Gerard Schuurman

Gerard Schuurman
Personal information
Date of birth (1940-10-20)20 October 1940
Place of birth Geldermalsen, Netherlands
Date of death 28 December 2022(2022-12-28) (aged 82)
Place of death Rosmalen, Netherlands
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
–1961 GVV [nl]
1961–1965 BVV [nl]
1965–1974 FC Den Bosch 161
OJC Rosmalen
OVH [nl]
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gerard Schuurman (20 October 1940 – 28 December 2022) was a Dutch footballer who played as a defender. He played with FC Den Bosch in the Eredivisie where he became in 1972 the first person to receive a red card after its introduction.

Biography

Schuurman was born in 1940 in Geldermalsen. He played football in Geldermalsen with GVV [nl]. He became a professional football player in 1961 when he signed a contract with BVV [nl]. From 1965 he played seven seasons with FC Den Bosch. In this period he played for the team 161 matches in the Eerste Divisie and Eredivisie. Schuurman was known as a rough defender. In 1971, due to kicking in a match against Volendam, he was suspended for two games and fined. On 16 September 1972, Schuurman became the first footballer who received a red card in the Eredivisie, after the introcudtion of red cards. That happened in a match against PSV Eindhoven in Eindhoven. After he left FC Den Bosch in 1974 he still played with OJC Rosmalen and OVH [nl] in Den Bosch. He had to end his football career after he broke his leg in a match.

Schuurman died in his hometown Rosmalen on 28 December 2022, at the age of 82.