26th minute - Zvonko Pamic - Dinamo (v Sibenik, February 8th)
Pamic scores an accurate finish from inside the penalty area to round off a great team move.
Twitch is off... will turn on and off on highlights... Diaze
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (pronounced [ˈnaːpoli]), is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926.
The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2014–15 season. Napoli has won Serie A twice, in 1986–87 and 1989–90. They have won the Coppa Italia five times, and the Supercoppa Italiana twice, and on the European stage have won the UEFA Cup in 1988–89. Napoli is also the most successful club in Southern Italy and the fourth most supported football club in Italy. The club is ranked as the fifth most valuable football club in Serie A (and twenty-second worldwide) in terms of annual revenue, generating €116.4 million during the 2013 financial year.
The club has had several name changes since first appearing in 1926; the most important of these was in 1964, when it was changed from Associazione Calcio Napoli to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli.
The most recent change was in 2004, when the club went bankrupt but was refounded by film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis as Napoli Soccer; he restored the name to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli two years later.
The bankruptcy of the club in 2004 had seen it placed in the third division of Italian football (Serie C1), but progress of the reformed club was swift and after just three years it returned to Serie A.
The first club was founded as Naples Foot-Ball & Cricket Club in 1904 by English sailor William Poths and his associate Hector M. Bayon. Neapolitans such as Conforti, Catterina and Amedeo Salsi were also involved, the latter of whom was the club's first president.
In 1904, an English sailor William Poths, then employed with a maritime agency named Cunard Lines and an amateur footballer himself founded a club and named ...
The original kit of the club was a sky blue and navy blue striped shirt, with black shorts. Naples' first match was a 3–2 win against the English crew of the boat Arabik with goals from MacPherson, Scafoglio and Chaudoir. The name of the club was shortened to Naples Foot-Ball Club in 1906.
[citation needed please]
Early into its existence, the Italian Football Championship was limited to just Northern clubs, so Southern clubs competed against sailors or in cups such as Thomas Lipton's Lipton Challenge Cup.
In the cup competed between Naples and Palermo FBC, Naples won three finals. The foreign contingent at the club broke off in 1912 to form Internazionale Napoli, in time for both club's debut in the Italian Championship of 1912–13. Though the sides had a keen rivalry in the Campania section, they were not as successful outside of it and a few years after World War I, they merged as Foot-Ball Club Internazionale-Naples, also known as FBC Internaples.
Associazione Calcio Napoli
Under the presidency of Giorgio Ascarelli,
... the club changed its name to Associazione Calcio Napoli on 23 August 1926.
After a poor start, with a sole point in an entire championship, Napoli was readmitted to Serie A's forerunner National Division by the Italian FA, and began to improve thanks in part to Paraguayan-born Attila Sallustro, who was the first fully fledged hero to the fans.
He was a capable goal-scorer and eventually set the all-time goal-scoring record for Napoli, which still stands today.
Napoli entered the Serie A-era under the management of William Garbutt.
During his six-year stint, the club would be dramatically transformed, frequently finishing in the top half of the table. This included two third-place finishes during the 1932–33 and 1933–34 seasons,with added notables such as ...
Antonio Vojak Arnaldo Sentimenti - Hint: Croatian football player Vojak has scored more goals in than Maradona.
and Carlo Buscaglia.
For the years leading up to World War II Napoli went into decline, surviving relegation in 1939–40 by goal average.
Napoli teammates in 1927
STOP THE WAR... i mean, fuck the war...
Napoli lost a closely contested relegation battle at the end of 1942 and were relegated to Serie B.
They moved from Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli to Stadio Arturo Collana and stayed in Serie B until after the war. When play continued, Napoli earned the right to compete in Serie A, but were relegated after two seasons for a bribery scandal.
The club bounced back to ensure top flight football at the start of the 1950s. Napoli moved to their new home ground Stadio San Paolo in 1959.
Despite erratic league form with highs and lows during this period, including a further relegation and promotion, Napoli had some cup success when they beat SPAL to lift the Coppa Italia in 1962, with goals from Gianni Corelli and Pierluigi Ronzon.Their fourth relegation cut celebrations short the following season.
Napoli on the rise: Maradona era
As the club changed their name to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli on 25 June 1964 they began to rise up again, gaining promotion in 1964–65. Under the management of former player Bruno Pesaola, they won the Coppa delle Alpi and were back amongst the elite in Serie A, with consistent top five finishes.
Bruno Pesaola
Napoli came very close to winning the league in 1967–68, finishing just behind AC Milan in second place. Some of the most popular players from this period were Dino Zoff, José Altafini, Omar Sívori, and hometown midfielder Antonio Juliano. Juliano would eventually break the appearance records, which still stands today.
The trend of Napoli performing well in the league continued into the 1970s, with third place spots in 1970–71 and 1973–74. Under the coaching of former player Luís Vinício, this gained them entry into the early UEFA Cup competitions; in 1974–75 they reached the third round knocking out Porto 2–0 on the way.
Luís Vinício
During the same season, Napoli finished second in Serie A; just two points behind champions Juventus. Solid performances from locally born players such as Bruscolotti, Juliano and Esposito were relied upon during this period, coupled with goals from Giuseppe Savoldi.
After beating Southampton 4–1 on aggregate to lift the Anglo-Italian League Cup, Napoli were entered into the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for 1976–77, where they reached the semi-finals, losing 2–1 on aggregate to Anderlecht.
The club won their second Coppa Italia trophy in 1975–76, knocking out Milan and Fiorentina en route, before beating rivals Verona 4–0 in the final. In terms of the Italian league, Napoli were still very much a consistent top six side for much of the late 1970s.
Even into the earliest two seasons of the 1980s, the club were performing respectably with a third place finish in 1980–81, however by 1983 they had slipped dramatically and were involved in relegation battles. Napoli broke the world transfer record fee, turning to Diego Maradona with a €12 million deal from Barcelona on 30 June 1984.
The squad was gradually re-built, with the likes of Ciro Ferrara, Salvatore Bagni, and Fernando De Napoli filling the ranks. The rise up the tables was gradual, by 1985–86, they had a third place finish under their belts, but better was yet to come. The 1986–87 season was the landmark in Napoli's history; they won the double, securing the Serie A title by three points and then beating Atalanta 4–0 to lift the Coppa Italia.
Because a mainland Southern Italian team had never won the league before, this turned Diego Maradona into a cultural, social and borderline religious icon for Neapolitans, which stretched beyond the realms of just football.
The club were unsuccessful in the European Cup in the following season and finished runners-up in Serie A. However, Napoli were entered into the UEFA Cup for 1988–89 and won their first major European title. Juventus, Bayern Munich, and PAOK were defeated on the way to the final, where Napoli beat Stuttgart 5–4 on aggregate, with two goals from Careca and one each from Maradona, Ferrara and Alemão.
Napoli added their second Serie A title in 1989–90, beating Milan by two points in the title race. However, this was surrounded by less auspicious circumstances as Napoli were awarded two points for a game, when in Bergamo, an Atalanta fan threw a £100 lira coin at Alemão's head. A controversial set of events set off at the 1990 World Cup, when Maradona made comments pertaining to North-South inequality in the country and the risorgimento, asking Neapolitans to root for Argentina in the semi-finals against Italy in Naples.
San Paolo was the only stadium during the competition where the Argentine National Anthem wasn't jeered,
Maradona bowed to the Napoli fans at the end and his country went on to reach the final. However, after the final the Italian Football Federation forced Maradona to take a doping test, which he failed testing positive for cocaine; both Maradona and Napoli staff later claimed it was a revenge plot for events at the World Cup. Maradona was banned for 15 months and would never play for the club again.The club still managed to win the Supercoppa Italiana that year, with a record 5–1 victory against Juventus, but it would be their last major trophy for 22 years. In the European Cup however, they went out in the second round.
Decline and rebirth
Though the club finished fourth during the 1991–92 season, Napoli gradually went into decline after that season, both financially and on the field. Players such as Gianfranco Zola,
... Daniel Fonseca
... Ciro Ferrara
... and Careca
had all departed by 1994.
Nonetheless, Napoli did manage to qualify for the 1994–95 UEFA Cup, reaching the third round and in 1996–97, Napoli appeared at the Coppa Italia final, but lost 3–1 to Vicenza. Napoli's league form had dropped lower, and relegation to Serie B came at the end of 1997–98 when they recorded only three wins all season.
The club returned to Serie A after gaining promotion in the 1999–2000 season, though after a closely contested relegation battle, they were relegated immediately back down the following season.They failed to gain promotion following this and slipped further down. The failed 2001–02 Serie B campaign was costly, the cost of production was €70,895,838, just about €10 million fewer than in 2000–01 Serie A, heavily due to the high amortisation of the player asset (€33,437,075).
However value of production was just €21,183736 (excluding player profit) and the net loss was €28,856,093 that season. Net asset on 30 June 2002 was €2,166,997, already including about €20 million recapitalisation...
... The club once quoted the law "21 February 2003 No.27" to lower the amortisation expense by extending the amortisation period beyond the contract length of players to 10-year (UEFA ruled the Italian special law was not lawful and all club should use IFRS standards,
"Sorry for re-writer joke"
...thus causing a re-capitalization crisis in 2006), which some players contract (with a total residual accounting value of €46,601,225) was amortise in special way for €4,660,123 only and the rest for €1,659,088 in 2002–03, however the cost of production was still exceed the value of production for €19,071,218 in 2002–03.By August 2004, Napoli was declared bankrupt with debts[clarification needed] estimated up to €70 million. To secure football in the city, film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis refounded the club under the name Napoli Soccer, as they were not allowed to use their old name. FIGC placed Napoli in Serie C1, where they missed out on promotion after losing 2–1 in play-offs to local rivals Avellino in 2004–05 Serie C1.
Despite the fact that Napoli were playing in such a low division, they retained higher average attendances than most of the Serie A clubs, breaking the Serie C attendance record with 51,000 at one game. The following season, they secured promotion to Serie B and De Laurentiis bought back the club's history, restoring its name to Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli in May 2006. After just one season back in Serie B, they were promoted on the final day, along with fellow sleeping giants Genoa. Napoli finished the season placed eighth in the Serie A, enough to secure a place in the Intertoto Cup third round.
The 2008–09 season saw Napoli qualify for the UEFA Cup via the Intertoto Cup. The team was eliminated in the first round, however, by Portuguese team Benfica. At the domestic level, Napoli made a very impressive start, proposing as one of the main candidates for a Champions League spot; results and performances, however, quickly declined in mid-season, causing Napoli to fall down to 11th place in the league table, which lead to the dismissal of manager Edy Reja in March 2009, with former Italy manager Roberto Donadoni being appointed as his replacement.
Edy Reja
Roberto Donadoni
Despite reinforcements in the summer transfer window, Napoli began the 2009–10 season with a number of poor results. After a 2–1 loss to Roma in October 2009, Donadoni was relieved of his duties and replaced by former Sampdoria manager Walter Mazzarri.
Walter Mazzarri
Under Mazzarri, Napoli climbed up the table, finishing in sixth place to qualify for a Europa League spot. Napoli, under Mazzarri's guide and reinforced by players such as Edinson Cavani, spent part of the 2010–11 season in the second place, finishing third and qualifying directly to the group phase of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.
Edinson Cavani
In the 2011–12 season, Napoli ended in fifth place in Serie A, but managed to defeat unbeaten champions Juventus in the Stadio Olimpico to win the Coppa Italia for the fourth time in the club's history, 25 years after their last cup win.
Star striker Edinson Cavani scored from a penalty kick in the 63rd minute and Marek Hamšík decided the game in the 83rd minute. Napoli also had a successful season in the Champions League, its first participation in the European Cup since the 1990–91 season. The team finished second in its group behind Bayern Munich, and ahead of Manchester City, progressing to the round of 16, where it was knocked out by eventual winners Chelsea.
Marek Hamšík
In 2012–13, Napoli finished in second place in Serie A, the club's best performance since winning the 1989–90 Scudetto. Edinson Cavani finished as top scorer in the division with 29 goals, which resulted in him being sold to Paris Saint-Germain for a club record fee of £57 million.
In the 2013 close-season, Walter Mazzarri left Napoli to become coach of Internazionale, and was replaced by Spaniard Rafael Benítez ...
.... who became the club's first foreign coach
since Zdeněk Zeman in 2000.
The money from selling Cavani went towards signing three Real Madrid players – Gonzalo Higuaín
Raúl Albiol
and José Callejón –
and other players including Dries Mertens
and Pepe Reina.
They finished the season by winning the 2014 Coppa Italia Final, their fifth title in the tournament, with a 3–1 win against Fiorentina with two goals from Lorenzo Insigne and another from Mertens,
Fiorentina vs Napoli 1-3 All Goals & Highlights (03/05/2014) Final Coppa Italia HD
as well as qualifying for the Champions League by finishing 3rd in Serie A.
Players
As of 4 February 2015
Retired numbers
In the summer of 2000 Napoli retired the jersey number 10 belonged to former club legend Diego Armando Maradona who played for the club from 1984 to 1991, as a tribute to his class and to the significant contribution made in the seven seasons with the shirt of Napoli. In order, the last players to wear number 10 were Fausto Pizzi (1995–1996),
Beto (in 1996–1997)
Igor Protti in 1997–1998 was the last player to play and score a goal with the number 10 shirt in Serie A
and Claudio Bellucci in 1998–1999 and 1999–2000 in Serie B.
However, for regulatory reasons, the number was reissued on blue shirts 2004 to 2006 Serie C1, a tournament where there is the old numbering from 1 to 11.
The last player to wear a sign and goals with this shirt in an official match was Mariano Bogliacino in the home match of 18 May 2006 against Spezia, valid for the final leg of the Supercoppa di Lega Serie C1; primacy belongs to him also for last appearance in the championship, 12 May 2006 at the home race of Lanciano.
As regards exclusively the championship, however, goes to the Argentine footballer Roberto Sosa the distinction of being the last to wear the 10 at the San Paolo and at the same time to score in the match against Frosinone on 30 April 2006.
Current coaching, technical and administrative staff
Presidents
Below is the official presidential history of Napoli, from when Giorgio Ascarelli took over at the club in 1926, until the present day. Napoli has had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had co-managers running the team. Here is a chronological list of them from 1926 onwards.
Giuseppe Bruscolotti holds Napoli's official appearance record, having made 511 over the course of 16 years from 1972 until 1988.
Antonio Juliano holds the record for league appearances with 394 (355 in Serie A) over the course of 16 years from 1962 until 1978.
The all-time leading goalscorer for Napoli is Diego Armando Maradona, with 115 league goals scored. He finished the season of Serie A as the league's topscorer, known in Italy as the capocannoniere, in the 1987–88 season with 15 goals.
The record for most goals in the league (also including tournaments Divisione Nazionale) belongs to Attila Sallustro, with 106 goals
while the maximum scorer in Serie A is Antonio Vojak - DINAMO!!!, with 102 goals.
The record for most goals in a single tournament maximum number belongs to Edinson Cavani, with 29 goals scored in the season 2012–2013.
The biggest ever victory recorded by Napoli was 8–1 against Pro Patria, in the 1955–56 season of Serie A.Napoli's heaviest championship defeat came during the 1927–28 season when eventual champions Torino beat them 11–0.
Below are appearance and goalscoring records pertaining to Napoli players of all time.
Overall Top Scorers
Colours, badge and nicknames
As Naples is a coastal city, the colours of the club have always been derived from the blue waters of the Gulf of Naples. Originally while using the name Naples FBC, the colours of the club implemented two shades of blue. Since the 1920s however, a singular blue tone has been used in the form of azure; as thus they share the nickname azzurri with the Italian national side.
One of the nicknames of Napoli is I ciucciarelli which means "the little donkeys" in the local dialect, they were given this name after a particularly poor performance during the 1926–27 season. It was originally meant to be derogatory, as the Neapolitan symbol is a rampant black horse, the club however adopted the donkey as a mascot called 'O Ciuccio, displaying it with pride.
The club badge Napoli are most famous for is a large N placed within a circle. This crest can be traced back to Internazionale Napoli, who used a similar design on their shirts. Since the club officially adopted the N badge as its representative, Napoli have altered it slightly at various times; sometimes it features the club's name around it, sometimes it does not. The main difference between each badge is the shade of blue used. Usually the N is white, although it has occasionally been gold.
Partenopei is a popular nickname for the club and people from the city of Naples in general. It is derived from Greek mythology where the siren Parthenópē tried to enchant Odysseus from his ship to Capri. In the story Odysseus had his men tie him to the ship's mast so he was able to resist the song of the siren; as a result Parthenope, unable to live with the rejection of her love, drowned herself and her body was washed up upon the shore of Naples.
Sponsors and manufacturers
Supporters and rivalries
Napoli is the fourth most supported football club in Italy with around 13% of Italian football fans supporting the club. Like other top clubs in the country, Napoli's fanbase goes beyond the Italian border; it has been estimated by the club that there are around 6 million fans worldwide. Napoli is reputed to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe, with one of the highest average home attendance in Europe.
Rivalries
The Napoli fans have always had bad relations especially with the teams from the North of Italy. One of the first historical rivalries was with Hellas Verona, and later on in the second half of the 1980s rivalry with Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan was born, as Napoli defied the "Triad of the North" for the title of Champions of Italy.
The hostility of the ultras of Napoli with the fans of Lazio comes from the old friendship that Napoli had in the eighties with Roma fans, Napoli fans used to call Roma fans "cousins", friendship then broke after the umbrella gesture of Salvatore Bagni of 25 October 1987 and after that came a very strong rivalry with the Roma.
Also there still remain rivalries with Sampdoria, Reggina and also with the Atalanta, Avellino, Bari, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Lecce, Salernitana, Vicenza and Udinese. Other minor rivalry with Foggia, Perugia, Pisa, Pistoiese and Ternana.
The Derby
Unlike other Italian cities such as Genoa, Milan, Rome and Turin, Napoli is the only major football club in the city and therefore there is no derby in the strict sense of the term. Nevertheless, the fans of Napoli do co-star in two particular derbies in Italy against other regional teams:
Derby della Campania, a term that refers to the challenges of the Azzurri with the other teams, especially with Avellino and Salernitana.
Derby of the Sun (also called Derby South), at the height of its popularity in the seventies and eighties, starring Napoli and Roma.
Friendships
The twinning between supporters of the clubs Napoli and Genoa football club is one of the oldest in Italian football which started back on 16 May 1982 following a 2–2 draw in Naples between the two teams on the final day of the 1981–1982 Serie A season, a result that allowed the escape of Genoa from relegation and condemned AC Milan for the second time to relegation from Serie A to Serie B in its history.
The history and friendship got even stronger for both teams when on the last day of the season in Serie B in the 2006–2007 season when both teams finished with a 0–0 draw at Genoa, ensuring both teams promotion to Serie A. Genoa ultras could be seen holding up banners saying "Benvenuto fratello napoletano", meaning "Welcome, Neapolitan brother".
The historic partnership between the two groups of supporters was also honoured and supported by marketing initiatives. There is also a strong supporter of friendship with Ancona and there are good relations with the fans of Palermo, Catania and Borussia Dortmund.
A sympathy and good friendship was born with supporters of the Romanian football team Universitatea Craiova following the elimination of rivals FC Steaua Bucureşti from the Europa League at the hands of Napoli.
SSC Napoli as a company
Since refound in 2004, SSC Napoli had a sustainable management strategy. The club has one of thee largest supporting group in Italy (or fourth, behind Juventus and Milan teams) which was the main source of income, in terms of gate revenue and TV rights. Except the first few seasons, Napoli made an aggregate profit in successive years: in 2004–05 and 2005–06 season the net loss were €7,061,463 and €9,088,780.[80] In 2006–07 Serie B,
Napoli made its first profit of €1,416,976[81] The first Serie A season made new born Napoli had a net profit of €11,911,041... It followed by a net profit of €10,934,520, due to the income from European matches was offset by the increase in cost. In 2009–10 season, Napoli heavily invested on players, made that season had a net profit of just €343,686. In 2010–11 Serie A, Napoli returned to the right track with €4,197,829 net profit. It was due to the new collective TV rights of Serie A, as well as qualified to 2010–11 UEFA Europa League.
Napoli shareholder equity on 30 June 2005 was a negative of €261,466, which the club started from €3 million capital and re-capitalized €3.8 million during 2004–05 Serie C1. On 30 June 2005 the equity was increased to €211,220, as the net loss was backup by a re-capitalisation of €9.3 million + €261,466 for previous net loss. On 30 June 2007 the equity was increased to €1,961,975, due to the net profit and a re-capitalised of €288,780 (to make the share capital back to €500,000). On 30 June 2008 the equity was increased to €13,829,015 with a capital increase of just €1,000. The net income contributed the increase in equity on 30 June 2009, which was €24,763,537. On 30 June 2010 the equity was at €25,107,223.O 30 June 2011 the equity was increased to €29,305,052. Though less than €17 million equity contribution in total from Filmauro, Napoli achieved self-sustainability by good management and its large fans base.
Personal information
Full name Franciscus de Boer
Date of birth 15 May 1970 (age 44)
Place of birth Hoorn, Netherlands
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position Defender / Sweeper
Franciscus "Frank" de Boer (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfrɑŋg də ˈbuːr];[2] born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of Eredivisie club Ajax. He spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Champions League. He later spent five years at FC Barcelona, where he won the 1998–99 La Liga title, before retiring after short spells at Galatasaray, Rangers, Al Rayyan and Al-Shamal.
De Boer is the most capped outfield player in the history of the Netherlands national football team, with 112 caps. He captained the Oranje to the semi-finals of both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.
After retiring from playing, he went into management with the Ajax youth team and as assistant to Bert van Marwijk with the Dutch national team. In December 2010, he took over as manager of Ajax and went on the win the Eredivisie title in his first season. In 2013, De Boer received the Rinus Michels Award for manager of the year in the Netherlands after leading Ajax to their third successive Eredivisie title.[4] A year later, he became the first manager to win four consecutive Eredivisie titles.
He is the twin brother of Ronald de Boer, with whom he was a teammate at Ajax, Barcelona, Rangers, Al Rayyan, Al-Shamal and the Netherlands national team.
Franciscus "Frank" de Boer (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfrɑŋg də ˈbuːr]; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of Eredivisie club Ajax. He spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Champions League. He later spent five years at FC Barcelona, where he won the 1998–99 La Liga title, before retiring after short spells at Galatasaray, Rangers, Al Rayyan and Al-Shamal.
De Boer is the most capped outfield player in the history of the Netherlands national football team, with 112 caps. He captained the Oranje to the semi-finals of both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.
After retiring from playing, he went into management with the Ajax youth team and as assistant to Bert van Marwijk with the Dutch national team. In December 2010, he took over as manager of Ajax and went on the win the Eredivisie title in his first season.
In 2013, De Boer received the Rinus Michels Award for manager of the year in the Netherlands after leading Ajax to their third successive Eredivisie title. A year later, he became the first manager to win four consecutive Eredivisie titles.
He is the twin brother of Ronald de Boer, with whom he was a teammate at Ajax, Barcelona, Rangers, Al Rayyan, Al-Shamal and the Netherlands national team.
Club career
De Boer began his career as a left back at Ajax before switching to centre back, a position he made his own for many years in the national team. He won both the 1991–92 UEFA Cup and 1994–95 UEFA Champions League while at Ajax, in addition to five Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cups. However, after signing a six-year contract extension with Ajax for the 1998–99 season, he and his twin brother Ronald took successful legal action to have it voided.
Ajax had a verbal agreement that if a lucrative offer for one brother came by, he would be released provided the other stayed. However, Ajax apparently backed down on that agreement after floating the club on the stock market and pledging to shareholders that it would hold both of the De Boers and build around them a team to recapture the UEFA Champions League.
In January 1999, Frank and Ronald de Boer signed for FC Barcelona for £22 million, joining their former Ajax manager Louis van Gaal at the Camp Nou
After winning the 1998–99 La Liga title, they were unable to repeat their earlier triumphs. In 2000, Van Gaal was sacked by Barcelona and Frank suffered the ignominy of testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone a year later.
He was suspended but he was reinstated after a successful appeal.
He briefly moved to Galatasaray in the summer of 2003 before joining his brother at Rangers in January 2004. He made a total of 17 appearances for Rangers, scoring two goals. The De Boer brothers left Rangers after UEFA Euro 2004 to play the rest of their football careers in Qatar with Al-Rayyan. De Boer announced his retirement from football in April 2006.
International career
Having represented his national team 112 times, he was the most capped player in the history of the Netherlands national team, until Edwin van der Sar surpassed him.
De Boer made his debut for the Netherlands in September 1990 against Italy. De Boer also played for the Netherlands in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and the 1992, 2000 and 2004 UEFA European Championships.
He is well-remembered for the arching 60-yard pass which allowed Dennis Bergkamp to score the last-minute goal that knocked out Argentina in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup.
During Euro 2000, hosted in his home country and Belgium, De Boer reached another semi-final with the Dutch team. De Boer missed an important penalty kick in the penalty shootout in the semi-finals, which led to defeat against Italy.
He also missed a penalty during the match.
He ended his international career after an injury forced him to be replaced in a quarter-final game with Sweden at Euro 2004. The injury ruled him out from the semi-final match against Portugal, which the Netherlands lost 2–1.
Managerial career
In 2007, De Boer took up a coaching role at his former club Ajax where he was in charge of the club's youth sector. During the 2010 World Cup, he was the assistant of the Netherlands national football team, with retired player Phillip Cocu.
On 6 December 2010, after the resignation of Martin Jol, De Boer was appointed caretaker manager of Ajax until the winter break. His first game in charge was a UEFA Champions League match against A.C. Milan at the San Siro, a game they won 2–0 through goals from Demy de Zeeuw and Toby Alderweireld.
He then went on to help Ajax become champions of the Eredivisie for the 2010–11 season in a 3–1 home victory over FC Twente, the champions of the previous year, on the final matchday. Making the first year of his professional coaching career a golden one. "I couldn't have wished for a more beautiful birthday present," said De Boer, as the club's 30th championship was won on his 41st birthday.
In two and a half years at the helm of Ajax, De Boer has already won three championships, making eight in total (when including the five that he won as a player). According to reports, De Boer was offered the chance to interview for the Liverpool job but turned it down to remain with Ajax. "I am honoured by the request [from Liverpool] but I have only just started with Ajax," he said. In 2013, De Boer received the Rinus Michels Award for manager of the year in the Netherlands after leading Ajax to their third successive Eredivisie title.
On 27 April 2014, De Boer won his fourth successive Eredivisie title with Ajax, the first manager ever to achieve this in the Dutch league. Moreover, it is the first time Ajax has ever won four successive titles. De Boer has now won nine championships with Ajax, another record. Johan Cruijff, Sjaak Swart and Jack Reynolds all won eight championships with Ajax.
In May 2014, De Boer was heavily linked to the manager's job at English Premier League side, Tottenham Hotspur.
In January 2015, De Boer was linked with a possible move to English Premier League team Newcastle United. However if De Boer was to move to Newcastle United it is likely not to happen until the summer of 2015.