Sybrandus Johannes Andreas Dijkstra (born 20 October 1966) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach at

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

. As a player, he was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who notably played in the

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 ...

for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

for

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

and

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. He also played 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 ...

for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, as well as in his home country for

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

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 ho ...

, VV Sittard and RBC. He also had spells in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

with

KSC Hasselt Koninklijke Sporting Club Hasselt was a Belgian football club. The matricule No. 37 was erased in 2001 after the merge with K.S.K. Kermt to become Sporting Hasselt, K.S.K. Kermt-Hasselt. The club played one season in the Belgian First Division, ...

and Germania Teveren.

Playing career

Dijkstra began his career with

but failed to make an appearance, spending time on loan at AZOude kaas: Sieb Dijkstra
- AZ and

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

. In 1991, he moved to Scottish side

, where he made his debut in an August 1991 League Cup tie against

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

. He would spend the next three seasons at

Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. Mo ...

, replacing

Ally Maxwell Alistair Espie Maxwell (born 16 February 1965) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer. He is currently a youth coach for SC Del Sol Soccer Club in the United States, having previously played for Motherwell, Rangers and ...

in the squad and eventually winning a battle for the starting place with Billy Thomson. The club challenged for the

1993–94 Scottish Premier Division The 1993–94 Scottish Premier Division season began on 7 August 1993 and was the last season of the twelve-team league, with three teams relegated to make way for the ten-team league the following season. It was also the final season with the ru ...

title, eventually finishing third. He was regarded as a cult hero at Motherwell. A £250,000 move to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

side

followed, but he played just 11 times in two years; the manager who signed him,

Gerry Francis Gerald Charles James Francis (born 6 December 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Playing career Francis made his first team debut for Queens Park Rangers against Liverpool in March 1969. He was captain and central midfield play ...

, soon moved on to

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 ...

and after a minor injury, Dijkstra found the new manager

Ray Wilkins Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

chose other goalkeepers ahead of him. After loan spells at other English clubs, Dijkstra moved back to Scotland with

for £50,000, reuniting with manager

Tommy McLean Thomas McLean Jr. (born 2 June 1947 in Larkhall) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. McLean played for Kilmarnock, Rangers and Scotland as a midfielder. He managed Morton, Motherwell, Hearts, Raith Rovers and Dundee ...

whom he had worked under at Motherwell. Dijkstra's time in Scotland was successful again, with over 80 appearances for the ''Terrors'', including another third-place finish in the Scottish League in 1996–97 and a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

runners-up medal later in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, after he again took the place of Ally Maxwell in the team. After a contract dispute, Dijkstra left

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

in 1999 and returned to the Netherlands to play for amateur side VV Sittard (via a week's spell with

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 ...

), although he would end the season with

RBC Roosendaal RBC, commonly known under its previous official name RBC Roosendaal, is a football club based in Roosendaal, Netherlands. RBC currently plays in the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse after a bankruptcy in 2011, restarting the club in tenth tier Vijfde Kl ...

as a replacement for injured Belgian goalkeeper Jurgen Belpaire. Another year with RBC followed before a final playing spell with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Verbandsliga side Germania Teveren.

Coaching career

He was appointed goalkeeping coach at

in June 2017.

Personal life

Dijkstra is married and has a daughter. He also has three children with his first wife. He has his own goalkeeping academy in Kerkrade. In a 2020 interview, Dijkstra reflected upon his time playing in Scotland as the happiest in his career.

Honours

Dundee United *

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

runner-up: 1997–98

References

External links

Official website profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dijkstra, Sieb 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Kerkrade Association football goalkeepers Dutch footballers Roda JC Kerkrade players AZ Alkmaar players Motherwell F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players RBC Roosendaal players Germania Teveren players Eredivisie players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players Premier League players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Footballers from Limburg (Netherlands)