Feeling Nostalgic Peter Hoekstra

Feeling Nostalgic Peter Hoekstra

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I thought Id take advantage of the relative calm of the early summer to write a new sort of article, looking back at one of the best players ever to have pulled on a Stoke City shirt, Peter Hoekstra. Eight years ago, in 2001, the club was going through one of the darkest spells of its recent history. Our Icelandic consortium, withtheir chosen manager Gudjon Thordarson in place,had taken control two years earlier, and, with the side languishing in the third tier of English football, were showing no signs of delivering on their promises of Premier League football within five years. Our squad was composed mostly of British journeymen and Scandanavian favourites of the board, and withrepeated play-off heartbreakand attendances dwindling we seemed to be going nowhere fast.Thordarson, now manager of Crewe, was under pre sure to succeed That considered, when we were rumoured to be close to signing a 28 year old Dutch international winger from Ajax, the words too good to be true were among the first on the lips of the Stoke fans. The deal went through though, the player, Hoekstra, joining on a three year contract for an undisclosed fee. Even then though, few could have known how good a signing he would turn out to be. With seemingly endle s supplies of tricks to beat his man to call upon, Hoekstra, a true old fashioned winger, immediately won the hearts of the Stoke fans with his dazzling displays on the left flank. Occasionally, I felt sorry for the poor right-backs of Rotherham, Grismby or whoever we were playing that week as they had to face up to his skill and pace, but usually it was just a joy to watch. Almost as entertaining were the attempts, and inevitable failures, of Bjarni Gudjon son, the managers son and our regular right-winger, to replicate hi s moves Len Dawson Jersey .Hoekstras rangy 63 frame made hisimpeccable control over the ball and quick feet all the more amazing, and you can only wonder just how good he could have been if he was more in the Lionel Me si mould, of more typical stature for a winger.Enough to give any lower league full-back nightmares A mainstay in the PFA team of the season throughout his time at Stoke, Hoekstras goalscoring was also good. His record of twelve goals in 87 games for the club, almost one in seven, was admirable for a winger, and he particularly seemed to hit top form whenever Reading came to town. Something about playing them clearly Darrel Williams Jersey made him rise to the occasion, as he consistently playedbeyond evenhis own usually high standards against them, scoring a hat-trick against them in December 2003with a performance thatcan only be described as a mastercla s. His goals that day served to outline his diverse qualities as a player, his first showing his pace, as he broke freeof the Reading defence, rounded Marcus Hahnemann and scored with his wrong foot,hissecond showing hisability to produce something specialas he sent a thunderous strike past the keeper, and his third typifying his style and fine se, as he put away abeautifully chipped penalty, which he had won. he can be seen giving Reading a footballing le son here. Over the years, we have seen so many Stoke wingers with skill and pace, but no cro sing ability. This was not the case with Hoekstra, as he brought the complete package, his a sist-making probably better even than his goalscoring. In lower league football, we are used to seeing corners hopefully launched into the box, but Hoekstras were a far more precise science, as he consistently executed the kind of cro ses, laden with whip and curl, that strikers love and defenders hate. Though time has doubtle s exaggerated my memories, Im sure he used to hit corners that visibly turned at near right angles when nearing the danger area. Towards the end of his time at Stoke, the knee and ankle injuries which had bothered him for much of his career began to become a problem, limiting the number of matches he was able to play to approximately half. It was with great hope that I would get to the ground early on matchdays to watch the players warming up, desperate to see Hoekstra amongst them. Such was my desire to see him play, I swear I once convinced myself that Wayne Thomas, who anyone familiar with the Stoke side at the time will know is hardly likely to be hotly tipped to win a Hoekstra look-a-like contest, was the Dutchman. I was watching from a distance admittedly. Separated at birth? Hardly Two years ago, as the club celebrated the tenth anniversary of its move to the Britannia Stadium, Hoekstra won the vote they ran for the best player ever to play there, po sibly as much as Abdoulaye Faye won this years player of the season award. There really was no contest. Id go as far as saying hes the best player weve had since the relative glory days of the early 70s. Last December Hoekstra returned to the scene of his many triumphs to watch Stoke play Fulham, and, though the mind-numbingly dull goalle s draw must have been an affront to his style of play, he received a hero Daniel Brown Jersey s welcome from the crowd. He wrote a piece in the programme that day, admitting he was never fully fit at Stoke, which makes me wonder just how good he would have been if he was. Forced to retire in 2004, aged just 31, it seemed a great shame for football to lose him, but now, hes coaching junior sides at one of his former clubs, Groningen, and who can rule out a return to Stoke as manager in a decade or two?
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