Geertruida Maria "Ruud" Geels (; 28 July 1948 – 18 November 2023) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a striker. He obtained 20 caps for the Netherlands national team, scoring eleven goals. A prolific striker known for his heading skills, Geels is the only player to win the Eredivisie topscoring title five times (followed by Marco van Basten with four titles), and is the second most scoring player in the Dutch top football division, behind Willy van der Kuijlen. He is also known for being the first of only two footballers (the second being Ronald Koeman) to play for the big three teams in Dutch football - Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord.
Club career
Geels was born in Haarlem. Before joining Telstar, he played for amateur football clubs DSS and Onze Gezellen. After eight games for Telstar, Geels was sold to Feyenoord. Geels scored 46 goals in 89 league games for Feyenoord, but also faced competition for the striker position with Swede Ove Kindvall. He won the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup in 1968–69, and the European Cup in 1969–70, although he was not part of the squad for the final against Celtic.
In 1970, Geels left Feyenoord for Go Ahead Eagles, where he played for two seasons, scoring 35 goals. In the summer of 1972, Geels left his native Netherlands for Belgium to play for Club Brugge, scoring 28 goals for the Bruges club. He returned to the Netherlands after the 1974 World Cup to play for Ajax. In the Amsterdam club, Geels scored 123 goals in 131 league matches, and was the Eredivisie's top scorer for four consecutive seasons, winning the 1976–77 season in his third consecutive season as top scorer of the league. He was also top scorer in the 1975–76 UEFA Cup with 10 goals.
Geels returned to Belgium in 1978 to play for Anderlecht, where he won the 1978 UEFA Super Cup against Liverpool. He returned to the Netherlands in 1979 to play for Sparta Rotterdam, scoring 35 goals in two seasons, while also becoming for the fifth time the best Eredivisie top scorer in 1980–81.
He then signed for PSV Eindhoven in 1981, making him the first player to play for the Big Three in the Netherlands. He scored 15 goals in 25 league games in his first season, but only played four games in his second season with the Eindhoven club, never scoring any goals. Geels was then sold to NAC Breda in 1982, netting six goals in 22 league games, but after NAC's relegation, he never played again for the club, and his contract was terminated in 1984.
International career
Geels played for the Netherlands 20 times and scored 11 goals. He was called to represent his country in the 1974 World Cup, but did not play a single match. Geels later described the World Cup as one of the worst weeks of his life due to daily harassment from Wim Suurbier and Ruud Krol, with whom he would play at Ajax after the World Cup. He helped the Netherlands win a third place at the UEFA Euro 1976 by scoring two goals against Yugoslavia in the play-off for the third place.
Style of play
A fast, agile striker, Geels was one of the most prolific goalscorers in Europe in the 70's. He was renowned for his heading skills and aerial abilities. In an interview with Voetbal International, Geels explained that he practiced his heading skills at Telstar by using an old English head gallow, noting that "You always have to be a beat ahead of your opponent". In a NRC article about Geels, Jaap Bloembergen wrote that no one jumped higher and headed a ball harder than Geels.
Personal life
Geels was the father of Luciène Geels, who played for the Dutch women's softball team for many years and participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Geels died on 18 November 2023, at the age of 75, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for a long time.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsTelstar1965–66Eredivisie8511——96Feijenoord1966–67Eredivisie258——2581967–68Eredivisie3220——32201968–69Eredivisie20103310—24131969–70Eredivisie12846—1614Total89463356—9755Go Ahead Eagles1970–71Eredivisie341712——35191971–72Eredivisie281811——2919Total6235——6235Club Brugge1972–73Belgian First Division231042—27121973–74Belgian First Division301840—3418Total532882—6130Ajax1974–75Eredivisie32302351—39341975–76Eredivisie332933611—42431976–77Eredivisie34341020—37341977–78Eredivisie32306663—4539Total13112312121915—163147Anderlecht1978–79Belgian First Division282520203225Sparta Rotterdam1979–80Eredivisie1813——18131980–81Eredivisie3022——3022Total4835——4835PSV1981–82Eredivisie28151143—33191982–83Eredivisie4000—40Total321543—3618NAC1982–83Eredivisie226——226Career total4733181920382620532364
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsNetherlands197451197531197643197732197823197910198000198121Total2011
Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Geels goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Ruud GeelsNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 9 October 1974 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands 1–0 1–0 Friendly2 15 October 1975 Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying3 19 June 1976 Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia 1–0 3–2 UEFA Euro 19764 3–2 5 8 September 1976 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland 1–0 1–0 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification 6 31 August 1977 Goffertstadion, Nijmegen, Netherlands 2–0 4–1 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification7 4–1 8 11 October 1978 Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland 3–1 3–1 UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying9 15 November 1978 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands 2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying10 3–0 11 14 October 1981 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands 3–0 3–0 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
Honours Feyenoord Eredivisie: 1968–69 KNVB Cup: 1968–69 European Cup: 1969–70
Club Brugge Belgian First Division: 1972–73
Ajax Eredivisie: 1976–77
Anderlecht UEFA Super Cup: 1978 Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1978
Netherlands FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1974 UEFA European Championship third place: 1976
Individual Eredivisie Top Scorer: 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81 UEFA Cup Top Scorer: 1975–76 World XI: 1976
References
External links