- Michel Kuipers
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Michel Kuipers 
Personal information Full name Michel Kuipers[1] Date of birth 26 June 1974 [1] Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Playing position Goalkeeper Club information Current club Crawley Town Number 1 Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† ?–1999 Door Wilskracht Sterk ? (?) 1999–2000 Bristol Rovers 1 (0) 2000 → Chester City (loan) 0 (0) 2000–2010 Brighton & Hove Albion 247 (0) 2003 → Hull City (loan) 3 (0) 2005 → Boston United (loan) 4 (0) 2006 → Boston United (loan) 11 (0) 2010– Crawley Town 26 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:30, 5 July 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).Michel Kuipers (born 26 June 1974) is a Dutch footballer who plays for Crawley Town as a goalkeeper. Prior to football he served with the Dutch Marine Corps.
Life and career
Born in Amsterdam, Kuipers started his footballing career with Door Wilskracht Sterk, before moving to England in 1999 to join Bristol Rovers, where he spent 16 months.[1]
In June 2000 he joined Brighton & Hove Albion on a free transfer, and quickly established himself as number one and became a firm fans' favourite because of his quick reactions, stops and outgoing style. Kuipers suffered several career-threatening injuries during his time at Withdean, being injured in a car crash in 2003,[2] and a severe shoulder injury in 2005.[3]
Michel twice left the club on loan during his time at Brighton. He joined Hull City on loan during the 2003–04 season (before his return to Albion and subsequent car crash) and joined Boston United on loan during the 2005–06 season, to regain match fitness after recovering from his shoulder injury. In 2008, he played a big part in Brighton's upset victory against Manchester City in the League Cup, saving Michael Ball's effort in the penalty shoot-out.[4]
In the 2007/08 season he was ever present in the goal playing all 46 league matches.[5] This good form led to a new two-year contract that expired in June 2010.[6] On 19 May 2010, he signed for fellow Sussex club Crawley Town.[7] Kuipers's career with Crawley did not start well, being sent off twice during the first month of the season.[citation needed] He started in Crawley's match against Manchester United F.C..
References
- ^ a b c Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946-2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 355. ISBN 1852916656.
- ^ "Kuipers injured in car crash.". The Argus. 2003-11-20. http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2003/11/20/121507.html. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Sussex help out Albion". Sussex County Cricket Club. 2007-02-16. http://www.sussexcricket.co.uk/news-events/news-archive/Sussex+help+out+Albion/. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ Szczepanik, Nick (September 25, 2008). "Michel Kuipers the hero as Brighton rock Manchester City". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article4821745.ece. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ "First Team". Brighton & Hove Alvion F.C.. http://www.seagulls.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10433~10076,00.html. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
- ^ "Kuipers signs new Seagulls deal". BBC Sport. 2008-06-03. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/football/teams/b/brighton/7432702.stm. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
- ^ "Boss lands his Number 1 Target". Crawley Town F.C.. 2010-05-19. http://www.crawleytownfc.com/newsdetails.php?ID=1559. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
External links
- Michael Kuipers profile at the Crawley Town website
- Michel Kuipers career stats at Soccerbase
Crawley Town F.C. – current squad Categories:- 1974 births
- Living people
- People from Amsterdam
- Dutch footballers
- Dutch expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Association football goalkeepers
- Bristol Rovers F.C. players
- Chester City F.C. players
- Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
- Hull City A.F.C. players
- Boston United F.C. players
- Crawley Town F.C. players
- The Football League players
- Conference National players
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