Dutch Players In England Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fulham

When it was announced in August of 2001 that Edwin van der Sar had made a move to Fulham, it caught the football world by surprise. He was unveiled at Craven Cottage to what he called a "nice friendly atmosphere" and that he felt "appreciated". All told, he made 127 appearances for the club.

He made a highly scrutinized move to Manchester United in 2005. Sir Alex Ferguson later would state that van der Sar was the best goalkeeper to play for the Red Devils since Peter Schmeichel. He played until 2011 for the club and was memorable for being the oldest player to win the Premier League, as well as setting a professional top-flight football record of 1,311 minutes without conceding a goal.

Answer: Liverpool

Dirk Kuyt started out his football career wondering whether he should have gone into the family business instead and become a fisherman. Thankfully for all of his fans, he decided to stick with sports. He was a part of a successful Utrecht squad, then he transferred to Feyenoord. In 2006 he was spotted by manager Rafa Benítez and transferred to Liverpool.

Kuyt went on to feature in 286 games for Liverpool over all competitions and scored 71 goals. He was called a "Big Game Player" for his ability to score when the team needed him the most. For example, Kuyt scored the penalty shoot-out winner in the 2007 Champions League semi-final against Chelsea. He would stay at the club until the 2012-13 season, when he was transferred to Fenerbahçe. He spent a couple of seasons there, another back in Feyenoord, and then retired.

Answer: Arsenal

Dennis Bergkamp was a successful Dutch footballer who came up through the Ajax Amsterdam youth system and made it to the senior team. He was noticed by Johann Cruyff who gave him an opportunity, and he soon established himself as a first-team mainstay. Bergkamp was noticed by many teams and he decided to join Inter Milan so that he could play in Italy. His first season for the club was a success, but his second season was not, creating much uncertainty about Bergkamp's future with the club.

Thus, in June 1995, Dennis Bergkamp signed for new manager Bruce Rioch at Arsenal. A season later, Arsène Wenger became the manager and an amazing partnership was formed. An attacking style of play was tailored to Bergkamp, and he would go on to appear 315 times for the club while scoring 87 goals.

Answer: Manchester United

Starting in the Netherlands for Den Bosch, then Heerenveen, and finally PSV Eindhoven, it was when Darren Ferguson saw Ruud van Nistelrooy play that his father, Sir Alex Ferguson, sent some of his people to watch the next match and signed him the next day. However, due to PSV refusing to allow a physical for the player and an ACL injury, van Nistelrooy only signed in 2001 for the Red Devils.

In total, van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals over all competitions for Manchester United while appearing in only 219 games. This means that he scored in 68.5% of all games he played, an incredible feat! With the team he won all of the domestic silverware available. However, after five seasons at the club, he signed with Real Madrid and moved away from England. A reason supposed for this move was conflict between him and up-and-coming striker Cristiano Ronaldo. Nevertheless, he remains one of the most prolific Dutch players to play in England.

Answer: Southampton

Virgil van Dijk is an amazing defender who joined Liverpool in 2018. However, this was not the first Premier League team that he played for. He first played professional football for FC Groningen after not making any favourable impressions in the Willem II academy. However, after two seasons with the club, he thought that he was destined for bigger and better. Nonetheless, no Eredivisie clubs wanted to sign him, so, van Dijk moved to Great Britain, to play in Scotland for Celtic.

Virgil van Dijk's two seasons with the Bhoys were very successful, so much, in fact, that they caught the eye of manager Ronald Koeman all the way across the island to the south. Koeman, whose father, Martin Koeman was the one who brought van Dijk to Groningen, was managing Southampton who were having defensive woes. Van Dijk came in and made an impact. However, after just over two seasons, van Dijk was transferred to Liverpool for a record-setting fee for a defender. Despite the heavy price tag, the move paid off for the Merseyside reds.

Answer: Chelsea

While Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink may have started playing professionally in the Netherlands and then moved to Portugal, the most playing time he saw in one league was for the English Premier League as a member of four different squads. He joined Leeds United first, having impressed manager George Graham, and stayed there for two seasons (1997-1999). Then, after one season for Atletico Madrid, he returned to the Premier League to play for Chelsea.

