Faas Wilkes
Wilkes in 1960
Personal information
Full name Servaas Wilkes
Date of birth (1923-10-13)13 October 1923
Place of birth Rotterdam, Netherlands
Date of death 15 August 2006(2006-08-15) (aged 82)
Place of death Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1933–1934 RSV HION
1934–1941 Xerxes Rotterdam
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1941–1949 Xerxes Rotterdam 71 (49)
1949–1952 Inter Milan 95 (47)
1952–1953 Torino 12 (1)
1953–1956 Valencia 62 (38)
1956–1958 VVV 64 (23)
1958–1959 Levante 34 (20)
1959–1962 Fortuna '54 88 (33)
1962–1964 Xerxes Rotterdam 28 (10)
Total 454 (221)
International career
1946–1961 Netherlands[1] 38 (35)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Servaas "Faas" Wilkes (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfaːs ˈʋɪlkəs], 13 October 1923 – 15 August 2006) was a Dutch football forward, who earned a total of 38 caps for the Netherlands national team, in which he scored 35 goals (average 0.92 goals per game). However, for a prolonged period of his career, June 1949 through till March 1955, he was banned from the national team since the KNVB did not allow professional players to participate. He also played for the Netherlands at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[2]

Career

Wilkes played for Xerxes Rotterdam, before moving to Internazionale in the summer of 1949. There he played 95 matches, scoring 47 goals. After his stay in Milan ended in 1952, he had a one-season spell at Torino. At age 30 he moved to Valencia in Spain, scoring a total of 38 goals in 62 appearances between 1953–54 and 1955–56, making him the first foreign idol of the club. He also played for VVV, Levante, and Fortuna '54. He died of a cardiac arrest in 2006, aged 82.

He is considered one of the best footballers the Netherlands ever produced, being especially known for his creative style of play and brilliant dribbling. Wilkes was the 4th Dutch player (after Gerrit Keizer, Bep Bakhuys and Gerrit Vreken) who moved to play abroad. He held the record of most goals scored for the Netherlands national team from 1959 until 1998.

The Dutch cartoon character Kick Wilstra was named in part after Faas Wilkes (Wilstra was also named after two other Dutch men's footballers, Kick Smit and Abe Lenstra).

Career statistics

Player

[3]

Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Xerxes Rotterdam 1945–46 3 1 – 3 1
1946–47 19 8 – 19 8
1947–48 24 19 – 24 19
1948–49 25 21 – 25 21
Total 71 49 71 49
Internazionale 1949–50 Serie A 34 17 34 17
1950–51 Serie A 38 23 38 23
1951–52 Serie A 23 7 23 7
Total 95 47 95 47
Torino 1952–53 Serie A 12 1 12 1
Valencia 1953–54 La Liga 28 18 28 18
1954–55 La Liga 15 9 15 9
1955–56 La Liga 19 11 19 11
Total 62 38 62 38
Venlo 1956–57 Eredivisie 30 8 30 8
1957–58 Eredivisie 34 15 34 15
Total 64 23 64 23
Levante 1958–59 Segunda División 34 20 34 20
Fortuna '54 1959–60 Eredivisie 30 16 30 16
1960–61 Eredivisie 27 5 27 5
1961–62 Eredivisie 31 12 31 12
Total 88 33 88 33
Xerxes Rotterdam 1962–63 20 8 20 8
1963–64 8 2 8 2
Total 28 10 28 10
Total 454 221 454 221

Honours

Internazionale
Valencia
Levante

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Faas Wilkes – Goals in International Matches". Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  2. ^ "Faas Wilkes". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. ^ Faas Wilkes at National-Football-Teams.com
  4. ^ "Trofeo Concepción Arenal (Ferrol)".
  5. ^ "Faas Wilkes – Goals in International Matches".
  6. ^ "Faas Wilkes, futbolista holandés". El País. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2014. En 1954 fue elegido jugador del año, por encima de Kubala y Di Stéfano, los grandes del momento, con los que coincidió.
  7. ^ "Italy 1950/51".
  8. ^ "Plantilla del Valencia 1953–54".
  9. ^ "Plantilla del Valencia 1955–56".
  10. ^ "Plantilla del Levante 1958–59".

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Faas Wilkes.
Netherlands football squad – 1948 Summer Olympics
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