Heini Otto (born 24 August 1954) 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 an
attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...
.
Club career
Early career
Otto worked for his father-in-law in the gold business, and then in a whisky distillery before becoming a professional footballer.
He began his career playing for
FC Amsterdam
FC Amsterdam was a Dutch football club which was founded on 20 June 1972, from the merger of the Amsterdam football clubs Blauw Wit and DWS. The club Volewijckers joined the side for the 1973–1974 season, in which season FC Amsterdam finished ...
between 1974 and 1977, followed by a move to
FC Twente
Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...
until 1980, where he had replaced
Arnold Mühren
Arnold Johannes Hyacinthus Mühren (born 2 June 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. His older brother Gerrie, also a midfield player, won three European Cup titles with Ajax in the early 1970s. Mühren is among the few play ...
after he left for
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
.
Middlesbrough
In the summer of 1981, Otto played three friendly games for English side
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
, with a view to a permanent transfer. He impressed manager
Bobby Murdoch
Robert White Murdoch (17 August 1944 – 15 May 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played for Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland. Murdoch was one of the Lisbon Lions, the Celtic team who won the European Cup in 1967. He later man ...
and signed a two-year contract in August. He made a scoring debut in the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
, against
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
at
Ayresome Park
Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...
, but the team lost 3–1. Otto was joint top scorer with a meagre five goals when Middlesbrough dropped into 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 ...
in 1982. He stayed at the club for the next few seasons.
Otto was ever-present for Middlesbrough between 1982 and 1985 earning 155 consecutive appearances (the fourth longest period in the club's history),
but eventually rejected a contract extension in May 1985 and returned to the Netherlands the following month to play for
FC Den Haag
Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...
. He is revered by fans of Middlesbrough who watched him play during this otherwise bleak period in the club's fortunes.
Amongst Middlesbrough fans of the period Heine Otto is recognised as an all-time great in the history of the club.
Late career
Otto spent seven seasons playing for Den Haag, being ever present in the side from 18 August 1985 until and 3 November 1991. Later this record was only broken by Fred Grim. In his last season (1991–1992) Heini Otto became the one and only player ever in the Dutch "Eredivisie", that's the highest league in Holland, to score two own goals in one game. This happens in the away game against Feyenoord in "De Kuip", he did it once in each half. As a player, he retired in 1992, later on he became a football coach.
International career
Otto played several times for the
Netherlands Under-23 side, earning one cap for the
full national side. His solitary cap came in a very unusual way. He gave his teammate
Jan Jongbloed a ride to
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
, for a match against
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
on 30 May 1975. At the airport, manager
George Knobel
George Knobel (10 December 1922 – 5 May 2012) was a Dutch football manager.
Knobel was born and died in Roosendaal. He was the coach of the Netherlands national football team for 15 matches (9 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses) from 1974 to 1976. Durin ...
noticed that
Willem van Hanegem
Willem "Wim" van Hanegem (; born 20 February 1944) is a Dutch former football player and coach who played as a midfielder. In a playing career spanning over 20 years, he won several domestic honours in the Netherlands, as well as a European Cu ...
had not showed up so he asked Otto to go home as fast as he could to get his football belongings and return to the airport. At 71 minutes into the match, Otto replaced
Peter Arntz
Peter Arntz (born 5 February 1953 in Leuth, Gelderland) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Arntz came through the famous Go Ahead Eagles youth system and made his debut for their senior team in February 1971 a ...
and played his first and only match for the national team. Five years later he was included in the
UEFA Euro 1980
The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams i ...
squad but did not feature.
Coaching career
For the first two years of his coaching career, Otto was a coach and executive
at Den Haag, before moving to
Ajax Amsterdam
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 ...
. He would coach there for the next three years before becoming assistant manager for a further three. On 1 November 2000 Otto was appointed manager of
HFC Haarlem
HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982 ...
. He held the role until 5 December 2002. He later returned to Ajax as a youth coach.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Heini
1954 births
ADO Den Haag players
Dutch footballers
Dutch expatriate footballers
Dutch football managers
Eredivisie players
FC Amsterdam players
FC Twente players
Living people
Middlesbrough F.C. players
English Football League players
Netherlands international footballers
Footballers from Amsterdam
UEFA Euro 1980 players
Association football midfielders
AFC Ajax non-playing staff
HFC Haarlem managers
Expatriate footballers in England
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England