Gérard ("Gé") van Dijk (15 August 1923 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

– 29 May 2005) was a Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach.

Club career

He played his entire career (1943–1957) for

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), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, won two

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

titles (1947 and 1957). He played 317 league matches and scored 80 goals and was the top goalscorer for the team in the 1950-51 season. He famously refused an offer to play for Italian side Novara in 1952 because he deemed it too rude to leave Ajax.

International career

He won two caps for the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( 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 Dutch Football Association (KNV ...

from 1947 to 1948, in friendlies against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Personal life

Death

Van Dijk died in May 2005.Gerard van Dijk (Ajax) overleden
- NRC

References

External links

* 1923 births 2005 deaths Footballers from Amsterdam Men's association football forwards Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's international footballers AFC Ajax players 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-footy-forward-stub