Arthur Numan

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 Aston Villa FC Scout.

Club career

Early career

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.

PSV Eindhoven

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.

Rangers

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...
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