Olaf Lindenbergh (born 6 February 1974) 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 ...

who played as a defender.

Club career

Lindenbergh was born in

Purmerend Purmerend () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and in the region of West Friesland. The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. The city became the t ...

. After playing in the youth level at ZOB,

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 Gree ...

and De Graafschap, he began his professional career at De Graafschap that played 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 t ...

. His debut was on 12 November 1994 in a 1–0 win over VVV. He became a key player for the team straight away and helped them to gain promotion to the

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 ...

for the following season, in which he made 30 appearances. In total he took part in 159 games for De Graafschap, scoring six goals, with the club permanently in the top flight. During the 1999–2000 season, he left De Vijverberg to continue his career at

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

. At AZ, Lindenbergh was a first team regular from the start, but he struggled to gain appearances in his second season at the club. As of 2001 he was back on track and became one of the key players of the team unexpectedly made it to the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

semi-finals in 2005, only to be beaten on away goals by

Sporting Lisbon Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

. Ajax manager

Danny Blind Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national te ...

acknowledged Lindenbergh's good form and declared an interest in signing him. At the end of the 2004–05 season, Lindenbergh agreed to a move to the

Amsterdam ArenA The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...

. He made his debut for the club in 2005 in the 2–0 Eredivisie victory against Willem II. He went on to play eighteen games that season, as well as gaining some Champions League experience along the way. Ajax went on to win the KNVB Cup that same season. When Blind left Ajax and

Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...

was appointed as the new manager, times changed for Lindenbergh and he only appeared in 12 matches that season. Still he participated in the KNVB Cup, which Ajax successfully defended. Following speculation about a transfer (Lindenbergh, along with

Michael Krohn-Dehli Michael Krohn-Dehli (; born 6 June 1983) is a Danish former professional footballer. He played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. A technically gifted player, Krohn-Dehli started his professional career in the ...

were deemed surplus to requirements, and were not even allowed to train with the first team to keep their fitness up), Lindenbergh signed with Sparta Rotterdam. Vink Roy Lindenbergh

International career

While at De Graafschap, Lindenbergh was called up into the Netherlands under-21 national team squad.

Personal life

Lindenbergh joined amateur club

ASV De Dijk Amsterdamse Sport Vereniging De Dijk are a Dutch amateur association football club from the Amsterdam borough of Amsterdam-Noord, in the neighborhood of Schellingwoude. The club was founded on 1 June 1999 out of a fusion of two clubs, Rood Wit-A ...

of the

Vierde Klasse The Vierde Klasse ( en, Fourth Class) is the ninth tier of football in the Netherlands and the seventh tier of Dutch amateur football. This is the lowest league in the West II region. The league is divided into 64 divisions, 32 played on Saturday a ...

in 2012.

References

Voetbal International website and 2007/2008 presentation magazine

Club career

International career

Personal life

References

External links