Tim de Cler (born 8 November 1978) 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 lea ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

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 ...

, AZ,

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

and

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC (, "Athletic Union Kition (ancient state), Kition of Larnaca") is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional association football, football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EP ...

Early life

De Cler is born and raised in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. In Leiden, he grew up in a neighbourhood with 15–20 boys around the same age. Together with his brother Henk, he was found on the streets playing football constantly.

Club career

Lugdunum

At age six, De Cler joined his first football team, amateur side Lugdunum. There he played as a centre-back until age 12.

showed interest in him and, despite him supporting

, joined their rival's world-famous youth academy.Tim de Cler spelers info
, feyenoord.nl

Ajax

At Ajax, De Cler played at first as a left winger, but eventually he was positioned as a left-back when he reached the A-level in youth football. He was offered his first professional contract and joined Ajax's second team. Occasionally, he was added to the first team squad to train with the elite at the club. On 23 April 1998, De Cler made his professional debut in a 6–1 home win over Willem II. Two days later, he played another match with the second team and he broke his

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

, which sidelined him for four months. That season, Ajax won both the

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 ...

and the

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

, and although these were De Cler's first official trophies, there were mixed feelings due to his injury. Once he was declared fit again, his tibia was struck by a ball and he was sidelined for another four months. He rejoined the Ajax first team squad after he was declared fit for the second time. The KNVB Cup won by Ajax in 1999 offered him much more joy than the title won the year prior. During his time at Ajax, De Cler had tough competition from fellow defenders

Cristian Chivu Cristian Eugen Chivu (; born 26 October 1980) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who is the current head coach of Serie A club Inter Milan. A defender, he began his career with hometown club CSM Reșița before moving ...

, John O'Brien and

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

, but nonetheless managed to play many matches. In his final year at the club, he won both the

and the

for the second and third time respectively.

AZ

De Cler left Ajax in the summer of 2002 to join AZ, at the time a mid-table club. In his first season, AZ finished in the tenth position in the Eredivisie, however prospects changed when

Co Adriaanse Jacobus "Co" Adriaanse (born 21 July 1947) is a Dutch association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Playing career As a professional player, Adriaanse played for six seasons ...

was appointed the side's manager in 2003. Under Adriaanse, AZ nearly secured European football in his first season. It was the start of a unique period in which AZ found themselves improving among the three historical giant teams in the Netherlands and even in Europe; that is, Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV. In 2005, AZ unexpectedly reached the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

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

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. De Cler was also named to

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

's squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. During the World Cup, he played one match, the goalless draw against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. In his last year at AZ, during the 2006–07 season, AZ could claim the Eredivisie championship at the last matchday as they were equal on points with both Ajax and PSV. However, AZ had the superior goal difference and would have been the champions should all clubs stay equal on points. Where Ajax and PSV both won their final match of the season AZ lost theirs against

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

and finished in third position as a result. They also reached the final of the KNVB Cup, but were again denied the trophy as Ajax won the cup after a penalty shoot-out.

Feyenoord

After five years at AZ, De Cler felt it was time for a change. Both PSV and Feyenoord showed interest. His agent Rob Jansen, who also works with Roy Makaay and Kevin Hofland, made a unique effort to discuss the future of his players with them, each other and their future club Feyenoord to bring them all together at the club. Also Sigi Lens the agent of

Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni Christiaan "Gio" van Bronckhorst (born 5 February 1975) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who last managed Süper Lig club Beşiktaş J.K., Beşiktaş. Originally a midfielder, he moved to left-back lat ...

was a part of the deal and when manager

Bert van Marwijk Lambertus van Marwijk (; born 19 May 1952) is a Dutch Association football, football manager who is a member of the supervisory board for MVV Maastricht. As a player, he played for the Go Ahead Eagles, AZ Alkmaar, AZ, MVV Maastricht, MVV and For ...

signed his contract as the new Feyenoord manager, all these players were contracted within a few weeks time span.

AEK Larnaca

Having parted company with Feyenoord, De Cler signed a two-year contract with the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

side

on 30 June 2011 following a suggestion from the club's head coach, Jordi Cruyff. After finishing his professional career in 2013, De Cler returned to his youth club Lugdunum.Lugdunum viert langverwacht kampioensfeest
- Sleutelstad

International career

De Cler represented the Netherlands national team. He had been a regular member of the Dutch national team since

took over as coach in August 2004 and was selected for the

and

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Ajax *

: 1997–98, 2001–02 *

: 1998–99, 2001–02 Feyenoord *KNVB Cup: 2007–08

References

External links

*
Voetbal International – Tim de Cler

Official Kevin Hofland Feyenoord.nl profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cler, Tim De 1978 births Living people Footballers from Leiden Men's association football fullbacks Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players AFC Ajax players AZ Alkmaar players Feyenoord players AEK Larnaca FC players Eredivisie players Cypriot First Division players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus