Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

About

Jimmy is a former Dutch footballer who played for clubs in the Netherlands, Portugal, England, and Spain–he was a prolific striker scoring 245 goals over 18 seasons. He was known for his strength and power, and he set the English Premier League ablaze when he joined Leeds United in 1997.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, but began his footballing career in the Netherlands, in the Eerste Divisie first with Telstar for whom he played until 1991. He scored 20 goals in 23 league appearances for the Portuguese side Boavista which attracted the attention of the then Leeds United manager George Graham, who signed Hasselbaink in the summer of 1997 for a fee in the region of £2million.

In the 1998 season, Hasselbaink’s 18 goals in 36 appearances made him joint winner of the Premiership golden boot as Leeds finished 4th in the league under David O’Leary.

Jimmy represented his country at international level, and was part of the Dutch side at the 1998 World Cup in France. He was also the Barclays Golden Boot winner in the 1998–99 and 2000–01 seasons.

Jimmy was a club record signing for Chelsea when he joined form Atletico Madrid in 2000. The fee of £15m could be considered a bargain as he averaged nearly a goal every two games over the next four years.

After leaving Chesea in the summer of 2004, he joined Middlesbrough and later played for Charlton and Cardiff.

A passionate advocate for the game, Hasselbaink has been working with Chelsea’s U16 squad and is currently coaching at the Nike Academy.

In July 2011, he joined the coaching staff at Nottingham Forest working towards his UEFA ‘A’ coaching licence.

Jimmy Floyd’s face is still a familiar addition to the sport on television and his powerful motivational speeches are in demand at company seminars nationwide.