Richard Knopper (born 29 August 1977) 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
Born in
Rijswijk
Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water.
The municipality also includes th ...
, Knopper began his career with
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional 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 before settling on being called after its ...
but, still in his youth, moved to rivals
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 ...
, making his official debut in November 1997 against
Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands.
Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...
. In 1999, he was voted by club supporters as ''Most Talented Player'', receiving the ''
Marco van Basten
Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...
Trophy'';
the following year he scored 15
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 ...
goals as a midfielder, but his team could only finish fifth.
A regular under
Jan Wouters
Jan Jacobus Wouters (born 17 July 1960) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He played as a defensive midfielder and was Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1990.
Career
Wouters played for several clubs including PSV, FC Utr ...
, Knopper saw his playing time reduce when
Co Adriaanse
Co Adriaanse (born 21 July 1947) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a centre-back.
Playing career
As a professional player, Adriaanse played for six seasons with (now dissolved) De Volewijckers (from 1964 until 1970) and ...
took over as head coach in 2000. He was sidelined with injury for almost the entire
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
, playing only eight matches that year and appearing slightly more in the following, which would be his last.
In May 2002, Knopper had a trial with
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
side
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
and played in that predicament in the
testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...
for
Niall Quinn
Niall John Quinn (honorary MBE; born 6 October 1966) is an Irish former professional footballer, manager, businessman and sports television pundit.
As a player he was a striker who played top flight football for Arsenal, Manchester City and ...
with the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
on the 14th. From 2002 to 2004 he served two loans, first with Greece's
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris FC ( el, ΠΑΕ Άρης), commonly known as Aris Thessaloniki FC, AFC or simply Aris, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. Created in 1914 as ''Aris Thessaloniki Football Club'', th ...
then with
SC Heerenveen
Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands.
History
Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...
, slightly reviving his career with the latter; upon his Ajax release in summer 2004, he spent two additional campaigns with
Vitesse Arnhem
Vitesse may refer to:
* Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company
* Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band
* Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car
* Rover 216 Vitesse, a car
* Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car
* Rover 800 Vitesse, a car
* Triumph Vites ...
, appearing regularly.
After some problems with Vitesse manager
Aad de Mos
Adriaan "Aad" de Mos (born 27 March 1947) is a Dutch retired professional football manager whose career spanned for almost thirty years.
He has managed teams in his home country, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Greece, as well m ...
, Knopper was forced to leave and joined
ADO 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 f ...
. In July 2007 a three-year contract was agreed, with the player netting again in double figures (ten) in
2008–09, crucial to help in a narrow escape from relegation; in the 2010 summer, aged 33, he was released.
In January 2011, Knopper moved to
Liga Primer Indonesia
Liga Primer Indonesia (LPI, sometimes translated to English as ''Indonesian Premier League'') was an Indonesian independent football league held in 2011. It was managed by Konsorsium Liga Premier Indonesia and PT Liga Primer Indonesia and was n ...
club
PSM Makassar
Persatuan Sepakbola Makassar ( 'Football Association of Makassar'; abbreviated as PSM) is an Indonesian professional football club based in Makassar, South Sulawesi that competes in Liga 1. PSM was founded in 1915 as , making it the oldest ...
, leaving after a couple of months and signing with lowly
Haaglandia
VV Haaglandia was an association football club from Rijswijk, Netherlands.
The club was established on 1 July 2005 through a merger of amateur sides RVC/Rijswijk (who merged years earlier themselves) and FC Kranenburg. It later played in the Hoofd ...
back in his country, where he ended his career.
Managerial career
ADO Den Haag and KNVB
In January 2012, Knopper was hired as an account manager at his former club
ADO 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 f ...
. From the end of May 2013, Knopper was also coaching the club's U-18 squad. In February 2014, he left the position as account manager, but continued coaching the U-18 squad.
From the 2014–15 season, Knopper took charge of ADO's U-15 squad and in the 2015–16 season, of the U-17 squad. At the end of August 2015, Knopper was also hired as assistant coach for the
Dutch U-16 national team.
Knopper left both the position at ADO and at the national team, in the summer 2016.
Ajax
In May 2016 it was confirmed, that Knopper would join
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 ...
ahead of the upcoming season, where he would alternate between coaching the U16 and U15 teams. In April 2017, he signed a one-year contract extension with Ajax. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, he was promoted to U-17 manager. He left Ajax in the summer 2020.
Return to ADO Den Haag
On 13 May 2020
ADO 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 f ...
confirmed, that Knopper would return to the club from 1 July 2020 on a two-year deal as a first team assistant coach under head coach
Aleksandar Ranković
Aleksandar Ranković ( nom de guerre Marko; sr-Cyrl, Александар Ранковић Лека; 28 November 1909 – 19 August 1983) was a Yugoslav communist politician, considered to be the third most powerful man in Yugoslavia after Jo ...
. After Ranković was fired on 8 November 2020, Knopper also left the club.
On 12 October 2021, Knopper returned to ADO, however, this time as a forward coach for the women's team,
ADO Den Haag Vrouwen.
Richard Knopper nieuwe spitsentrainer ADO Den Haag Vrouwen
adovrouwen.nl, 12 October 2021
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knopper, Richard
1977 births
Living people
People from Rijswijk
Dutch footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers
Eredivisie players
Eerste Divisie players
Super League Greece players
Indonesian Premier League players
AFC Ajax players
SC Heerenveen players
SBV Vitesse players
ADO Den Haag players
VV Haaglandia players
Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players
PSM Makassar players
Dutch expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Greece
Expatriate footballers in Indonesia
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia
Footballers from South Holland