Pierre van Hooijdonk

Petrus (Pierre) Ferdinandus Johannes van Hooijdonk (born 29 November 1969) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He had spells with clubs across Europe where he was a prolific goal scorer.

In the 1988–89 season, Van Hooijdonk made his debut for RBC as a substitute.

While playing as a sub for the club he soon scored three goals.

With the club's main striker suffering from an injury Van Hooijdonk played almost the majority of the season's second half, scoring six goals in 32 matches.

He signed his first professional contract with RBC soon thereafter.

Van Hooijdonk made a greater impression in the following season becoming a key player for the team, scoring 27 times in 37 matches.

Several teams went on to show interest in him such as NAC Breda.

Van Hooijdonk didn't hesitate in signing a contract with NAC, and rejoined his boyhood club.

NAC paid 400,000 guilders for the transfer of Van Hooijdonk.

In returning to NAC, he was both positive in his outlook as well as determined to illustrate his quality.

Van Hooijdonk succeeded at such going on to help the team win promotion to the Eredivisie in 1993.

During his time at the club he got his first call up, in December 1994, to play for the Netherlands.

During the rest of that season, he set a scoring streak in 11 consecutive Eredivisie matches.

Within the 1994–95 winter break, Celtic made a deal with NAC which saw Van Hooijdonk join up with the Scottish outfit at once.

Altogether he scored 81 goals in 115 appearances for NAC.

Van Hooijdonk made his Celtic debut on 11 January 1995 in a league match against Hearts at Hampden Park.

The striker made an instant impact for his new team by scoring a stunning opening goal.

Hearts went on to equalise and so the game finished 1–1.

Van Hooijdonk settled quickly at Celtic and he became an instant favourite with the fans.

When Van Hooijdonk arrived at Celtic they had not won any trophies in six years.

With Van Hooijdonk in tow Celtic won the Scottish Cup of that season with him being the only goalscorer in the final against Airdrie in May 1995.

The following 1995–96 season, saw Van Hooijdonk in outstanding form for Celtic.

He scored 32 goals, including 26 in the League which saw him finish as top scorer.

Of particular note was his prowess at scoring from free kicks.

However, despite Van Hooijdonk's goals and the attractive football being played by manager Tommy Burns' side, Celtic still finished the season without any silverware.

Van Hooijdonk's next season at Celtic, 1996–97, was an unhappy time for both the player and the club.

A row with the Celtic chairman/owner, Fergus McCann, would rumble on and as a result, he often ended up on the bench.

The manager of the Netherlands national team Guus Hiddink then told him he wouldn't be selected for such as long as he was not a regular at Celtic.

He eventually left Celtic over a wage dispute towards the end of the 1996–97 season, stating that the reputed £7,000 a week rise he was being offered might be "good enough for the homeless" to live on "but not for an international striker."

Van Hooijdonk was capped 46 times for the Netherlands national team, for which he scored 14 goals and played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004.

Noted for his bending free kicks, he is regarded by some as one of the greatest free kick specialists of all time.

Van Hooijdonk was born in Steenbergen.

His Moroccan biological father left Van Hooijdonk's mother before his birth.

He grew up in Welberg (nl), a small village near Steenbergen.

His favourite team was NAC Breda whose game he followed wholeheartedly.

At 11 years old, while playing with local team SC Welberg's youth squad, he took part in a trial on the NAC open day, impressed their scouts and joined the club.

At that time he played mainly as a right midfielder; when he was 14, he was cut from NAC's academy and he went into amateur football with VV Steenbergen.

He then switched his position to become a striker, and ascended to the club's first team.

As RBC Roosendaal were in financial trouble they were obliged to having youth players feature within their senior teams.