Search: 'Suriname'
Stories
Ken Monkou was one of the first in a flood of Dutch players to move to Britain. Thomas Blom charts the career of one of football's unsung stars
You may as well blame the Dutch for England failing to qualify for the European Championship finals. No fewer than 158 Dutchmen have come over to supplant local players since English clubs were permitted to sign foreigners in 1978. After George Boateng, the humble, uncapped Ken Monkou is the Dutchman who has made the most top-flight appearances (280 in total). Monkou joined Chelsea in 1989 and played 94 League games (two in Division Two) before moving on to Southampton. He was named player of the year by his club’s supporters no fewer than five times over the course of his career – twice at Chelsea and three times at Southampton – so it’s no wonder he likes life in England and has stayed put. From his base in Harrogate in the Yorkshire Dales (All Creatures Great and Small was always his favourite TV show), he keeps a distant eye on his recently purchased pancake restaurant in the Dutch town of Delft.
Ernst Bouwes looks at the largely positive expereince of black players in Holland, where the descendants of migrants from Surinam have become a powerful force in the national team
It is a well known fact that Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from the native Americans for the equivalent of about 30 dollars in 1626, but more obscurity surrounds the exchange of the same property for Surinam with the British some 40 years later. Among historians this is widely regarded as the worst real-estate deal of all time. One thing is certain though: not one person from the New York area ever made it into the England squad, while Surinam has produced dozens of talented footballers who have radically changed the look of the Dutch national team in the past 20 years.
Simon Kuper and Rutger Slagter explain why the upheaval in the Dutch squad following Euro '96 may not be quite what it seemed
“Kabel” is the new word in Dutch football. The kabel (cabal in English) people are talking about has four members, all of them black Dutchmen: Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert and Michael Reiziger. Winston Bogarde also wants to be in the kabel, but he can’t because he’s too old, not good enough at football, and wears too much jewellry.