Name: Jan Ruiter



Country: Netherlands
Club: R.S.C. Anderlecht (1971-1977)
Position: *GK
Side: RF/BS
Age: 28-31 years (24/1/1946)

Height: 188 cm
Weight: 80 kg


Attack: 30
Defence: 86
Balance: 85
Stamina: 65
Top Speed: 66
Acceleration: 67
Response: 91
Agility: 72
Dribble Accuracy: 51
Dribble Speed: 53
Short Pass Accuracy: 62
Short Pass Speed: 60
Long Pass Accuracy: 64
Long Pass Speed: 66
Shot Accuracy: 44
Shot Power: 85
Shot Technique: 44
Free Kick Accuracy: 44
Curling: 48
Header: 46
Jump: 86
Technique: 51
Aggression: 60
Mentality: 80
Goalkeeper Skills: 87
Team Work: 68

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition: 6
Weak Foot Accuracy: 4
Weak Foot Frequency: 4
Consistency: 5
Growth Type: Standard/Lasting

CARDS:
S26 - GK Long Throw

SPECIAL ABILITIES:

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Defence Minded


INFO:
The foundation for Jan Ruiter's goalkeeper career lay at the cemetery wall of his home town on the IJsselmeer: he dashed balls before the stones and caught them in rebounding; he threw balls through the legs back and snapped it in no time before an imaginary goal line. Jan had a risky way of goalkeeping. He dived straight ahead onto the attacker's legs with the chance of being kicked in the head. Jan was helped by his fantastic reflexes - Mostly on the line, he commanded and was a master of the 6m.

Jan Ruiter defended the colors of Anderlecht for six seasons (1971-1977). He won two Belgian Champion titles (1972 and 1974), four Belgian Cups (1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976) and a Cup Winners' Cup (1976) and a European Super Cup (1976), also being a Cup Winners' Cup runner-up (1977).

Jan was born on November 24, 1946 in Enkhuizen, in the north of the Netherlands. From an early age, he already played football near the cemetery of his native village. He hit the ball so hard against the wall of the church that it always returned to his feet. He started his career at the age of ten at Dindua VV, the local club, and then moved at the age of 17 to FC Volendam. Jan went on and made it to the Volendam first team, went straight into the spotlight and was selected for the Dutch national team.

Georg Kessler requested his transfer to Anderlecht, for a sum of 650,000 guilders. He was part of the golden generation that under Hans Croon and Raymond Goethals would rule Europe. In 1976, after being capped five times, he started the match for the Netherlands against Iceland. Jan was the author of a good performance, but was never selected again after. It wasn't until much later that he learned of the reasons from 'Voetbal International', the Dutch equivalent of Foot Magazine. Goethals would have ensured that Ruiter is no longer selected for the Dutch national team. The origin of the problem is an interview in 1977 in the 'Voetbal International' in which Jan criticized Goethals and did not want to hear anything more from him.

During the summer of 1977, Ruiter went to neighboring RWDM. He also contributed to the financial revival of the club. He then moved to Antwerp - Beerschot (1984) and Antwerp (1985).

In March 1975 he saved two penalties in the gala match for Van Himst: one from Pelé and one from Eusébio. "At 4-1, Van Himst came to find me so that I let some of them pass! We finally won 8-3. Another excellent memory is the final whistle in May 1976 at the Heyzel during the Cup final, as well as the Belgian Cups".