Profile of Ruud Gullit on Famous Like Me

Ruud Gullit (born September 1, 1962) was a Dutch star football player of the 80s and 90s. He was European Footballer of the Year in 1987, and World Soccer Player of the Year in 1987 and 1989.

He was born in Amsterdam and his career started with Haarlem before moving to Feyenoord and then PSV Eindhoven. He was taken to Italy by Silvio Berlusconi, who paid the then record fee of £6 million for him. Playing for the great A.C. Milan team of the late 1980s, which starred, among others, fellow countrymen Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard, Italian world class players Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, he helped Milan capture three Serie A titles and two European Cups (1989, 1990) during Milan's amazing five year reign from 1988-1992. He was well known for his heading and jumping ability, among his other creative talents as an outstanding offensive midfielder. Widely agreed to be one of the best and most creative players from the Netherlands, he was also one of the core group of players that led the Netherlands to the Euro 88 title, to date, the only international title the Netherlands has achieved.

In July 1995 he signed for Chelsea on a free transfer. Initially played as sweeper by manager Glenn Hoddle, with limited success, Gullit was moved to his more familiar role in midfield, where he scored six goals. In the summer of 1996, Hoddle left to become manager of the England national team and Gullit was appointed player-manager.

He made a promising start to his managerial career. In his first season as player-manager, Gullit guided Chelsea to an FA Cup win in 1997, the club's first major trophy for 26 years and in doing so became the first overseas manager to win that trophy. He also guided the team to a credible sixth place finish in the Premiership in the same year. The following season appeared to be going well, with Chelsea second in the Premiership and in the quarter-finals of two cup competitions, when he was sacked, allegedly after a disagreement with the club's board over pay.

He was appointed manager of Newcastle United in 1998 where success was initially promised, with an FA Cup Final appearance in his first season. The following season, however, results and fans began to turn against him, and a well-publicised contretemps with star striker and local hero Alan Shearer did his survival prospects no favours. He also fell out with Newcastle captain Robert Lee. Ruud Gullit resigned as manager of Newcastle United only 5 games into the 1999-2000 season, following a home defeat to local rivals Sunderland. Popular opinion had it that he resigned as manager before he was pushed out. He spent several years limited to occasional football punditry. Gullit became manager of Feyenoord before the start of the 2004/2005 season. However, he resigned at the end of the same season without winning any trophies.

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