'We ended up in a bad fight': Chelsea legend reveals difficult childhood and how football saved him
“I was a fighter; “You had to learn, you had to defend yourself.”
These words are often attributed to combat athletes rather than one of the Premier League's best strikers.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink I could have been another teenage statistic.
Instead, he became the perfect example of what can be achieved with hard work, desire and determination.
It is the epitome of a bygone era shrouded in nostalgia for fans of a certain age and when the Premier League was arguably more competitive.
Hasselbaink played a key role for Leeds, Chelseaand Middlesbrough where he became a member of the exclusive Premier League 100 club.
In total, the Dutchman scored 127 goals in 288 appearances in England's top flight, earning superstar status along the way.
Known for his power, finishing, intelligent combination play and, above all, his trademark two-step penalty routine, Hasselbaink was revered in English football until he hung up his boots in 2008.
But his path to the Premier League was far from easy as he learned many life lessons along the way, including three months in a youth detention centre.
“I grew up in Zaandam (The Netherlands), a very tough neighborhood,” Hasselbaink recalls in the latest episode of the YouTube show talkSPORT. The alignment. “There were a lot of fights, a lot of other bad things and a lot of bad friends.
“When you have that kind of combination you end up doing stupid things. I was a fighter. You had to learn, you had to defend yourself.”
Despite a tough upbringing in what he describes as a “council quarter,” Hasselbaink somehow found time to put aside ongoing social challenges and focus on developing his promising football skills.
8
8
8
“In my neighborhood there were a lot of good soccer players, so it was difficult and to be able to defend yourself there you had to be tough on that field,” he added.
“You're learning to be tough in that field and be watched.
“I was discovered when I was 16 or 17, which was quite late, but when I had my first contract I was still the bad boy. “He was always late for training and sometimes he didn't show up.”
However, things changed for Hasselbaink when he was tested in Portugal after a brief spell in the Dutch lower leagues.
His move to Portugal turned out to be a career and a life that defined him away from the influences of his social circles.
“I had to go back to non-league,” he explained. “They sent me to Telstar, I had the opportunity at AZ, then they scouted me out of the league to go straight to Portugal.
8
8
“I went to Portugal, I went to trial, they liked me, so I stayed. I didn't have my friends around.
“I was alone in Portugal, all I had was football, focusing solely on football and that's when I started scoring goals and playing well.”
Before moving to the Portuguese countryside, Hasselbaink suffered a major life lesson that led him to spend three months in a juvenile detention center for his involvement in a massive fight at a Public Enemy concert.
“We ended up in a bad fight. We were fighting with other kids from other areas, it was bad,” Hasselbaink remembers.
“But I was tough, I could defend myself… probably too much.
“I was the youngest of six (siblings). I had older brothers, so they beat me. In a way, football saved me. “I could escape, I could improve my life.”
When asked if his stay in the detention center allowed him to accept the magnitude of his mistakes, Hasselbaink said: “To be honest, not yet because I was very young and immature. But then, especially when I was away from things, you realize you don't need those people.”
The Dutchman went on to play for Boavista before Leeds offered the then 25-year-old a route into English football in a £2million deal.
He scored 41 goals in two seasons at Elland Road, earning him a move to LaLiga giants Atlético Madrid, where he spent just one season.
Hasselbaink is best remembered for his time at Chelsea, where he scored 87 goals in 177 games after signing for a club record fee of £15 million.
However, his time at Stamford Bridge came to an end in 2004 after the arrival of Jose Mourinho who preferred to trust the Ivorian hitman Didier Drogba.
Speaking about his departure from Chelsea, Hasselbaink said: “He (Mourinho) didn't give me any chance. He came to the club in 2004 and basically said Jimmy could leave. “It's that simple, without phone calls.”
8
8
Hasselbaink went on to play for Middlesbrough, Charlton and Cardiff before ending his career at the age of 36.
He tried his hand at coaching at Royal Antwerp, Queens Park Rangers, Northampton Town and Burton Albion twice.
Meanwhile, he was also part of Gareth Southgate's England staff as he continues to forge a coaching career.
