Goalie's merry-go-round: Vonk comes, Boschker goes
02 June: After only one season and not a single
minute of action in an official first team fixture
goalkeeper Sander Boschker (33) has left Ajax to return to
his beloved FC Twente. Ajax granted Boschker a free
transfer. On the same day the Amsterdammers added a new veteran
reserve goalkeeper to the squad: SC Heerenveen's Hans
Vonk, who will sign a one-season contract.
When Sander Boschker (born Lichtenvoorde, 20 October
1970)
joined Ajax almost exactly one year ago he was
well aware that he was not going to be Ronald Koeman's
first choice. However, he did have a role in mind as Ajax's
second man - and expected to see first team
action. It turned out differently. As Bogdan Lobont got injured
the coaching staff chose for Maarten Stekelenburg, who remained
the first reserve after Lobont's recovery. Boschker was 'only'
number three, spending most home games on
the terraces. At the end of the season he told the
club that he was unhappy with this situation and preferred to
move on if the coaches could not promise him improvement
for next season.
Koeman and his assistants told Boschker that they will
again choose for Lobont and Stekelenburg as their first
two men. Koeman announced that both will get to play the
same number of games in pre-season in an open battle
for a slot in the starting eleven. Boschker
immediately started a search for a new club. ADO Den Haag was
said to be interested in his services, but he ended up joining
FC Twente, the club where he spent 16 years as a professional
before moving to Ajax. Ajax granted the born and raised
Tukker a free transfer, even though he had one more
year's contract.
Sander Boschker saw only 180 minutes (four halves) of
friendly Ajax-1 action: at Blauw-Wit Amsterdam and DVS '33 in
pre-season, at Djurgården IF in October and (his last
appearance) at Heracles Almelo in January of this year. His
only official appearances for Ajax were seven matches for Young
Ajax.
Koeman, meanwhile, made clear from the start that,
if Boschker should leave, he wanted another
experienced man to replace him. That experienced
goalkeeper is South-African Hans Vonk (34), who joins Ajax on a
free transfer from Eredivisie outfit SC Heerenveen. He will
sign a one year contract when he returns from his trip to his
motherland of South-Africa, where he (and his new team-mate
Steven Pienaar) are currently in training with Bafana
Bafana, South-Africa's national team.
Hans Vonk (born Alberton, South-Africa, 30 January 1970)
started playing football at Dutch amateur sides VV Woudrichem
and Unitas, before moving to newly promoted Eredivisie outfit
RKC in the summer of 1988. He spent three seasons in Waalwijk
and had 25 Eredivisie appearances for RKC. After one year
spells at First Division side FC Wageningen (33 games) and FC
Den Bosch (34 Eredivisie matches) he returned to RKC for three
seasons (80 Eredivisie games).
The number one club in his career, however, would eventually
become SC Heerenveen. He joined the Frisian outfit in the
summer of 1996 and was to play there for eight seasons in
total. He was in goal during no less than 263 Eredivisie games
(he missed only eight) and had
several European campaigns with Heerenveen in the
Intertoto Cup, UEFA Cup and once in the Champions League. In
2002 he defended the goal of Bafana Bafana during
the World Cup of 2002 in Japan and South-Korea.
The contract of Sander Boschker will be dissolved as per 30
June. Vonk's contract will officially start the
next day, on 01 July. He is due at the Amsterdam ArenA on
07 July for the first training of the season. The
Ajacieden who will play at Euro 2004 this month will be
granted an extra week off. (MP)
Source: Ajax.nl, NOS Teletekst
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