Arnold Mühren


Arnold Johannes Hyacinthus Mühren is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. His older brother Gerrie, also a midfield player, won three European Cup titles with Ajax in the early 1970s. Mühren is among the few players to have won all three major UEFA-organised club competitions, the European Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup. The last of these was won with Ipswich Town, while the other titles were won while playing for Ajax. He is also one of the two Dutch players, together with Danny Blind, to have won all UEFA club competitions and the Intercontinental Cup.

Career

After starting his career at FC Volendam, Mühren moved to Ajax Amsterdam in 1971, winning 3 domestic and 3 international titles in his first two seasons there. His third season with Ajax yielded no titles, but he found further success after a transfer to FC Twente, winning the KNVB Cup in 1977 and reaching the 1975 UEFA Cup Final. A year later he moved to Ipswich Town in England for a fee of £150,000; in the same year he made his international debut in a 4–0 win against Tunisia. He was part of the successful Ipswich team that won the 1981 UEFA Cup, and finished second in the league that year and the year after. In 1982, he transferred to Manchester United. He helped United win the 1983 FA Cup Final by scoring a penalty in the replay against Brighton, and left the club after the 1985 FA Cup Final, in which United defeated Everton. He did not feature in the match squad for the 1985 final, having lost his place in the team that season to new signing Jesper Olsen.
He was one of the few players from outside the United Kingdom and Ireland playing in English football during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
After seven years in England, Mühren returned to Ajax, where he added the European Cup Winners' Cup to his trophy collection. Mühren also reached the final the following year in 1988 but lost to KV Mechelen. At the age of 37, he achieved the highlight of his career, when he was a vital part of the Dutch national team that won the European Championships in 1988. In the final against the Soviet Union he provided the cross from which Marco van Basten scored the second goal. He continued playing for Ajax for one more season after that, finally hanging up his boots in 1989 at the age of 38.

Honours

Club

Ajax
Twente
Ipswich Town
Manchester United
;Netherlands