallorca* CD Numancia* CA Osasuna...
||Mallorca
RCD Mallorca
Real Club Deportivo Mallorca is a Spanish football team based on Palma, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands. Founded on 5 March 1916, the team currently plays in the Spanish first division, holding home games at Son Moix....
||La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||6||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06||Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
||Premier League||6||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06||Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
||Premier League||2||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006–07||Almería
UD Almería
Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1989 as Almería Club de Fútbol, it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos, with a 22,000-seat...
||Segunda División
Segunda División
The Segunda División is the lower tier of the two professional football leagues in Spain. From the season 2008-09 onwards, the name of the league is Liga Adelante.-History:...
||34||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2007–08||Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands, established on April 1, 1888. Sparta is one of three professional football clubs from Rotterdam, the others being Excelsior and Feyenoord , the latter playing in the Eredivisie.-History:Sparta was first founded in 1887....
||Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||29||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2009–10
2009–10 Lega Pro Prima Divisione
The 2009–10 Lega Pro Prima Divisione season will be the thirty-second football league season of Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the second since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro....
||A.C. Monza Brianza 1912
A.C. Monza Brianza 1912
Associazione Calcio Monza Brianza 1912 is an Italian football club based in Monza, Lombardy.Founded in 1912, Monza currently plays in Lega Pro Prima Divisione group A, having last been in Serie B in 2000. Monza spent the last few years in Serie C1 and Serie C2.-History:Monza was founded on 1...
||Lega Pro||23||0||||||||||||||||
|-
144||0||||||||||||||||
83||0||||||||||||||||
117||0||||||||||||||||
23||0||||||||||||||||||
344||0||||||||||||||||
Liverpool
Winner- 2000–01 League CupFootball League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
- 2000–01 FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
- 2000–01 UEFA CupUEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
- 2001–02 Charity ShieldFA Community ShieldThe Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
- 2001–02 European Super CupEuropean Super CupThe UEFA Super Cup is an annual football game between the reigning champions of the two cup competitions organized by UEFA: the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League...
External links
- Liverpool FC profile
- LFCHistory.net profile
- Everton FC profile
- Player profile – Sparta Rotterdam
- Career stats – Voetbal International