Arsenal Leading Chelsea in the Race to Sign EFL Wonderkid
Shock 2001 transfer was catalyst for eventual Premier League breakthrough
Younger football fans will mostly remember Stoke City as a Premier League team under the guidance of Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes but the Potters did not get there by chance after so many years lounging around the lower leagues in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Stoke were relegated to the Third Division of English football for only the second time in the club’s history in 1990 and bounced between there and the second tier for the next few years before they went down once again to the third tier in 1998, and then lost out in the play-offs for two consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2001.
Something special was needed to fire the Potters back up, and it was the shock signing of former Netherlands and Ajax winger Peter Hoekstra in July 2001 that set Gudjon Thordason’s side on course back to the second tier, which in turn eventually saw them go on to reach the Premier League not long after.
Hoekstra fuelled Stoke’s success during his time at the club, and beyond, with some star turns that saw him achieve cult-hero status at the Britannia Stadium before his early retirement in 2004.
Hoekstra was a cut above while with Stoke
The two previous play-off losses meant that the pressure was on the Icelandic board and boss Gudjon Thordason in 2001 to finally achieve promotion that season, and they went big in the transfer window as Hoekstra came in alongside the likes of Sergei Shtaniuk, Peter Handyside, Neil Cutler and Jurgen Vandeurzen.
The years leading up to Hoekstra’s arrival were a real low point in the Potters’ history, and so his signing was understandably viewed as a massive coup for the club given he had played in the Eredivisie for ten years with PSV, Ajax, and FC Groningen, and had gone to Euro 1996 with the Netherlands just five years earlier.
Hoekstra made an immediate impact in the Potteries, with his talent clear to see as he became Thordason’s talisman and wowed Stoke supporters with his impressive dribbling skills, ball control and ability to take on, and beat, his full-back with ease from the wide left.
His susceptibility to injuries had been a hallmark of his career in the years leading up to his Stoke move though, and he found himself missing for the crucial promotion run-in as the Potters finally sealed promotion, via the play-offs, in his absence, and he finished his debut season in English football with three goals in 28 appearances.
Tony Pulis was soon appointed by the Potters after Thordason’s post-season sacking and Steve Cotterill’s failure, and the second tier may have been a step-up in quality, but it was little trouble for Hoekstra as he impressed once again with more stand-out performances, including a winner against Preston North End and a brace that included a stunning 30-yard drive in a huge March victory over Watford as Stoke avoided the drop by just four points.
The 2003/04 campaign brought about more consolidation in the Second Division under Pulis, and the Dutchman once again more than played his part with four goals in 27 appearances throughout the campaign.
His final season also brought about his crowning moment in a Stoke shirt, as he netted a brilliant hat-trick in a 3-0 home win over Reading in an individual performance that is still heralded to this day as one of the finest ever by a Potters player.
Hoekstra was forced into retirement at just 31 years old due to persistent injuries in May 2004, in what was an unfortunate turn of events as he surely could have continued to star for Stoke for a good few years to come.
He was officially lauded four years after his departure in 2008, as he was named as the best Stoke player to play in the first ten years at the Britannia Stadium, clearly proving just how loved he was by all at the club for his performances throughout his three years in the Potteries.
