Arthur Numan (born 14 December 1969) 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, rugb ...

. He played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and was a regular fixture in

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal ...

. He is currently the team manager for the Netherlands B squad and a scout for

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 ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Heemskerk Heemskerk () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located in the Kennemerland region. Local government As of March 2022, the municipal council of Heemskerk consists of 25 seats, which are divide ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

, Numan started his career with the amateur club SV Beverwijk and was spotted by

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 ...

, who handed him his first professional game against DS '79 on 26 March 1988 which his team won 2–0. He originally played in a more attacking role, but his long-time mentor

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three stint ...

, then the coach of

, positioned him as a left fullback.

Twente and PSV

Numan joined

Twente Twente ( nl, Twente , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Ge ...

at the close of the 1990–91 season where he scored goals even as a defender. He was named team captain for the

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

team and also captained the Dutch Under 21 national team. However, it was not until he joined

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

that his talents were fully appreciated. He was drafted into the Dutch team for a World Cup qualifying game against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

which ended in a 2–2 draw on 14 October 1992. Numan was substituted after forty minutes by Advocaat, who was then the national team coach and brought on PSV teammate

Gerald Vanenburg Gerald Mervin Vanenburg (born 5 March 1964) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He amassed Eredivisie totals of 372 games and 112 goals for Ajax and PSV combined, winning fifteen major titles between the t ...

as his team was 2–0 down early in the game.

Rangers

A £4.5 million deal took him to Rangers in May 1998, but Numan's time in Scotland was then blighted by injuries that forced him to sit out many games. Dick Advocaat, who managed the team at that time, waited for Numan to recover, a move which was rewarded when he helped the team to considerable league success as well as the treble in his first and final season at Rangers. Numan was awarded the teams vice-captaincy serving as deputy to captain Lorenzo Amoruso. He had a particularly prolific relationship with German international left sided midfielder

Jorg Albertz Jorg may refer to: * Jorg Gray Jorg Gray is a California-based brand of wristwatches. History Jorg Gray was established as a watch line in 1998 by Logomark, Inc. in Tustin, California. Originally, its watches were manufactured as promotional ...

. However, at the end of the 2002–03 season, he and the club could not agree a new contract so he left at the end of that season. He stated that he was willing to accept a pay-cut offer but felt that his club wanted too large a drop in wages. He soon announced his retirement. A late offer by Villarreal failed to change his mind and he refused to continue his career in Holland. He was not looking forward to start afresh training and playing hectic games every week.

International career

Numan was included in the squad for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, although he was never included in the starting line-up for any of the matches. His World Cup debut came against the

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

as a substitute in the 75th minute. He was also selected for

Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

, yet also failed to start a match at the tournament. Numan was chosen to captain the team. He featured in most of the qualification games for the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

. Numan played in all of the group matches in France, although the quarter final game against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

was marred with his second yellow card of the game (after a tackle on

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011. In his cl ...

). He missed the crucial clash with eventual finalist

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He played in the third placing match against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

, but could not help his team win the bronze medal. Numan continued to feature in the Dutch national team, representing his country on home soil during the

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

tournament. By 2000, Numan's career at the international stage appeared to wane and his automatic left back spot was open to his contenders

Winston Bogarde Winston Lloyd Bogarde (born 22 October 1970) is a Dutch retired professional footballer, and was the assistant coach at Ajax. He was known for his physical strength, and played mostly as a central defender although he could occasionally play as ...

and

Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst (born 5 February 1975) is a Dutch football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Formerly a midfielder, he moved to left-back later in his career. ...

. He was to play for the remaining games of his team's failed attempt to capture their first major trophy since 1988 culminating in the semi-final loss to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on penalties. He was determined to assist his national team to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan under manager

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...

but the crucial game against

at Landsdowne Road stadium in late 2001 was lost 1–0. He retired from international football after his final international game against

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on 19 May 2002, which the Dutch won 2–0 away.

Managing career

Numan was a regular pundit on Scotsport SPL, Scottish and Grampian TV's round-up of

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

action and remained in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

for a few years after his retirement. He was also appointed treasurer of the Rangers Charity Trust. He has taken up the position of team manager for the Netherlands B squad in December 2008. Numan signed a one-year contract with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

to become their scout in the Netherlands and surrounding areas in mid-2011. Currently, he works as a scout for

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 ...

side

on a part-time basis.

Honours

PSV Eindhoven *

: 1997 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 1996 * Johan Cruijff Shield (4): 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998 Rangers *

(3): 1999, 2000, 2003 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 existe ...

(3): 1999, 2002, 2003

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Numan, Arthur 1969 births Living people People from Heemskerk Association football fullbacks Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers Eredivisie players HFC Haarlem players FC Twente players PSV Eindhoven players Rangers F.C. players 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Scottish Premier League players Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Association football scouts AZ Alkmaar non-playing staff Footballers from North Holland