 Bogarde in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Winston Lloyd Bogarde | ||
| Date of birth | (1970-10-22)22 October 1970 (age 55) | ||
| Place of birth | Rotterdam, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Youth career | |||
| Alexandria '66 | |||
| Sparta Rotterdam | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1991 | SVV | 11 | (1) |
| 1990 | →Excelsior (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 1991–1994 | Sparta Rotterdam | 65 | (14) |
| 1994–1997 | Ajax | 62 | (6) |
| 1997 | AC Milan | 3 | (0) |
| 1998–2000 | Barcelona | 41 | (4) |
| 2000–2004 | Chelsea | 9 | (0) |
| Total | 201 | (26) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995–2000 | Netherlands | 20 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017–2020 | Jong Ajax (assistant) | ||
| 2017 | Jong Ajax (interim) | ||
| 2020–2022 | Ajax (assistant) | ||
| 2026– | Suriname (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Winston Lloyd Bogarde (born 22 October 1970) is a Dutch retired professionalfootballer. He was known for his physical strength, and played mostly as acentre-back although he could occasionally play asleft-back.[1]
He had spells atAjax,Barcelona andChelsea.[2] With the latter club he garnered worldwide attention when he received little playing time (noPremier League level appearances in his last three seasons combined), and nevertheless insisted on seeing out his lucrative contract.[3]
Bogarde represented theNetherlands national team in oneWorld Cup and oneEuropean Championship, being an international for five years.
Born inRotterdam, Bogarde started his career atSVV in theEerste Divisie, as awinger,[1] then switched to theEredivisie in summer 1991, playing with hometown clubSparta (he previously had a short loan spell with neighbouringExcelsior in the second division) and scoring a career-best 11 goals in the1993–94 season as it qualified for theUEFA Intertoto Cup.
Bogarde signed forAjax in 1994. After a slowfirst year – he did not leave the bench inthe final of the team'svictorious campaign in theUEFA Champions League[4] – he became a defensive stalwart.
A.C. Milan signed Bogarde from Ajax for1997–98, but he only made threeSerie A appearances throughout his short stay. In January 1998, he moved to compatriotLouis van Gaal'sBarcelona, playing 19 matches in the second part ofthe campaign as Barcelona wonLa Liga and theCopa del Rey.[5]
As the Dutch influence at Barcelona was reduced, so was Bogarde's, who only managed one league contest inhis first full season, partly due to injuries,[6] although he bounced back for asecond respectable one (21 games, two goals).[7][8]
Bogarde signed forChelsea in2000–01, after following the advice of compatriotMario Melchiot to join him at thePremier League side.[9] He was signed whenGianluca Vialli was manager, although the latter had no idea the transfer was happening, it arguably being conducted bydirector of football Colin Hutchinson –Emerson Thome, also a centre-back, was shipped off toSunderland;[10][11] only weeks after arriving, newly appointed coachClaudio Ranieri wanted the player to leave.[12]
According to Bogarde, it would be next to impossible to find a team that would offer him a contract comparable to the one he had at Chelsea: he was astounded at the salary the club had agreed on, as his value depreciated severely due to lack of first-team action, and decided to stay and honour his contract to the letter and appear for training every day, despite being only rarely selected to play.[13] In the end, he only appeared 12 times during his four-year tenure, reportedly earning£40,000 a week during this period.[14][15]
After playing as asubstitute againstIpswich Town onBoxing Day in 2000,[16] Bogarde only played one more competitive match before his contract expired in July 2004, featuring from the bench, againstGillingham forthat season'sLeague Cup on 6 November 2002.[17]
During his spell atStamford Bridge, the club attempted to sell Bogarde due to his large salary, and demoted him to the reserve and youth teams in an effort to pressure him to leave.[18] In response to concurrent UK press criticism, he said:
Why should I throw fifteen million euro away when it is already mine? At the moment I signed it was in fact my money, my contract. Both sides agreed wholeheartedly. I could go elsewhere to play for less, but you have to understand my history to understand I would never do that. I used to be poor as a kid, did not have anything to spend or something to play with. This world is about money, so when you are offered those millions you take them. Few people will ever earn so many. I am one of the few fortunates who do. I may be one of the worst buys in the history of the Premiership, but I don't care.[19]
Courtesy of steady performances at Ajax, Bogarde was summoned toUEFA Euro 1996 byNetherlands managerGuus Hiddink, who also included him in the squad for the1998 FIFA World Cup.[20] A starter in the first competition, he only backed upArthur Numan in the second.
Bogarde had the chance to feature in his first start at aWorld Cup match againstBrazil in the semi-finals, after starter Numan was suspended in the previous encounter againstArgentina, but he sustained a seriousshin injury during training and was hospitalised,[21] being replaced byPhilip Cocu.
On 8 November 2005, 34-year-old Bogarde announced hisretirement from professional football.[22] He returned to Ajax in the summer of 2017, being named assistant manager attheir reserves under former teammateMichael Reiziger.[23][24] When the latter tookinterim charge of the first team following the dismissal ofMarcel Keizer, Bogarde took the same role in the second team for a 7–0 home win overVolendam on 22 December 2017.[25]
In March 2020, Bogarde was temporarily promoted to the first-team coaching staff by managerErik ten Hag, asChristian Poulsen was absent due to possible contact withCOVID-19; after the 3–1 win atHeerenveen, the upgrade was made permanent.[26] In July, he was given a three-year contract in the role.[27]
Bogarde was ousted by Ajax on 1 June 2022, with one year remaining on his contract with thenational champions.[28]
On 17 December 2025 it became clear that Winston Bogarde will assistHenk Ten Cate withSurinam national football team. The goal is qualification for theWorld Cup Football 2026 for the first time in history.
Bogarde's nephews,Melayro andLamare Bogarde, are both footballers and Dutch youth internationals.[29]
Ajax
Barcelona
Netherlands squads | |||||||||||||
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