Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will be competing on this year’s edition of Strictly Come Dancing, joining a rich history of footballers who have competed on the show.
On joining Strictly, the 53-year-old Dutchman said: “Swapping the pitch for the ballroom is certainly not something I’ve done before but I’m looking forward to tackling a fun challenge! Bring on a new type of footwork, with hopefully no own goals.”
Born in Suriname in 1972, Hasselbaink moved to the Netherlands with his family aged six, where he first began to play football.
Hasselbaink’s youth career, though, was plagued with legal and disciplinary issues when he became associated with gangs.
After being dismissed from his first professional club, Telstar, for persistent lateness, and being released from AZ Alkmaar, he found success in Portugal, initially signing for the newly promoted Campomaiorense.
It was here that Hasselbaink, whose legal first name is Jerrell, earned his nickname. The club’s chairman decided to keep his signing secret and instead told the press he had signed a player called “Jimmy”. He later signed for Boavista, enjoying the best spell of his career to date, scoring 24 goals in 38 games.
In the summer of 1997, Leeds United manager George Graham signed Hasselbaink for £2m. After a slow start in England, Hasselbaink soon found himself a hero at Elland Road and became joint winner of the Premier League’s Golden Boot (shared with Michael Owen and Dwight Yorke) in only his second season.
Hasselbaink then moved to Spanish side Atletico Madrid in 1999 but despite scoring 33 goals the club was relegated from Spain’s top flight.
He returned to England in 2000, signing for Chelsea, where he had the best and longest spell of his entire career. Hasselbaink again won the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2000/01 season and would go on to score 87 goals in 177 games for the West London side.
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After four seasons with Chelsea, he would go on to play for Middlesbrough, Charlton Athletic and Cardiff City, the latter of which saw him play on the losing side in the FA Cup Final. Hasselbaink, who also scored nine goals in 27 games for the Netherlands national team, including an appearance at the 1998 World Cup, retired in 2008.
Hasselbaink quickly transitioned into a coaching role, first working with Chelsea’s under-16 squad and Nottingham Forest. He landed his first managerial post in 2013, taking charge of the Belgian side Royal Antwerp.
In summer 2014, he was appointed as Burton Albion manager and enjoyed the best spell of his mangerial career, winning League Two and securing the Staffordshire side’s first ever promotion to the third tier of English football.
Several unsuccessful spells as manager followed at Queens Park Rangers and Northampton Town as well a return to Burton, which proved to be his last mangerial job to date.
Hasselbaink’s last official role in football was working with his old Middlesbrough teammate Gareth Southgate as an assistant coach with the England national team.
