Jaap Stam

Jaap Stam

Stam in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Jakob Stam
Date of birth	(1972-07-17) 17 July 1972
Place of birth	Kampen, Overijssel, Netherlands
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1]
Playing position	Centre-back
Club information
Current team	Reading (manager)
Youth career
1988–1992	DOS Kampen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1993	FC Zwolle	32	(1)
1993–1995	SC Cambuur	66	(3)
1995–1996	Willem II	19	(1)
1996–1998	PSV Eindhoven	76	(12)
1998–2001	Manchester United	79	(1)
2001–2004	Lazio	70	(3)
2004–2006	Milan	42	(1)
2006–2007	Ajax	31	(1)
Total		415	(23)
National team
1996–2004	Netherlands	67	(3)
Teams managed
2009	FC Zwolle (interim)
2011–2013	FC Zwolle (assistant)
2013–2014	Ajax (assistant)
2014–2016	Jong Ajax (assistant)
2016–	Reading
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Jakob "Jaap" Stam (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjaːp ˈstɑm]; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Reading.

Born in Kampen, he played for several European clubs including PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Lazio, Milan and Ajax before retiring in October 2007. As well as club trophies, he won several personal awards, including being voted the best defender in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League.^[2] As a centre-back, he was known for possessing "a rare combination of speed, strength and ball-playing ability",^[3] as well as an excellent positional sense.^[4]

Stam played 67 international matches for the Netherlands, scoring three goals. He was in their squads for three UEFA European Championships and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Stam started his career with local amateur football club DOS Kampen. On 15 August 1992, Stam made his professional debut for FC Zwolle in a 1–1 draw against SC Heracles in the Eerste Divisie. He became a first team regular right away and moved to Eredivisie side Cambuur Leeuwarden for the following season, but relegated in his first season which brought him back into the Eerste Divisie. Two seasons at Cambuur earned him a transfer to Eredivisie side Willem II. At Willem II, he immediately impressed at the Eredivisie level, which meant his final breakthrough. A shock 1–0 home victory over Ajax led to Stam's transfer to PSV Eindhoven in the same season in which they eventually won the KNVB Cup, his first professional trophy.

PSV

Stam was a key player for PSV in the 1996–97 season, as the team won the Eredivisie Championship and the Johan Cruyff Shield. Individually, Stam won the VVCS Footballer of the Year award.

In 1998, Stam became the then most expensive Dutch football player in history and the most expensive defender in history when Manchester United bought him for £10.6 million.

Manchester United

Stam spent three seasons at Manchester United, during which time United won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League. He scored his only goal for the club in a 6–2 away victory against Leicester City.^[5]

Early in the 2001–02 season, Stam was controversially sold to Lazio in Italy after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reportedly furious with allegations Stam had made in his autobiography Head to Head about himself and the club. Stam made numerous statements in the book about his views on opposing players, and notoriously alleged that Ferguson's approach to buy him was done without the permission of PSV.^[6] Laurent Blanc was signed as his replacement.

In 2007, however, Ferguson described the decision to sell Stam as an error: "At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit. We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre-back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. But in playing terms it was a mistake. He is still playing for Ajax at a really good level."^[7] On the financial report, Manchester United announced the fee was £15.3 million.^[8]

Lazio

During his time with Lazio, Stam was found guilty of having the banned steroid nandrolone in his system following a Serie A game,^[9] and received a five-month ban, which was eventually reduced by a month after appeals.^[10] He was the second Lazio player suspended in 2001, after Fernando Couto. Stam returned to be an integral part of a Lazio side that struggled financially, but still retained its status as a top club in spite of several top players leaving.

In his last season at the club, he won the Coppa Italia.

Milan

Stam joined Milan after UEFA Euro 2004. He reached his second Champions League final with the Rossoneri in 2005, but was a runner-up after his team was defeated by Liverpool in a penalty shootout.^[11]

Ajax

On 30 January 2006, it was announced that he would return to the Eredivisie and play for Ajax, where he signed a two-year contract for a €2.5 million transfer fee. Stam was named team captain upon his arrival at the club. In his first season, he won both the Johan Cruijff-schaal and the KNVB Cup; another Johan Cruijff-schaal was added to his trophies at the start of the 2007–08 season.

On 29 October 2007, Stam announced his retirement from professional football with immediate effect after playing six league games for Ajax in 2007–08. His last game was in a 0–0 draw against NEC on 20 October 2007.

International career

Stam made his debut for the Netherlands on 24 April 1996 in a 1–0 defeat to Germany. He was also an important player in the Dutch team that finished fourth in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

During UEFA Euro 2000, he once again reached the semi-finals with the Dutch team, hosted in his home country and Belgium. Stam missed an important penalty kick in the penalty shootout in the semi-finals, which led to defeat against Italy.

Stam reached his third semi-finals in an international competition with his nation at Euro 2004 in Portugal and retired from international football after the tournament. The reason cited for his international retirement was that he wanted to focus on his new team, Milan, as well as his family.

In total, he played 67 matches for the Netherlands, scoring three goals.

Post career

In October 2008, Stam returned to Manchester United as a scout for the club, responsible for most of South America.^[12][13]

Coaching and managerial career

In 2011, Stam became an assistant coach for PEC Zwolle, a position he held for two seasons after Kieron Hogendoorn vacated the role.

Following his stint with Zwolle, Stam took a three-year contract with Ajax as an assistant coach, and as defensive trainer starting in the 2013–14 Eredivisie season.^[14]

On 13 June 2016, Stam was appointed as manager of English Championship side Reading on an initial two-year contract.^[15]

Soccer Aid

Stam has been involved with Soccer Aid, which puts celebrities and football legends together in two teams (England and Rest of the World) for a charity game in aid of Unicef. Stam has appeared in four Soccer Aid matches 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2016.^[16]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 3 December 2016

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Reading	13 June 2016	Present	7001230000000000000♠23	7001120000000000000♠12	7000500000000000000♠5	7000600000000000000♠6	7001522000000000000♠52.2	[17]
Total			7001230000000000000♠23	7001120000000000000♠12	7000500000000000000♠5	7000600000000000000♠6	7001522000000000000♠52.2	—

Honours

Player

Club

PSV

• Eredivisie (1): 1996–97
• KNVB Cup (1): 1995–96
• Johan Cruyff Shield (2): 1996, 1997

Manchester United

• Premier League (3): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01
• FA Cup (1): 1998–99
• UEFA Champions League (1): 1998–99
• Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999

Lazio

• Coppa Italia (1): 2003–04

Milan

• Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2004

Ajax

• KNVB Cup (1): 2006–07
• Johan Cruijff-schaal (2): 2006, 2007

International

Netherlands

• 1998 FIFA World Cup: Fourth place

Individual

• Dutch Footballer of the Year (1): 1997
• Dutch Golden Boot (1): 1997
• UEFA Club Best Defender of the Year (2): 1998–99, 1999–2000
• Premier League PFA Team of the Year (3): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01
• ESM Team of the Year (1): 1998–99
• Overseas Team of the Decade – Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 – 2001–02)
• FIFPro World XI Nominee: 2005^[18]

Assistant coach

Club

FC Zwolle

• Eerste Divisie (1): 2012–13

Ajax

• Eredivisie (1): 2013–14
• Johan Cruijff Shield (1): 2013

Career statistics

^{[19] [20]}

Club	Season	Division	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Zwolle	1992–93	Eerste Divisie	32	1			–
Cambuur	1993–94	Eredivisie	33	1			–
	1994–95	Eerste Divisie	33	2			–
	Total		66	3			–
Willem II	1995–96	Eredivisie	19	1			–
PSV Eindhoven	1995–96	Eredivisie	14	1			–
	1996–97		33	7			–
	1997–98		29	4			–
	Total		76	12			–
Manchester United	1998–99	Premier League	30	1	7	0	0	0	13	0	1	0	51	1
	1999–2000		33	0	0	0	0	0	13	0	5	0	51	0
	2000–01		15	0	1	0	0	0	6	0	1	0	23	0
	2001–02		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
	Total		79	1	8	0	0	0	32	0	8	0	127	1
Lazio	2001–02	Serie A	13	1
	2002–03		28	0
	2003–04		29	2
	Total		70	3
Milan	2004–05	Serie A	17	0	2	0	1	0	8	1			28	1
	2005–06		25	1	3	0	0	0	9	0			37	1
	Total		42	1	5	0	1	0	17	1			65	2
Ajax	2006–07	Eredivisie	25	1			–
	2007–08		6	0			–
	Total		31	1			–
Career total			415	23

^[21]

Netherlands senior team
Year	Apps	Goals
1996	4	0
1997	6	1
1998	14	1
1999	4	1
2000	8	0
2001	7	0
2002	5	0
2003	9	0
2004	10	0
Total	67	3

Books

• Stam, J., with Butler, J. (contrib.) (2002), Head to Head, Willow Publishing, ISBN 978-0-00-711709-3

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jaap Stam.

• Jaap Stam profile and stats at Wereld van Oranje (Dutch)
• World Footballer of the Year 1999 12th