VVCS Player of the Year Award for Maxwell
24 August: Maxwell was the best Eredivisie player of the
2003-2004 season. Ajax's Brazilian left fullback received the
Player of The Year Award yesterday evening, during the annual
Football Gala of the Union of Contract Players (VVCS), which
took place at the classy Huis ter Duin hotel in the coastal
town of Noordwijk. Another Ajax defender, John Heitinga, picked
up the award for Talent of the Year.
There are two major Player of the Year rankings in Dutch
football: every season the 'Golden Boot' is awarded to the
player who received the highest marks throughout the season by
the reporters of football weekly Voetbal International
and newspaper De Telegraaf. The 'Golden Boot' is, in
other words, a prize from the press. The VVCS Awards, on the
other hand, is based on the votes of all professional football
players and coaches of Holland's two football
divisions.
This can lead to remarkable differences. In 2002,
for example, Ajax's Cristian Chivu was the Player of the Year
according to the press: he finished at the top of the
VI/Telegraaf ranking. The next day, however,
Feyenoord's Pierre van Hooydonk was voted Player of the Year by
his Eredivisie and First Division colleagues at the VVCS Gala.
This season, however, there was no doubt: Maxwell won
both awards. The other VVCS nominees were Tomás
Galásek (Ajax) and Arjen Robben (PSV;
now Chelsea).
The Player of the Year Award was presented to Maxwell by
Mark van Hintum, a left fullback and vice-chairman of the VVCS.
"I am very happy to finally present this award to a left back
for a change," said Van Hintum. "Maxwell, you have great skills
and you play with a lot of flair. I hope you'll become the next
Roberto Carlos." The modest Ajacied thanked his coaches,
team-mates and family.
The Player of the Year Award was not the only trophy on the
night presented to an Ajacied. John Heitinga went home with the
Talent of the Year Award in his possession,
having received more votes than his team-mate Nigel de Jong and
Roda's Arouna Koné. The 2003-2004 season was an eventful
one for Heitinga: he returned from injury, became a
starter for Ajax, made his Holland début, won the
Dutch championship and was a starter for Holland at Euro 2004.
Heitinga received his award from one of the greats to have
worn Ajax's #3 before him: Danny Blind.
Heitinga was more talkative than Maxwell and took his time
to thank a few people: "I am very pleased with this and I want
to thank all the players who voted for me. Also, I want to
thank my family, the technical staff and the Ajax players. In
particular I want to thank Rob Ouderland [KNVB physio
therapist, ed.], Edwin Goedhart [head of Ajax's medical staff,
ed.] and Ricardo de Sanders [Ajax physio therapist, ed.] for
their support during my rehabilitation period. Without them, I
wouldn't have made it."
The award for Club of the Year was for SC
Heerenveen. Former Ajax head-coach Co Adriaanse won the
Coach of the Year Award for his succesful season as boss of AZ.
Adriaanse finished ahead of Foppe de Haan (Heerenveen) and
Ronald Koeman (Ajax).
Gabór Babós, currently goalkeeper of Feyenoord
but playing for NAC Breda last season, was voted
Goalkeeper of the Year, ahead of Maikel Aerts
(RBC Roosendaal) and Henk Timmer (AZ).
The award for Best Player of the First Division was
presented to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, striker of AGOVV Apeldoorn
(now SC Heerenveen). The other nominees for that award were
Yuri Rose (Heracles Almelo) and Michel Breuer
(Excelsior).
Finally, veteran Peter Hofstede received a Career
Achievement Award for his years at De Graafschap, Roda
JC, FC Utrecht, Helmond Sport, Emmen and ADO Den Haag.
The second annual Player of the Year Gala, namely the one
organized by De Telegraaf and Voetbal
International, will take place on Monday 30 August. During
that gala Maxwell will receive the 'Golden Boot' for having
finished at the top of the 2003-2004 ranking. The Johan Cruyff
Prize for the Talent of the Year will not go to Johnny
Heitinga, but to his team-mate Wesley Sneijder. (MP)
Sources: VI.nl, Ajax.nl
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