Gerrit "Gert" Bals (18 October 1936 – 20 May 2016) was a Dutch

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Bals became the first Dutch goalkeeper in an UEFA Cup final, when he played for Ajax in the

1969 European Cup Final The 1969 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, on 28 May 1969, that saw Milan of Italy play against Ajax of the Netherlands to determine who would be the champions of Europe that season. Ajax made hist ...

against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Club career

Born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, Bals played for local side RUC and Velox before joining SV Zeist when they entered at the start of the professional era in Holland. After a spell at 't Gooi, he moved to PSV for whom he would play 120 matches winning the 1963 league title and later

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

. He played 216 official matches for Ajax after making his debut for them in August 1965 and won 4 league titles with the club. He won the Dutch Footballer of the Year Award in 1969. He finished his career at Vitesse after losing Ajax´ number one jersey to

Heinz Stuy Heinz Stuy (born 6 February 1945, Wanne-Eickel) is a former Dutch football goalkeeper who played for AFC Ajax and was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972 and 1973. Career Stuy was born in north-western Germany to a Dutch father a ...

in 1970.

Personal life

After retiring as a player, Bals owned a sportshop in Velp and later a tobacco shop in Veendaal.Legendarische oud-doelman Gert Bals overleden
- NOS He died in May 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bals, Gert 1936 births 2016 deaths Footballers from Utrecht (city) Association football goalkeepers Dutch footballers Velox SC players PSV Eindhoven players AFC Ajax players SBV Vitesse players Eredivisie players SC 't Gooi players Dutch football managers Kozakken Boys managers