Marc Overmars

Marc Overmars (born 29 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer and former director of football at Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp FC.

He was previously director of football at Ajax.

During his football career, he played as a winger and was renowned for his speed and technical skills.

Overmars was born in Emst and was passionate about football from an early age.

He began his playing career at SV Epe before joining Go Ahead Eagles' youth team in 1987.

In 1987, he joined Go Ahead Eagles at the age of 14.

After making his breakthrough into the first team, he joined Willem II for ƒ500,000.

He secured a place in the first team by the 1990–91 season, but joined Willem II in time for the following season.

His stay at the club was short; after 31 appearances he signed for Ajax in 1992.

After one season at Willem II, Overmars signed for Ajax in July 1992.

Both clubs settled on a transfer fee of ƒ2.5 million, after Ajax's initial bid of ƒ1.5 million was rejected.

Manager Louis van Gaal was very fond of Overmars beforehand and described him as a "multi-functional player".

Overmars' debut came in a 3–0 win against Dordrecht on 16 August 1992.

His first goal for Ajax was away to RKC Waalwijk in October and he scored a further seven goals in the 1992–93 season.

Several teams chose to combat Overmars' threat with heavy tackles; he detested this, adding, "I do not fall on purpose, but if they keep kicking, I would sometimes give something back in return."

Ajax finished the campaign third in the league; their form in the final few months was described as "maddening" by football writer David Winner, as they defeated eventual champions Feyenoord by five goals, but dropped points to "minnows like MVV Maastricht".

The team lost to Auxerre in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, but did not end the season trophyless – they beat Heerenveen 6–2 to win the KNVB Cup.

Overmars scored two goals in the final.

He scored on his international debut in 1993 against Turkey, and was a member of the Dutch squad for four major tournaments: the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and 2000 and 2004 European Championships.

Overmars was born in Emst, Gelderland, growing up on a family farm with his parents and assisting his grandfather with the potato harvest each year.

There were no machines or tractors, so when the time came to extract the potatoes, his family tied a rope around Overmars' waist, connected it to a cart and made him run while they pulled the crop out.

His father Ben described him as a "clumsy" child, whose main interest was playing football: "He used to come down 24 stairs to breakfast bouncing a ball on his head."

This had an effect on his schoolwork; Overmars was uninterested in school, but did pass "a couple of GCEs".

Ben did not know whether he made the effort to take his exams just to please him.

As a teenager, Overmars did weight-training which improved his speed.

He also attributed his pace to his mother who was quick, but "had no time for sports".

Overmars began his playing career at local club SV Epe.

He established himself as an important member of the team that won three Eredivisie titles from 1994 and 1996 and the UEFA Champions League in 1995.

In December 1995, Overmars sustained a cruciate ligament injury which ruled him out of playing for eight months.

In 1997, he joined Arsenal; his performances at the club were indifferent to begin with and attracted criticism from football pundits and fans.

By the end of his first season, Overmars became a focal point of Arsenal's league and cup double success.

He scored the winning goal against league rivals Manchester United which set his team on their way to securing the Premier League title and opened the scoring against Newcastle United in the 1998 FA Cup final.

In 2000, he moved to Barcelona in a deal worth £25 million and became the most expensive player in Dutch football history.

The club failed to win silverware during his stay and numerous managerial changes made him a peripheral player.

A persistent knee injury prompted Overmars to announce his retirement in 2004, but he reversed his decision in 2008 and went on to play one season for Go Ahead Eagles before retiring again.

In 2012, Overmars was named as Ajax's director of football.

In February 2022, he left the role after a "series of inappropriate messages to several female colleagues", according to a formal statement by the club.

Among other things, he had sent photos of his genitals to at least one employee.

In March 2022, he was presented as director of football by Royal Antwerp FC, causing the withdrawal of four sponsors of the club the same week.

Overmars represented the Netherlands national team for 11 years.