With Chelsea, Hasselbaink had his best stint. He right away got the Premier League Golden Boot in his first season with the club. He formed a strong partnership with Eidur Gudjohnsen, and together they were a feared forward pair. However, after two seasons, the manager, Claudio Ranieri, started bringing in alternative strikers and limiting Hasselbaink's playing time. When his contract was up in July 2004, he joined Middlesbrough. After two seasons in Middlesbrough, he was released and signed for his fourth and final Premier League side, Charlton Athletic in 2006. After one season, Hasselbaink joined Cardiff City in the Football League, which would be his final season playing football.

Answer: Manchester United

Jaap Stam was a Dutch defender that was known for his pace and tackling abilities. Stam grew up in the Dutch soccer system and was noticed by manager Alex Ferguson. Stam was the most expensive defender of all time when he was sold to Manchester United in 1998. His first season in the Premier League returned Manchester United to the top of the table, a one point margin over Arsenal. That season also brought victories in the FA Cup as well as the UEFA Champions League giving Stam the treble in his first season. In his second season, the title was retained, and again in the third, all of these over Arsenal, but none of them nearly as close as the first.

After three seasons, the Red Devils received an offer from Lazio for Jaap Stam. Considering his age and a slight decline in statistics, the team jumped on this offer and Stam took his services to Italy. After five seasons, Stam played a final season back in the Netherlands (2006-07), before retiring as a player.

Answer: Manchester United

When you think of Robin van Persie, his long years at Arsenal (2004-2012) are rarely the first thing I think of. Instead, what I remember are his later seasons in the Premier League when he was a member of Manchester United (2012-2015). Though, for many, the move was not a shocker, for the Arsenal fans, it was heartbreaking. However, van Persie started his career at Feyenoord, and had three successful seasons in his younger years when he was part of the first team. This caught the eye of Arsène Wenger, the manager, who intended for van Persie to replace another Dutchman, Dennis Bergkamp.

Van Persie's eight seasons with Arsenal were very good, and though he never took his foot off the gas, Arsenal never quite lived up to the expectations that he set for himself. In fact the only two pieces of silverware that he took with the London club were the Community Shield and the 2005 FA Cup. In order to achieve the dream of the Premier League title, van Persie moved to Manchester United in 2012.

In his first season for United, Robin van Persie did exactly as expected. He was a goal-scoring machine and he helped the club get the title. However, his next two seasons were lacklustre and injury-laden, and, by mutual agreement, van Persie was allowed to leave the team. He signed away from England, thus ending eleven productive seasons in the Premier League.

Answer: Chelsea

Arjen Robben was still a young footballer when he caught the eye of some prominent teams. There was a lot of interest to bring him to the Premier League, and Manchester United were considered to be the top team that would sign him. However, their first offer was considered laughable; PSV chairman Harry van Raaij reportedly stated the offer would only get them a signed Arjen Robben jersey! So, upon hearing that, billionaire Roman Abramovich upped his team's offer and Robben was off to Chelsea.

Unfortunately, an injury prevented Arjen Robben from playing for the Blues right away, but, it was worth the wait. Robben rejoined the team after four months in November of 2004 and was the runner-up for Young Player of the Year. He won the title with Chelsea, their first in the Premier League, and then another in the following season. In his third season after Chelsea won the 2007 FA Cup, it was announced that he had been sold to Real Madrid. Robben would play in Spain for two seasons, and in Germany for another ten, before returning to the Netherlands. One season later, he retired in 2021.

Answer: Arsenal

Marc Overmars was meant to be a tractor. Actually. As a child, when it was time to get the potatoes out of the ground, his family used to tie a wagon to him and then he would run around the potato field and pull his family around as they pulled potatoes. However, he loved football and would practice constantly, even at the detriment of his schoolwork.

He soon made it up the ranks and as a professional in the Netherlands, was signed by Ajax and spent five great seasons there (1992-1997). He was then noticed by Arsène Wenger and signed by Arsenal where he played for three seasons. As mentioned, in his first season he helped the Gunners get the domestic double, league title and the FA Cup, but they could not replicate their triumph in the next two years.

On March 14, 1998, Marc Overmars scored the winning goal in the 79th minute of a 1-0 win over title rivals Manchester United. Seeing as how the Premier League was won by a single point, this goal proved critical in securing the title for Arsenal, their first since 1991. They also won the FA Cup in that season with Overmars scoring the first goal in a 2-0 win over Newcastle.

After his seasons at Arsenal, Overmars was signed by Barcelona and then retired. He did come out of retirement for a bit to play for his original club, the Go Ahead Eagles, but retired again quickly as his knee kept causing him pain.