Faas Wilkes

Servaas "Faas" Wilkes (; 13 October 1923 – 15 August 2006) was a Dutch football forward, who earned a total of 38 caps for the Netherlands national team, in which he scored 35 goals (average 0.92 goals per game). However, for a prolonged period of his career, June 1949 through till March 1955, he was banned from the national team since the KNVB did not allow professional players to participate. He also played for the Netherlands at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

Career Wilkes played for Xerxes Rotterdam, before moving to Internazionale in the summer of 1949. There he played 95 matches, scoring 47 goals. After his stay in Milan ended in 1952, he had a one-season spell at Torino. At age 30 he moved to Valencia in Spain, scoring a total of 38 goals in 62 appearances between 1953–54 and 1955–56, making him the first foreign idol of the club. He also played for VVV, Levante, and Fortuna '54. He died of a cardiac arrest in 2006, aged 82.

He is considered one of the best footballers the Netherlands ever produced, being especially known for his creative style of play and brilliant dribbling. Wilkes was the 4th Dutch player (after Gerrit Keizer, Bep Bakhuys and Gerrit Vreken) who moved to play abroad. He held the record of most goals scored for the Netherlands national team from 1959 until 1998.

The Dutch cartoon character Kick Wilstra was named in part after Faas Wilkes (Wilstra was also named after two other Dutch men's footballers, Kick Smit and Abe Lenstra).

Gallery

Career statistics Player

International Scores and results list Netherlands's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Wilkes goal.

Honours Internazionale Serie A runner-up: 1950–51 Serie A third place: 1949–50, 1951–52

Valencia La Liga Third Place: 1953–54 Copa del Generalísimo: 1954 Concepción Arenal Trophy: 1954

Levante Segunda División Runner-up: 1958–59 Individual Netherlands All-Time Top Scorer: 1959–1998 Spanish Player of the Year: 1954 Valencia Top Scorer: 1953–54, 1955–56 Levante Top Scorer: 1958–59