Ruud Geels

Ruud Geels
Geels in 1974
Personal information
Full name Geertruida Maria Geels
Date of birth (1948-07-28)28 July 1948
Place of birth Haarlem, Netherlands
Date of death 18 November 2023(2023-11-18) (aged 75)
Place of death Haarlem, Netherlands
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
RKVV DSS
RKSV Onze Gezellen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1965–1966 Telstar 8 (5)
1966–1970 Feijenoord 89 (46)
1970–1972 Go Ahead Eagles 62 (35)
1972–1974 Club Brugge 53 (28)
1974–1978 Ajax 132 (123)
1978–1979 Anderlecht 28 (25)
1979–1981 Sparta 48 (35)
1981–1982 PSV 32 (15)
1982–1984 NAC 35 (12)
Total 487 (324)
International career
1974–1981 Netherlands 20 (11)
Medal record
Representing  Netherlands
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 1974 West Germany
UEFA European Championship
Third place 1976 Yugoslavia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Geertruida Maria "Ruud" Geels (Dutch pronunciation: [ɣeːrˈtrœydaː maːˈrijaː ryt ˈxeːls]; 28 July 1948 – 18 November 2023) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a striker. He obtained 20 caps for the Netherlands national team, scoring eleven goals, in the 1970s. A prolific goalscorer, Geels was known for his heading skills. He is also known for being the first of only two footballers (the second being Ronald Koeman) to play for the big three in Dutch football - Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord.

Club career

Geels was born in Haarlem. Before joining Telstar, he played for amateur football clubs DSS and Onze Gezellen. After eight games for Telstar, Geels was sold to Feyenoord. Geels scored 46 goals in 89 league games for Feyenoord, but also faced competition for the striker position with Swede Ove Kindvall. He won the Eredivisie and the KVNB Cup in 1968-69, and the European Cup in 1969-70, although he was not part of the squad for the final against Celtic.

In 1970, Geels left Feyenoord for Go Ahead Eagles, where he played for two seasons, scoring 35 goals. In the summer of 1972, Geels left his native Netherlands for Belgium to play for Club Brugge, scoring 28 goals for the Bruges club. He returned to the Netherlands after the 1974 World Cup to play for Ajax. In the Amsterdam club, Geels scored 123 goals in 131 league matches, and was the Eredivisie's top scorer for four consecutive seasons, winning the 1976-77 season in his third consecutive season as top scorer of the league. He was also top scorer in the 1975-76 UEFA Cup.

Geels returned to Belgium in 1978 to play for Anderlecht, where he won the 1978 UEFA Super Cup against Liverpool. He returned to the Netherlands in 1979 to play for Sparta Rotterdam, scoring 35 goals in two seasons, while also becoming for the fifth time the best Eredivisie top scorer in 1980-81.

He then signed for PSV Eindhoven in 1981, making him the first player to play for the Big Three in the Netherlands. He scored 15 goals in 25 league games in his first season, but only played four games in his second season with the Eindhoven club, never scoring any goals. Geels was then sold to NAC Breda in 1982, netting six goals in 22 league games, but after NAC's relegation, he never played again for the club, and his contract was terminated in 1984.

International career

Geels played for the Netherlands 20 times and scored 11 goals. He was called to represent his country in the 1974 World Cup, but did not play a single match. Geels later described the World Cup as one of the worst weeks of his life due to daily harassment from Wim Suurbier and Ruud Krol, with whom he would play with at Ajax after the World Cup. He helped the Netherlands win a third place at the UEFA Euro 1976 by scoring two goals against Yugoslavia.

Style of play

A fast, agile striker, Geels was one of the most prolific goalscorers in Europe in the 70's. He was renowned for his heading skills and aerial abilities. In an interview with Voetbal International, Geels explained that he practiced his heading skills at Telstar by using an old English head gallow, noting that "You always have to be a beat ahead of your opponent". In a NRC article about Geels, Jaap Bloembergen wrote that no one jumped higher and headed a ball harder than Geels.[1]

Personal life

Geels was the father of Luciène Geels, who played for the Dutch women's softball team for many years and participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Geels died in 18 November 2023, at the age of 75, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for a long time.[2]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[3][4][5][6]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Telstar 1965–66 Eredivisie 8 5 1 1 — — 9 6
Feijenoord 1966–67 Eredivisie 25 8 — — 25 8
1967–68 Eredivisie 32 20 — — 32 20
1968–69 Eredivisie 20 10 3 3 1[a] 0 — 24 13
1969–70 Eredivisie 12 8 4[b] 6 — 16 14
Total 89 46 3 3 5 6 — 97 55
Go Ahead Eagles 1970–71 Eredivisie 34 17 1 2 — — 35 19
1971–72 Eredivisie 28 18 1 1 — — 29 19
Total 62 35 — — 62 35
Club Brugge 1972–73 Belgian First Division 23 10 4[c] 2 — 27 12
1973–74 Belgian First Division 30 18 4[b] 0 — 34 18
Total 53 28 8 2 — 61 30
Ajax 1974–75 Eredivisie 32 30 2 3 5[c] 1 — 39 34
1975–76 Eredivisie 33 29 3 3 6[c] 11 — 42 43
1976–77 Eredivisie 34 34 1 0 2[c] 0 — 37 34
1977–78 Eredivisie 32 30 6 6 6[b] 3 — 45 39
Total 131 123 12 12 19 15 — 163 147
Anderlecht 1978–79 Belgian First Division 28 25 2[d] 0 2[e] 0 32 25
Sparta Rotterdam 1979–80 Eredivisie 18 13 — — 18 13
1980–81 Eredivisie 30 22 — — 30 22
Total 48 35 — — 48 35
PSV 1981–82 Eredivisie 28 15 1 1 4[c] 3 — 33 19
1982–83 Eredivisie 4 0 0[c] 0 — 4 0
Total 32 15 4 3 — 36 18
NAC 1982–83 Eredivisie 22 6 — — 22 6
Career total 473 318 19 20 38 26 2 0 532 364
  1. ^ Appearances in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
  2. ^ a b c Appearances in European Cup
  3. ^ a b c d e f Appearances in UEFA Cup
  4. ^ Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Super Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[3][4][5]
National team Year Apps Goals
Netherlands 1974 5 1
1975 3 1
1976 4 3
1977 3 2
1978 2 3
1979 1 0
1980 0 0
1981 2 1
Total 20 11

Honours

Feyenoord[7]

Club Brugge[8]

Ajax[9]

Anderlecht[10]

Netherlands

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Niemand sprong hoger en kopte harder dan Ruud Geels". NRC.nl (in Dutch). 18 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Topschutter Ruud Geels op 75-jarige leeftijd overleden". ESPN.nl (in Dutch). 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Ruud Geels » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b Ruud Geels at National-Football-Teams.com
  5. ^ a b "Ruud Geels career stats". Football Database.eu. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Ruud Geels bij Ajax". 28 July 1948.
  7. ^ "Feyenoord, een topclub zonder geld". 6 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Club Brugge | Palmares". 8 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Ajax | Prijzenkast".
  10. ^ "RSC Anderlecht | Palmares".
  11. ^ "UEFA Euro 1980".
  12. ^ "EredivisieStats – Alle uitslagen, standen en clubgegevens van de Nederlandse Eredivisie Voetbal". eredivisiestats.nl. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Fairs/UEFA Cup Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
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