Fernando Ricksen

Fernando Ricksen

Personal information
Date of birth	(1976-07-27) 27 July 1976
Place of birth	Heerlen, Netherlands
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Right back
Youth career
	Fortuna Sittard
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1997	Fortuna Sittard	94	(5)
1997–2000	AZ	92	(12)
2000–2006	Rangers	182	(13)
2006	→ Zenit Saint Petersburg (loan)	14	(2)
2007–2009	Zenit Saint Petersburg	36	(2)
2010–2013	Fortuna Sittard	48	(1)
Total		412	(32)
International career
2000–2003	Netherlands	12	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Fernando Jacob Hubertina Hendrika Ricksen (born 27 July 1976 in Heerlen) is a former Dutch football defender/midfielder. He played on the right side of defence, midfield or as a central holding player. He has won 12 caps for The Netherlands.

Ricksen, formerly of Fortuna Sittard, joined Rangers in 2000 from Dutch team AZ Alkmaar for a transfer fee of £3.75m.

Career

Rangers

Ricksen endured a difficult start to his Rangers career, culminating in him being substituted after a torrid 23 minutes against countryman Bobby Petta in a 6–2 defeat to Celtic. On his second trip to Celtic Park six months later, he was sent-off before half-time in another defeat. He had been dropped for the two intervening derbies.

In November 2000 Ricksen became the first player in Scottish football to be banned retrospectively on television evidence. His Kung Fu-style kick on Darren Young had been missed by the referee but caught on camera, leading to a five game ban. Ricksen subsequently used his personal website to suggest Young required "straightening out."

After the departure of manager Dick Advocaat during season 2001–02, Ricksen helped the club to League Cup and Scottish Cup triumphs, under the management of Alex McLeish.

Ricksen was also a key player in Rangers' 2002–03 treble success, playing 46 games and scoring 3 goals, most notably a double in a 4–0 win against Hearts at Tynecastle.

2003–04 proved to be a failed season for Rangers, with the departure of several players from the treble winning season most notably Barry Ferguson and Lorenzo Amoruso. Ricksen, however, proved to be an important member of the Rangers team which finished second, playing 42 games, despite several injury and disciplinary problems throughout the season. In October 2003 Ricksen threw Rangers chairman John F. McClelland into a swimming pool before a match against Panathinaikos in Athens. The same week he was banned from the Netherlands national team for smashing a hotel door down after a night out. After the events Rangers banned Ricksen from talking to the media and manager McLeish said "We would rather have Fernando on the back pages and we have told him that."

In March 2004 Ricksen was again banned by the SFA video review panel. He had elbowed Derek Riordan in a CIS Cup defeat to Hibernian, resulting in a four game ban and a £10,000 fine from his club.

Ricksen was an ever-present during season 2004–05 playing 51 games and scoring 9 goals as Rangers won both the League Cup and the SPL after a dramatic last day of the season. Ricksen was also given the captaincy for a large part of the season following an injury to goalkeeper Stefan Klos. Ricksen was later voted both Rangers Player of the Year and joint Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year in a season which saw him thrive as one of the clubs key players.

In 2005–06, however, Ricksen failed to sustain the standard set the previous season as Rangers finished third in the SPL and without a trophy. Despite this domestic failure, Rangers did reach the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League however Ricksen was left-out for the games against Villarreal with youngster Alan Hutton preferred.

It remained unclear whether Ricksen would be seen as a key member of the Rangers team under new manager Paul Le Guen for the 2006–07 season. An alcohol-fueled incident involving a stewardess on Rangers' outbound flight to their pre-season camp in South Africa, led to Ricksen being sent home by Le Guen, who later described his behaviour as "inappropriate and unacceptable for the way in which I have asked my players to conduct themselves."

Zenit St Petersburg

Ricksen moved on loan to Zenit St Petersburg on a season long loan on 9 August 2006, the Russian club's manager being Dick Advocaat, who signed Ricksen for Rangers. Two weeks later he returned to Ibrox in a friendly between Rangers and Zenit and was booed after injuring Chris Burke with what was described as a reckless tackle. Weeks later, Ricksen engaged in an on-field fist-fight with Zenit captain Vladislav Radimov. On 28 November 2006, Zenit St Petersburg announced that they bought out Ricksen's transfer from Rangers. Despite this Ricksen again fought with Radimov during a match in January 2007. In January 2009, after two and a half years in Russia, Ricksen was demoted to Zenit's reserve side, having previously refused to leave the club. On 28 August 2009 FC Zenit terminated his contract because of Ricksen's constant disciplinary misbehaviours.

Back at Sittard

After being without a club for more than a year, on 2 December 2010 Ricksen agreed to rejoin his childhood team Fortuna Sittard, involved in their battle to escape relegation from the Eerste Divisie, signing a contract till the end of the season.

Personal life

On Christmas Day 2000 Ricksen was the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal after an incident when his car crashed into a lamppost in the early hours of the morning. Ricksen denied charges of drink-driving, careless driving, committing a breach of the peace by shouting and swearing, and conducting himself in a disorderly manner. At a trial in February 2003 Ricksen was found to have been twice over the limit and was convicted of drink-driving, receiving a £500 fine and a 12-month driving ban. He was acquitted of the other charges.

In October 2003 Ricksen was fined £7,000 after being convicted of a breach of the peace and assault in relation to a drunken late-night house party he held the previous November. Having initially denied the charges, in Court Ricksen admitted conducting himself in a disorderly manner, causing a breach of the peace, repeatedly igniting fireworks, shouting and swearing and then threatening and assaulting a neighbour who had complained. In football season 2004–05 Ricksen self-imposed an abstinence from alcohol.

In July 2006 Ricksen checked himself into the Sporting Chance Clinic for residential treatment relating to alcohol abuse and anger management. For the previous six months he had been receiving out-patient treatment from the clinic.

Ricksen is diagnosed with ALS.

Career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
1993–94	Fortuna Sittard	Eerste Divisie	2	0
1994–95			30	2
1995–96		Eredivisie	28	1
1996–97			34	4
1997–98	AZ	Eerste Divisie	32	1
1998–99		Eredivisie	31	0
1999-00			29	9
Scotland			League		Scottish Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2000–01	Rangers	Premier League	27	1
2001–02			31	4
2002–03			35	3
2003–04			30	1
2004–05			38	4
2005–06			22	0
Russia			League		Russian Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2006	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Premier League	14	2	0	0	-	-	0	0	14	2
2007			14	0	0	0	-	-	3	0	17	0
2008			8	0	1	0	-	-	0	0	9	0
2009			0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0	0	0
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2010–11	Fortuna Sittard	Eerste Divisie	17	0							17	0
2011–12			23	1							23	1
2011–12			8	0							8	0
Total	Netherlands		234	18
	Scotland		183	13
	Russia		36	2	1	0	-	-	3	0	40	2
Career total			445	33

Honours

With Fortuna Sittard

• Eerste Divisie: 1995

With AZ

• Eerste Divisie: 1998

With Rangers

• Scottish Premier League: 2002–03, 2004–05
• Scottish Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
• Scottish League Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05
• SPL Player of the Month (2): October 2002, October 2004
• SPFA Players' Player of the Year: 2004-05 (joint winner)

With Zenit St Petersburg

• Russian Premier League: 2007
• Russian Super Cup: 2008
• UEFA Cup: 2007–08
• UEFA Super Cup: 2008

External links

• Template:En icon Profile at the official FC Zenit St. Petersburg website
• Template:Ru icon Profile at the official Russian Premier League website
• Fernando Ricksen at Soccerbase

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