Sneekes Preview...

Born: Amsterdam, 30th October 1968

Height: 5 feet 11 inches

Weight: 12 stone, 4 lbs

Previous clubs: Ajax (he made his debut for the Dutch giants as a 16 year-old in 1985), Volendam, Fortuna Sittard, Locarno FC (Switzerland, on loan), Bolton Wanderers (from August 1994)

Signed for West Bromwich Albion on Friday March 8th 1996 for £400,000

Honours: 22 schoolboy international appearances for Holland (1982-1984) followed by two Under 21 caps against West Germany and Russia (in the 1988-89 season)

Scored 11 goals in 71 appearances for Bolton Wanderers

Before his first appearance for the Baggies against Watford, manager Alan Buckley said that it would not be realistic to expect him to make a significant difference to the side straight away and that it would take a few matches for him to settle. It didn't. Almost immediately, Richard became the star player of the Albion side, making lightning runs through opposition defences and scoring spectacular goals. He became, literally, an overnight sensation and many of the crowd took to wearing long blond wigs as gestures of worship - the club shop even started selling them! Sneekes finished the season off with ten goals from thirteen games, arguably saving us from relegation

A lot of people, Buckley included, pointed out that he was a bit of a "one-trick pony" and that his general involvement in the game was not particularly good. Others, however, pointed out that it was such a good trick that they didn't really care. The following season saw him settle down a little, partly because his midfield partner Peter Butler (who acted as the ballwinning hardman, allowing Sneekes the freedom to make those runs) got injured at the start of the season and Paul Groves was brought in to run the show in midfield. Groves came with a terrific reputation as a midfielder who could score goals, and the partnership with him and Sneekes never really worked out. Buckley tried to push Sneekes into a wider role, getting him involved in tackling and passing as well as scoring - with limited success. He started getting dropped and was understandably unhappy, but just as he was considering leaving the club manager Alan Buckley was sacked and Ray Harford took over, rekindling his interest; before long we were beginning to see the Sneekes of old again

With this season being the last one on his present contract, Richard has hinted that it may be leave the UK at the end of it, as he is beginning to miss his family back in Holland and a stint at a Dutch club would allow him to see more of them. He would also be in a position to move for free under the Bosman ruling, although the salaries at Dutch clubs generally don't compare favourably with those at English clubs. However, his own direct family have settled pretty well in the Midlands and it will be something of an upheaveal to move them away again; talks are currently in progress to persuade him to stay and the latest signs are that good progress is being made.

After WBA he made a transfer to Stockport County to get back in shape again after manager Gary Megson had let him down, but Stockport wasn’t the right club for him. Former manager Brian Little asked Sneekes to come and play for Hull City (3^rd Division), to get them promoted into the Second Division in the 2002-2003 season.

Sneekes playing record (till 3^rd of January 2002):

Club	From	To	Fee	League		FA Cup		League cup		Other
Hull City	28-11-2001		Free	1 (2)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0
Stockport	05-09-2001	28-11-2001	Free	8 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
West Brom	11-03-1996	05-09-2001	£ 400000	208 (19)	30	7 (0)	2	14 (3)	2	2 (0)	0
Bolton	12-08-1994	10-03-1996	£ 200000	51 (4)	7	2 (0)	1	11 (1)	3	0 (0)	0
F. Sittard	01-08-1990	12-08-1994		No appearance data available
Totals			£ 600000	268 (26)	37	9 (1)	3	26 (4)	5	2 (1)	0
			goals / game	0.12		0.3		0.16		0
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals