Clyde Wijnhard (born 1 November 1973) is a Dutch former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. Born in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

, Suriname, Wijnhard started his career in the Netherlands with

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

, and had spells with

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

and Willem II before joining

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Leeds United for a £1.5 million fee in 1998. He joined Huddersfield Town in 1999 but suffered a near-fatal car accident the following year. He joined

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and later had spells with Oldham Athletic,

Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

before retiring in 2006.

Playing career

Early career

Born in

, Wijnhard started his career at Ajax in 1993, scoring 2 in 4 matches in the 1992–93 season and had a loan spell at

in the 1993–94 season, where he scored 14 in 28 matches. Following his return from loan, manager Louis van Gaal unsuccessfully attempted to use Wijnhard as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. After two seasons with

between 1995 and 1997, in which he scored 18 goals in 50 games, he signed for Willem II on a two-year contract in September 1997. He scored 14 goals in 29 matches during the 1997–98 season.

Leeds United

Wijnhard joined

club Leeds United in summer 1998 for a fee of £1.5 million. He was signed as a strike partner to fellow Dutch forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who had scored 22 goals for the club during the previous season. He scored his first goal for the club on 8 September in the club's 3–0 win over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, but his game time was limited following the departure of manager George Graham, and he scored 4 goals in 25 matches across all competitions during the 1998–99 season.

Huddersfield Town

Wijnhard signed for First Division club Huddersfield Town in summer 1999 for a fee of £750,000. In September 2000, Wijnhard suffered a near-fatal car accident which left him unable to play for the next 18 months.

Preston North End and Oldham Athletic

In March 2002, Wijnhard joined First Division side

on a free transfer. He made his debut for the club on 23 March 2002, starting in their 2–0 win away to Stockport County. In summer 2002, he turned down an offer of a three-year deal at Preston. He subsequently had trials at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

and Galatasaray before joining Oldham Athletic on a non-contract basis on 29 August 2002. He signed a contract until the end of the season the following week.

Later career

Wijnhard spent the 2003–04 season in Portugal with

on a week-to-week contract but eventually left the club due to a lack of game time, and returned to England. In October 2004, Wijnhard joined

on a match-by-match contract. He scored on his debut for the club on 2 October 2004 as they beat Southend United 4–0 on 2 October. The following month, he signed a contract until summer 2006. On 7 October 2005, the club announced that they had terminated his contract, but his registration was retained and he joined

on loan on 14 October. He joined the club on a permanent deal in January 2006. He was released by Macclesfield at the end of the season. After trial spells at Chester City and

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

, he joined

on trial in September 2006, and signed a three-month contract with the club later that month. He was released by the club in December 2006, shortly prior to the end of his contract. Wijnhard appeared for Bramham FC of the Harrogate and District Association Football League, who he joined in the summer of 2006. As of the 2009/2010 season Wijnhard played for Shadwell United in the Yorkshire Old Boys League (now Yorkshire Amateur League). He has also appeared again for Leeds United albeit in Masters Football alongside Darren Huckerby.

After football

He helps young Dutch men's footballers gain trials at English clubs.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wijnhard, Clyde 1973 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Paramaribo Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands Men's association football forwards AFC Ajax players FC Groningen players RKC Waalwijk players Willem II (football club) players Leeds United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players S.C. Beira-Mar players Darlington F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Eredivisie players Premier League players English Football League players Primeira Liga players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal