Fred de Jong (born 5 April 1964) is a New Zealand former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

striker who represented his country in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Club career

De Jong played senior football with Mt. Wellington before moving to Australia, helping

Marconi Stallions Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times. The Stallions are the soccer team of Club Marconi, a social ...

to consecutive

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

titles in 1988 and 1989. De Jong then took advantage of his heritage, joining

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

(First Division) in 1990, playing against the likes of Romario and Dennis Bergkamp. De Jong played three seasons in the Dutch top flight (53 games; 6 goals) and one more in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

(Second Division). He returned to New Zealand after the Dutch 1993–94 season to play domestically for

Central United Central United Football Club is an amateur association football (soccer) club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRF Championship. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it changed ...

and later played in the Australian

for the Football Kingz 1999–2000.

International career

De Jong marked his

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

debut with a substitute appearance in a 6–1 win over

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

on 3 April 1984 and ended his international playing career with 21 A-international caps and 3 goals to his credit, his final cap coming in a 0–1 loss to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 30 May 1993.

Post playing career

De Jong retains involvement in football serving as a director on the

New Zealand Football New Zealand Football is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), the nationa ...

board and as vice president of the

Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...

. He is an occasional TV commentator for SKY TV in New Zealand and has been a contributor of football related articles for the

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

Personal life

De Jong's son Andre played for the

New Zealand national under-17 football team The New Zealand Under 17's football team, more commonly known as the Young All Whites, is controlled by New Zealand Football and represents New Zealand in international Under 17 or youth football competitions. New Zealand was the host nation fo ...

, the

2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fifteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates between 17 October and 8 November. Nigeria won the tournament after defeating Mexico 3–0 in the final, cla ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Andre played on the team, along with

Alex Rufer Alex Arthur Rufer (born 12 June 1996) is a New Zealand professional footballer who captains and plays as a defensive midfielder for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League. Personal life Rufer is the son of former international New Zealand player ...

, son of

Shane Rufer Shane Arthur Rufer (born 23 March 1960) is a New Zealand former association football player, who played as a centre forward, midfielder and defender. He represented New Zealand on nineteen occasions between 1979 and 1985, making his debut on 2 ...

and Matt Ridenton, son of former New Zealand All White's player

Michael Ridenton Michael Ridenton (born 28 March 1968) was a footballer who represented New Zealand at international level. Ridenton made his full All Whites debut in a 4–0 win over Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country ...

References

He is now involved at Ellerslie AFC,where he coaches the 13th grade metro team which his son plays for

External links

Fred de Jong Interview

De Jong in twilight of top career
* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Jong, Fred 1964 births Living people Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand New Zealand people of Dutch descent New Zealand association footballers New Zealand international footballers National Soccer League (Australia) players Football Kingz F.C. players Fortuna Sittard players Marconi Stallions FC players Central United F.C. players Association football forwards