Gert Bals

Gert Bals
Bals in 1968
Personal information
Full name Gerrit Bals
Date of birth (1936-10-18)18 October 1936
Place of birth Utrecht, Netherlands
Date of death 20 May 2016(2016-05-20) (aged 79)
Place of death Veenendaal, Netherlands
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Velox
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1955–1957 Zeist
1957–1961 't Gooi
1961–1965 PSV
1965–1970 Ajax 345 (0)
1970–1973 Vitesse
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gerrit "Gert" Bals (18 October 1936 – 20 May 2016) was a Dutch footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Bals became the first Dutch goalkeeper in an UEFA Cup final, when he played for Ajax in the 1969 European Cup Final against Milan.[1]

Club career

Born in Utrecht, Bals played for local side RUC and Velox before joining SV Zeist[2] when they entered at the start of the professional era in Holland. After a spell at 't Gooi, he moved to PSV for whom he would play 120 matches winning the 1963 league title[3] and later Ajax.

He played 216 official matches for Ajax after making his debut for them in August 1965 and won 4 league titles with the club.[4] He won the Dutch Footballer of the Year Award in 1969.

He finished his career at Vitesse after losing Ajax´ number one jersey to Heinz Stuy in 1970.

Personal life

After retiring as a player, Bals owned a sportshop in Velp and later a tobacco shop in Veenendaal.[5] He died in May 2016.

References

  1. ^ Voormalig Ajax-keeper Gert Bals overleden - Volkskrant (in Dutch)
  2. ^ Oud-doelman Gert Bals overleden - RTV Utrecht (in Dutch)
  3. ^ Oud-doelman Gert Bals overleden Archived 2016-06-10 at the Wayback Machine - PSV (in Dutch)
  4. ^ Oud-keeper Gert Bals overleden - Ajax (in Dutch)
  5. ^ Legendarische oud-doelman Gert Bals overleden - NOS (in Dutch)