Jakob Stam, born Kampen, Netherlands, July 17, 1972. Jaap Stam played for Dutch clubs FC Zwolle, Cambuur Leeuwarden, Willem II and PSV Eindhoven before he joined Manchester United for a fee of £10.75 million at the start of the 1998-99 season. A bruising and powerful defender, he made his first appearance in the Premiership for United in a 2-2 draw to Leicester City at Old Trafford on the 15th of August 1998.
Jaap Stam spent three unforgettable seasons with Manchester United during which time the player won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, and the Champions League, including the coveted treble in 1999. After accumulating 79 appearances in the Premier League for Manchester United, the stopper was sold to Italian Serie A outfit Lazio for an estimated transfer fee somewhere in the region of £16.5 million at the beginning of the 2001-02 campaign. The Dutchman eventually left The White and Sky Blues for their bitter adversaries Milan at the end of the 2003-04 season, before he made his return to the Netherlands just two years later to join forces with Dutch Eredivisie team Ajax. While at The Amsterdam Arena, the commanding centre-back proceeded to collect the Dutch Cup and two Dutch Super Cups with the club. Capped 67 times by Holland, Stam was handed his international senior debut for the country of his birth by head coach Guus Hiddink in a narrow 1-0 friendly fixture defeat against historical enemies Germany at Feyenoord Stadium on the 24th of April 1996, and the long serving stalwart was a regular member of the immensely talented team which qualified for the World Cup in 1998 as well as the European Championship in 2000 and 2004. He later went on to manage several teams, including PEC Zwolle, Reading, Feyenoord, and FC Cincinnati. Built physically on the lines of a tank, the solid Jaap Stam also had very much of that vehicle´s aura of authority about him. Jaap Stam Playing Career: FC Zwolle, SC Cambuur, Willem II, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Lazio, Milan, Ajax.