Richard Witschge

Ajax

Witschge was born in Amsterdam, North Holland. A product of local club Ajax's prolific youth ranks under Johan Cruyff, he first appeared in the Eredivisie on 26 October 1986 at the age of 17, and scored his first league goal approximately a year later. His older brother Rob was already playing for the club.

Barcelona

After becoming established in the first team, Witschge signed for Cruyff's Barcelona in 1991. The manager later admitted to deliberately overpaying for him, as a favour to Ajax's incoming board of directors headed by his associate Michael van Praag. Witschge featured sparingly during his tenure, as the Catalans won back-to-back La Liga championships. He made his debut in the competition on 14 September 1991, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 home win against Real Zaragoza. He faced intense competition for playing time as the three allotted slots for foreign players were usually taken up by Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and his compatriot Ronald Koeman, and an injury ruled him out of the 1992 European Cup Final.

Bordeaux

Witschge's frustration with this state of affairs at the Camp Nou led him to take a substantial pay cut in joining Bordeaux for 18 million francs in 1993. Initially, the move was unsuccessful, as he was unhappy with his accommodation and clashed with his coaches over their tactics. Amidst ineffectual performances, he was booed by his own supporters, and eventually dropped from the squad. Witschge moved to…

Witschge earned 31 caps for the Netherlands, in which he scored one goal. He made his debut on 21 February 1990 in a 0–0 friendly draw against Italy, and was picked for the 1990 FIFA World Cup under manager Leo Beenhakker. An injury sustained with Barcelona ruled him out of UEFA Euro 1992 and he did not make another major tournament until Euro 1996, held in England. During this time, his place in the national team was taken by his older brother. Witschge's initial spell in the national team yielded 19 appearances and one goal, between February 1990 and March 1992. As he subsequently dropped out of contention there was a perception that he had failed to fulfill his early talent, with Beenhakker attributing laziness and immaturity when he bracketed the player alongside contemporaries including Bryan Roy in the Patatgeneratie (English: French Fries Generation), the implication being that they ate junk food instead of focusing on improvement. After an upturn in his fortunes at club level, Witschge was called back in September 1995 during the nation's faltering Euro 1996 qualifying campaign. He attended the play-off tie against the Republic of Ireland in Liverpool, but was not ultimately selected. In the finals, Witschge was preferred over Edgar Davids by Guus Hiddink, contributing to his teammate's frustration and eventual expulsion from the squad. In September 2000, Witschge returned to the national team after a three-year absence due to an injury crisis. He won his final cap…

Club

International

Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Witschge goal.

Witschge's older brother, Rob, was also a footballer and a midfielder. Richard is related to Dutch actor Cor Witschge (1925-1991); Richard's grandfather was a cousin of Cor.