René van der Gijp

René van der Gijp (born 4 April 1961) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger for Sparta Rotterdam, Lokeren, PSV, Neuchâtel Xamax, Aarau and Heerenveen, as well as for the Netherlands national team. Since retiring from football in 1992, he has worked as a sports pundit and commentator.

The son of former footballer Wim and nephew of Cor, van der Gijp was born in Dordrecht and began his senior career with Sparta Rotterdam in 1978. During his career, where his best period was in the mid-1980s for PSV, he gained 15 caps for the Netherlands national team in which he scored two goals.

After ending his playing career, van der Gijp became known on television as a co-host in the football talk show Voetbal Inside (later Veronica Inside). His contribution to the program earned him a nomination for the "Televizier Talent Award" in 2010. The biographies Gijp (2012) and De wereld volgens Gijp (2016) were bestsellers and were awarded the "NS Publieksprijs" (NS Audience Award).

Football career

Club career

Born in Dordrecht, van der Gijp started playing football at local side DFC. In 1975, he started playing in the Feyenoord youth academy with the likes of Hans Kraay Jr. After a year, however, he was sent away from Feyenoord and moved to Sparta Rotterdam on the advice of Hans Kraay Sr. Two years later, van der Gijp made his debut in the first team, which counted players such as Louis van Gaal, Arie van Staveren, Luuk Balkestein, Adri van Tiggelen, Danny Blind, Ruud Geels, Ronald Lengkeek, Gerard van der Lem, Geert Meijer, Dick Advocaat and David Loggie.

After four seasons, in 1982, van der Gijp left Sparta joined Lokeren in Belgium. There, he made his first European appearances in his first season. He managed to score twice in four UEFA Cup matches.