Arthur Numan

Arthur Numan

Numan pictured in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Arthur Numan
Date of birth	(1969-12-14) 14 December 1969 (age 47)
Place of birth	Heemskerk, Netherlands
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Full back
Club information
Current team	Netherlands B: Manager Aston Villa FC: Scout
Youth career
	SV Beverwijk
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987–1991	Haarlem	91	(5)
1991–1992	Twente	49	(7)
1992–1998	PSV Eindhoven	178	(25)
1998–2003	Rangers	118	(3)
Total		436	(40)
National team
1992–2002	Netherlands	45	(0)
Teams managed
2008–	Netherlands B (team manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Arthur Numan (born 14 December 1969 in Heemskerk, North Holland) is a retired Dutch footballer. He played as a left back and was a regular fixture in Netherlands national football team. He is currently the team manager for the Netherlands B squad and a scout for AZ Alkmaar.

He started his career with the amateur club SV Beverwijk and was spotted by Haarlem, who handed him his first professional game against DS '79 on 26 March 1988 which his team won 2–0. He originally played in a more attacking role, but his long-time mentor Dick Advocaat, then the coach of Haarlem, positioned him as a left fullback.

Numan joined Twente at the close of the 1990–91 season where he has scored goals even as a defender. He was named team captain for the Enschede team and also captained the Dutch Under 21 national team. However, it was not until he joined PSV Eindhoven that his talents were fully appreciated. He was drafted into the Dutch team for a World Cup qualifying game against Poland which ended in a 2–2 draw on 14 October 1992. Numan was substituted after forty minutes by Advocaat, who was then the national team coach and brought on PSV teammate Gerald Vanenburg as his team was 2–0 down early in the game.

A £4.5 million deal took him to Rangers in May 1998, but Numan's time in Scotland was then blighted by injuries that forced him to sit out many games. Dick Advocaat, who managed the team at that time, waited for Numan to recover, a move which was rewarded when he helped the team to considerable league success as well as the treble in his penultimate season at Rangers. Numan was awarded the teams vice-captaincy serving as deputy to captain Lorenzo Amoruso. He had a particularly prolific relationship with German international left sided midfielder Jorg Albertz. However, at the end of the 2002–03 season, he and the club could not agree a new contract so he left at the end of that season. He stated that he was willing to accept a pay-cut offer but felt that his club wanted too large a drop in wages. He soon announced his retirement. A late offer by Villarreal failed to change his mind and he refused to continue his career in Holland. He was not looking forward to start afresh training and playing hectic games every week. After Rangers, Numan still finds the time inbetween his other duties to attend games at Ibrox and can be seen mixing with fans and making appearances at Rangers bars in Glasgow singing Karaoke.