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Jan Wouters

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Jan Wouters
Personal information
Full name Jan Jacobus Wouters
Date of birth (1960-07-17) 17 July 1960 (age 66)
Place of birth Utrecht, Netherlands
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position Defensive midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1986 Utrecht 168 (21)
1986–1992 Ajax 150 (21)
1992–1994 Bayern Munich 66 (6)
1994–1996 PSV 52 (5)
Total 434 (55)
International career
1982–1994[1] Netherlands 70 (4)
Managerial career
1996–1997 Utrecht (assistant)
1997 Utrecht (caretaker)
1997–1998 Ajax (youth)
1998–2000 Ajax
2001–2006 Rangers (assistant)
2006–2007 PSV (assistant)
2007 PSV (caretaker)
2008–2009 PSV (assistant)
2009–2011 Utrecht (assistant)
2011–2014 Utrecht
2015 Kasımpaşa (caretaker)
2015–2018 Feyenoord (assistant)
2021 Fortuna Sittard (assistant)
2022-present Ajax youth (assistant)
Medal record
Representing  Netherlands
UEFA European Championship
Winner1988 West Germany
Bronze medal – third place1992 Sweden
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jan Jacobus Wouters (Dutch: [jɑn  jaːkoːbʏs  ˈʋʌutərs]; born 17 July 1960) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He played as a defensive midfielder and was Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1990.[2]

Playing career

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Wouters played for several clubs including Utrecht, Ajax, Bayern Munich and PSV. He was also a Netherlands international team member (70 caps, four goals) and was hugely influential in 1988 when the Netherlands won the European Football Championship.[3]

Wouters participated in four tournaments as player of the Dutch national team: UEFA Euro 1988, 1990 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1992, and 1994 FIFA World Cup.[4] He played his final match in the Dutch team during the quarter finals of the 1994 World Cup against later winners Brazil on 9 July 1994.[3]

Coaching career

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Wouters started his career as head coach at Ajax after the sacking of coach Morten Olsen in December 1998.[5] Wouters was sacked by Ajax in March 2000.[6]

He was a coach of Scottish Premier League club Rangers under Dick Advocaat and then Alex McLeish, starting in July 2001.[7] He left Rangers at the end of the 2005–06 season, along with McLeish and Andy Watson.

Wouters is infamous to England supporters after elbowing Paul Gascoigne and fracturing his cheekbone during a World Cup qualifier in 1993 at Wembley Stadium.[8] Gascoigne was forced to wear a Phantom of the Opera style facemask to protect his fractured cheekbone until his injury healed. The following day, the Daily Mirror labelled Wouters a "Dutch thug". The match was drawn 2–2 and damaged England's hopes of qualifying for the 1994 World Cup finals in the United States, despite England leading the match 2–0.[9][10]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[11]
Club Season League[11] National Cup Other Continental[12] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Utrecht 1980–81 Eredivisie 19120——211
1981–82 31482—2[a]0436
1982–83 27610—1[a]0296
1983–84 31421——335
1984–85 25161——312
1985–86 33510—2[b]0365
Total 166[11]21[11]204—5[12]0[12]19325
Ajax 1986–87 Eredivisie 32470—9[b]1485
1987–88 284102[c]07[b]0364
1988–89 22140—1[a]0270
1989–90 28741—2[a]1347
1990–91 30521—— [d]326
1991–92 112——4[a]0141
Total[13] 151[11]23[11]1822023[12]2[12]19423
Bayern Munich 1991–92 Bundesliga 171———171
1992–93 33420——354
1993–94 16141—4[a]0242
Total 68661—40767
PSV 1993–94 Eredivisie 10110——111
1994–95 22110—2[a]0251
1995–96 20340—3[a]0273
Total 52[11]5[11]60—5[12]0[12]635
Career total 437555072037252460
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Super Cup
  4. ↑ Ajax suspended for playing European football as a result of the iron rod incident in the previous season

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[3]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Netherlands 198210
198300
198400
198500
198670
198730
1988101
198952
1990110
199160
1992131
199370
199470
Total704
Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Wouters goal.
List of international goals scored by Jan Wouters[3]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
124 May 1988De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands Bulgaria1–01–2Friendly
24 January 1989Ramat Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel Israel1–02–0Friendly
36 September 1989Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands Denmark2–02–2Friendly
425 March 1992De Meer Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands Yugoslavia2–02–0Friendly

Honours

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Utrecht

Ajax[13][4]

Bayern Munich[14]

PSV

Netherlands

Individual

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Wouters was repeatedly referenced in a Saturday Night Live sketch on 4 February 2023 featuring James Austin Johnson as a British rapper named Milly Pounds.[17]

References

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  1. ↑ Stokkermans, Karel (16 January 2009). "Jan Wouters - International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Nederlands voetballer van het jaar sinds 1963" [Dutch footballer of the year]. dutchmultimedia.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Jan Wouters – Interlands Nederlands elftal". voetbalstats.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Oud-international en jeugdtrainer Jan Wouters: 'Nederland behoort altijd tot de favorieten'" [Former international and youth coach Jan Wouters: 'Dutch team is always one of the favorites']. ajax.nl (in Dutch). 3 December 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Paul Onkenhout (20 March 1999). "Een totale vernedering" [A total humiliation]. volkskrant.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "Ajax ontslaat met Wouters zesde trainer in historie" [Ajax sacks Wouters as the sixth coach in their history]. Voetbal International (in Dutch). 21 March 2000. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "Jan Wouters assistent van Dick Advocaat bij Rangers" [Jan Wouters assistent to Dick Advocaat at Rangers]. volkskrant.nl (in Dutch). 3 May 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  8. ↑ David Hessing (28 April 2020). "Toen Jan Wouters het jukbeen van Paul Gascoigne brak" [When Jan Wouters fractured the cheekbone of Paul Gascoigne]. ad.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Football / World Cup: Gascoigne to mask his intentions". The Independent. 25 May 1993. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Daily Mirror Archive". 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Jan Wouters - speler Eredivisie". voetbalstats.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Jan Wouters - Europese wedstrijden Nederlandse clubs". voetbalstats.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  13. 1 2 "Jan Wouters bij Ajax" [Jan Wouters at Ajax]. afc-ajax.info (in Dutch).
  14. ↑ "Jan Wouters" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "UEFA 1988 Team of the Tournament". UEFA. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Bundesliga Historie 1992/93" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.
  17. ↑ Weekend Update ft. Michael Longfellow, James Austin Johnson and Devon Walker - SNL, 6 February 2023, retrieved 6 February 2023
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