Frank de Boer: 8 Things You May Not Know

After a 34 day wait since the shock departure of Sam Allardyce, Crystal Palace have finally announced a new Manager – Ajax and Netherlands legend. Frank de Boer. Here are eight things that you might not know about the new Ploegbaas (that’s Dutch for ‘Gaffer’ according to Google Translate).

1. Champions League Winner

Frank de Boer won the Champions League as a player with Ajax back in 1994-95. He is the fourth man associated with Crystal Palace to have achieved this feat. Michele Padavano and Attilio Lombardo both received medals for Juventus’ 1995-96 win. Padavano appeared in the match as a late sub, but Lombardo missed the final through injury. The fourth man won the Champions League along with de Boer in 1995 – Edgar Davids.

2. He Loves a Long Diagonal

Remember when Dennis Bergkamp scored that ridiculous goal at the 1998 World Cup against Argentina? Frank de Boer provided the pass, a pass he claimed he had completed “many times with Dennis at Ajax in 1991”. Maybe Damo can learn from the diagonal long ball master.

3. Netherlands Legend

Only two players have been capped for the Netherlands more times than Frank de Boer. Edwin van der Sar (130) and Wesley Sneijder (131 and counting) surpass the 112 caps earned by the Crystal Palace manager. Frank was the first Dutchman to earn 100 caps. 

4. Banned

In 2001, Frank de Boer was banned from playing football, testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone: "I am innocent, and I have spent a lot of money trying to demonstrate it. That is why I am demanding that justice is fully done" said de Boer.

Cor Hellingmann, de Boer’s lawyer, said: "The UEFA judgement was not fair. The player was not declared guilty and yet there was still a punishment that prevented him from exercising his legitimate right to work, and that is why we are bringing the case."

The decision was overturned as it was found that contaminated food supplements were "more than likely" for the positive test.

De Boer shares more than just being a defender in common with Mamadou Sakho. Maybe this bodes well for a potential transfer.

5. World Cup Final

In 2010, de Boer was the Assistant Manager of the Netherlands when they made it all the way to the World Cup Final, where they lost to Spain after a feisty affair.

6. Record Breaker

Frank de Boer is the only Manager to win the Dutch League four seasons in a row. He achieved the feat with Ajax between 2010/11 and 2013/14. He also won the title 5 times with Ajax as a player (89-90, 93-94, 94-95, 95-96, 97-98).

Frank de Boer and his team celebrated the 2012/13 title win in the bath:

He is not the first Crystal Palace manager to like the bath:

7. Total Football

Having been brought up at Ajax, de Boer is a proponent of ‘Total Football’ – this is evident in the video below that shows the Top 10 Goals that Ajax scored under de Boer:

8. FIFA Legend

The new Crystal Palace manager is a Legend in the popular football game, Fifa 17. He can be yours for around 110k coins.