Jakob Stam

About Jakob Stam

In 1992, a young Dutch centre-back pulled on the FC Zwolle shirt for the first time. Jakob Stam, born in 1972, would go on to play for 8 clubs over the following 15 years. After the final whistle at Ajax in 2007, a career worth studying was complete.

Club by club, the full journey looks like this: FC Zwolle (1992–1993), then SC Cambuur (1993–1995), then Willem II (1995–1996), then PSV Eindhoven (1996–1998), then Manchester United (1998–2001), then Lazio (2001–2004), then AC Milan (2004–2006), then Ajax (2006–2007). Memorize routes like this one and your Daily Play scores will thank you.

If one badge defines the grid, it is Manchester United — home for close to 3 years. 1998 marked the leap overseas — a transfer to Manchester United of England. Adding it up, Netherlands, England, Italy all appear on the career map, a spread that rewards fans who follow more than one league.

The ledger shows 520 recorded appearances, 26 goals.

And then there are the details only true fans know. Manchester United signed him in 1998 for a then-record fee for a defender: £10.6 million. He was named the best defender in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 UEFA Champions Leagues. His abrupt departure from Manchester United in 2001 is regarded as one of Sir Alex Ferguson's most regretted decisions.

Could you have named Jakob Stam from the badges alone — FC Zwolle at the start, Ajax at the end? Read the timeline below and ask yourself which stop would have given the answer away first.