Harvey Delano Esajas (born 13 June 1974) is a Dutch former

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 defender.

Club career

Feyenoord and Eerste Divisie

Born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

of Surinamese descent, Esajas made his debut in professional football in 1993–94 with

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

, after spending his youth years in the football schools of

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

and

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 ...

. Prior to the start of the season, he was the key factor in the ''Helderse affaire'': Feyenoord played a friendly match with an amateur side, the ''Helderse Selectie'', and during the game he knocked down opponent Ronald Schouten, breaking his

jaw The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serv ...

but not being eventually suspended for his actions. Esajas made his

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 ...

debut on 24 October 1993 against Ajax, and managed to score in one of the most prestigious clash in the Netherlands, in a 2–2 away draw. Despite this promising start he did not make it as a regular in Feyenoord's first team, and only played in five games; during his first season at ''

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

'' the team won the

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

and, the following campaign, he only appeared three times, while he was not used at all in 1995–96. Upon leaving

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, Esajas signed with FC Groningen. There, he was played rarely, subsequently moving to

SC Cambuur SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 Ee ...

in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, where he did not feature at all. In 1998–99 he appeared in seven matches for

Dordrecht'90 Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, t ...

, also in the second level.

Retirement and return

Esajas decided to move abroad and was able to have trials at ACF Fiorentina and Torino F.C. in Italy, but neither offered him a contract. He then tried to find a club in Spain, spending some time at CD Móstoles, Real Madrid Castilla and

Zamora CF Zamora Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Zamora, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1968 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Ruta de la Plata'', with a ...

, but did not succeed at any, thus deciding to end his career and find a regular job at a Spanish

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

. Esajas disappeared out of the world of football for a long time, until 2004 (during this time, he also worked as a dish washer). Upon a visit to his close friend

Clarence Seedorf Clarence Clyde Seedorf (; born 1 April 1976) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is regarded by many to be one of the best midfielders of his generation. Seedorf is considered one of the most successful players in UE ...

, who played at

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

, he spoke of his wish to return to professional football – at that time his weight was over 100 kg and he had not touched a ball in three years time. Seedorf went to club coach

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...

and told him as a joke he could have a defender

for free "For Free" is a song by American musician DJ Khaled featuring Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on June 3, 2016 by We the Best Music Group and Epic Records as the lead single from DJ Khaled's ninth studio album, ''Major Key''. The song wa ...

. The manager's reaction was skeptical, but he accepted the challenge and gave Esajas the opportunity to train at ''

Milanello Milanello Sports Centre ('' it, Centro Sportivo Milanello''), commonly referred to as simply Milanello, is the training facility of Italian football club A.C. Milan. Built in 1963, the centre consists of , including a pinewood and a little lake. I ...

'' for a while; in three months time, the player lost 15 kg and in June 2004 was in footballing shape again, thus being offered a contract. When 2004–05's

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

began, Esajas was one of Milan's last options on the bench, but in January 2005 he was given a few minutes of play for his hard work. He came on as a substitute three minutes before time in the

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

match against

U.S. Città di Palermo Palermo Football Club, more simply known as Palermo F.C. or Palermo (; scn, Paliemmu, link=no, ), is an Italian football club based in the Sicilian city of Palermo, conventionally founded for the first time on 1 November 1900. Among the club� ...

, for

Massimo Ambrosini Massimo Ambrosini (; born 29 May 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a defensive midfielder. At club level, he is mostly known for his successful time at Italian team AC Milan, where he spent eighteen years of ...

, and was even able to create a scoring opportunity for Jon Dahl Tomasson, who headed over the bar in an eventual 2–0 home win. Subsequently, Esajas was part of the Milan squad in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

when they played and lost on penalties to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in the

2005 Champions League final The 2005 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpool of England and Milan of Italy at the Atatürk Oly ...

. He did not play any more matches for the ''Rossoneri'', but moved to

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

team

A.C. Legnano Associazione Calcio Dilettantistica Legnano, commonly referred to as Legnano, is an Italian football club based in Legnano, Lombardy. Founded in 1913, Legnano played three seasons in Serie A and a total of eleven seasons in the top tier of the It ...

instead, also representing

Calcio Lecco 1912 Calcio Lecco 1912, better known as Lecco , is a football club in Lecco, Lombardy, Italy. The club currently plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian Football Founded in 1912, it has played in three Serie A tournaments (the last of ...

in that same season before ending his career for the second and definitive time. Esajas himself described the story of his career as follows: "The incredible story of the man who made the impossible thing possible."

Club statistics

References

External links

Stats at Voetbal International
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Esajas, Harvey 1974 births Living people Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Converts to Islam Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch men's footballers Men's association football defenders Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Feyenoord players FC Groningen players SC Cambuur players FC Dordrecht players Segunda División B players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Zamora CF footballers Serie C players AC Milan players AC Legnano players Calcio Lecco 1912 players SVB Eerste Divisie players S.V. Transvaal players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy SC Buitenveldert players