Jordi Bitter (born 19 January 1994) is 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 le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

SV Spakenburg SV Spakenburg is a Dutch football club based in Bunschoten. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Tweede Divisie. It shares a football rivalry with IJsselmeervogels that is also from Bunschoten-Spakenburg. History The club was fo ...

in the Dutch

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie ( en, Second Division) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and b ...

Career

Early career

Bitter began his football career at the age of six with local amateur side

RKSV DCG Rooms Katholieke Sport Vereniging Door Combinatie Groot (RKSV DCG) is a Dutch association football club from Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities o ...

in his hometown

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. He then transferred to local SV DTS from where he joined the youth ranks of AZ in nearby

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

and subsequently moved to

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 ...

after which he joined the youth ranks of the Dutch giants

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 ...

, following the dissolution of the team from

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

in 2010.

AFC Ajax

Signing his first professional contract with AFC Ajax on 9 June 2011, a three-year deal binding him to the club until the summer 2014. Initially returning to the youth ranks, he was announced as a member of the

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

squad ahead of the 2013–14 season, having previously participated in preseason training with the first team, playing for the reserves team of Ajax who made their

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 ...

debut that season. On 28 October 2013 Bitter made his professional debut for Jong Ajax having recently recovered from a shoulder injury, he was substituted on in the 72'-minute of the match for

Tobias Sana Tobias Tigjani Sana (born 11 July 1989) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Allsvenskan club BK Häcken. Club career Qviding FIF Sana began his professional football career in 2007–2008, playing for ...

, in the 4–0 away loss against

FC Dordrecht 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, ...

Almere City FC

On 20 May 2014 it was announced that Bitter would transfer to nearby partner club of Ajax;

Almere City FC Almere City Football Club is a Dutch professional football club based in Almere, Flevoland. Founded in 2001, plays in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, and hosts home matches at the Yanmar Stadion. The club builds on former c ...

as a free transfer, where former Ajax youth coach

Fred Grim Johann Georg Friedrich "Fred" Grim (born 17 August 1965) is a Dutch football coach and former player who most recently worked as head coach of Willem II. A former goalkeeper, Grim represented Ajax and Cambuur during his playing career. Playin ...

was active.

International career

Bitter made his debut for the Netherlands under-17 squad in a friendly match against Greece U-17 on 8 February 2011, which ended in a 0–1 win for the Dutch. Following another friendly match for the Netherlands U-17, a 2–0 win over Belgium U-17 on 2 March 2011, Bitter was then called up for three qualification matches, ahead of the

2011 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship The 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the tenth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship. Serbia hosted the tournament between the 3 and 15 May. 6 Teams also qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Players born afte ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. Not making any appearances in the final tournament, which the Dutch won, securing their first European Under-17 Championship title. The three qualification matches in which Bitter did appear in were against Austria U-17, Croatia U-17 and Portugal U-17, which ended in 2 wins and a draw for the Netherlands. He did however play again in the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991. It was held in Mexico with games being played amongst various venues ...

for the Netherlands U-17, appearing in the fixtures against North Korea U-17 and Mexico U-17 in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, which ended in a draw and a loss for the Dutch as they exited the tournament after the group stage.

Career statistics

Club performance

¹ Includes

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

matches. ² Includes

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

and Play-off matches.

References

External links

Netherlands U17 stats
at OnsOranje {{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter, Jordi 1994 births Living people Dutch footballers Association football forwards Footballers from Amsterdam Eerste Divisie players Tweede Divisie players Jong Ajax players Almere City FC players SV Spakenburg players Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers