GUS UHLENBEEK
Born in
"After Ajax, I went to a smaller Club in the North of Holland and then into the South of the Country and in 1995 I came to England, to Ipswich Town, George Burley was the Manager that signed me". Cambuur and Top Ost were the two other Dutch Clubs and the
At Ipswich when Gus signed was reserve team coach Bryan Klug, an ex Chesterfield player, but it was straight into the Division One Club's first team for the opening match of the season, a 3-1 defeat at Birmingham City.
By mid September, Ipswich were 4th and Gus bagged his first goal in England in a 4-2 home win over Watford. Scorer of two goals that day, his first two in Ipswich colours, was Neil Gregory, once a loan player here at Saltergate. Colleagues in those early Ipswich days included the legendary John Wark, Geraint Williams and Mauricio Tarrico. A run of just 1 win in 10 followed, that win was 4-1 at Reading, a game which featured another Gus goal, and by Christmas it was mid table for the Portman Road side.
A spirited Springtime run saw a play off position achieved In march and held into April, but Town finished poorly and missed out on the play offs by one position and two points. Gus had appeared in 40 of the 46 Division One games and had become firmly established in the first eleven.
Gus began 1996-97 with a new look cream coloured hairstyle but a pre season injury had hampered his build up and he was clearly not match fit but by the beginning of December he was back to his best and re-established his place on the right of midfield. A great run to tee up Neil Gregory for a goal in a 2-0 win over QPR was the most memorable contribution of a season which saw Town in 12th spot in mid February but reach 4th place thanks to 16 points from 18 in the final 6 games, Richard Wright was the established keeper by then and Jamie Scowcroft also burst onto the scene.
Sheffield United were the play off opponents, 1-1 at Bramall Lane, watched by 22,312 then 21,467 went to Portman Road to see a 2-2 draw and The Blades go through on away goals after Ipswich led 2-1 with just 13 minutes left. Gus received a nasty foot injury in that game, battled on, discovered it was a break, had close season surgery but the foot took longer to heal than anticipated, so Gus was unable to get back into the Ipswich side until January.
His return coincided with a burst up the table, a run which included a memorable 5-0 win over neighbours and deadly rivals Norwich City and from being 15th in January, Town again made the play offs. Gus was a playing sub in the disappointing 1-0 home defeat in play off leg one versus Charlton but he played all 90 minutes of the second leg, also won 1-0 by the Londoners.
Gus remembers his time at Portman Road with great joy, he won the hearts of the fans with his right wing raids. "I always wanted to play in England, I'd always watched English football on telly" says Gus, "It was a good move to Ipswich Town. I had many highlights there, twice making the play offs, it was disappointing not to get through to the final but I had three fantastic years there".
Much to the disappointment of George Burley, Gus exercised his right under Bosman and moved free to Kevin Keegan's Fulham in the summer of 1998. Mohammad Al Fayed had begun to spend, spend, spend at Craven Cottage, his second division outfit had the likes of Maik Taylor, Rufus Brevett, Chris Coleman, Paul Bracewell, Peter Beardsley, John Salako, Barry Hayles, Geoff Horsfield and Paul Peschisolido and they ran away with the title, winning by 14 clear points, though Gus only appeared in half of the games, the majority of his appearances being as a sub, but the spirit in the camp was great. He was a playing sub as Fulham beat Chesterfield 2-1 in London but he wasn't in the side that lost 1-0 at Saltergate on April 17th (Jamie Hewitt scored), which ended a run of 15 games without defeat.
Bracewell took over the Manager's job in 1999, Fulham finished 9th in Division One but again Gus was in and out of the side, making just 11 starts, Steve Finnan mainly getting the starting position, and then Bjarne Goldbaek came in from Chelsea but despite his lack of appearances at Fulham, Gus loved his time at The Cottage, "We won the second division championship there in my first year when Kevin Keegan was Manager. The spirit was absolutely great there under him, a great Manager, superb. We stayed together with the same group of lads for two seasons and I enjoyed some of the best years of my career there".
Onto Bramall Lane in the summer of 2000, a 2-0 win over Portsmouth on his debut, he appeared in the first 20 games of the season, during which United were almost always a top ten side, but Rob Kozluk took over the right back role after a 2-0 loss at Forest. A few games on the left side followed in April, United finished 10th in manager Neil Warnock's second season at The Lane.
It was mid table again in 2001-02, Gus started only two games before December, got back into the line up and stayed there until, on transfer deadline day he surprisingly went on loan to Walsall, fighting for their Division One lives, he played in their last five games, three wins and two draws, a sequence that lifted them from 23rd to 18th and safety, a memorable performance coming at Bramall Lane, for The Saddlers, who won 1-0 with Gus superb!
Last season was spent at Nicky Law's Bradford City, he played in 42 of their Division One League games during their cash crisis, he scored one goal, a goal that Gus says is his best ever, "I scored one goal last season, it was probably my best ever goal, against Rotherham, a home game, I got the ball on the half way line, went passed a defender or two, got into the box and toe poked it into the top corner".
Released by the Bantams, Gus successfully came through a trial at Saltergate and made his debut at Wrexham in the 0-0 draw, a fine performance which he followed up a week later in the 1-1 draw against Bristol City.
Gus reached the age of 33 earlier this month and will be starting to think about life after playing football, what will he do? "When my career comes to an end, I think I'll stay in England, I'm settled now", hopefully that day will be well into the future and we can continue enjoying the silky skills of this right sided raider.
Gus Uhlenbeek's League Career
League Games Goals
Ipswich Town 89 4
Fulham 39 1
Sheffield United 51 0
Walsall (loan) 5 0
Bradford City 42 1
Total 226 6
