Sex drugs and R&R: Andy van der Meyde

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by Jan

In the end of the 1990s, a group of young players was developed under the management of youth director Co Adriaanse and his right hand man, Jan Olde Riekerink.

Two players made their name, relatively quick: Cedric van der Gun and Andy van der Meyde. The first, a mercurial prolifically scoring midfielder and the latter a typical winger in the style of John van ‘t Schip and Robbie de Wit.

Not much later, another “Van der” made his way into the squad: Rafael van der Vaart, with his buddy Wesley Sneijder on his heels.

But where Cedric van der Gun saw his career impeded by a very serious knee injury (he’s back playing pro football for FC Utrecht under Jan Wouters), Andy van der Meyde’s career went stellar (Inter Milan), only to crash and burn via Everton and PSV. Here’s a look at his life, based on sex, drugs and rock & roll…

The former Ajax winger published his biography this week. The 33 year old ex Oranje winger lost control over his life in 2005, when he left Milan to go and play for Everton in Liverpool. “I made good money in Milan but Everton offered me 37,000 euros per week. Double what I made in Italy.”


Andy at Inter

Van der Meyde thought he was in paradise. “I immediately bought a Ferrari and went to celebrate at the News Bar, a popular spot in Liverpool. After a couple of hours, with too much alcohol in my blood I drove to a strip club. Getting drunk in a strip club in the center of Liverpool is not smart. But, I had a strong desire to find naked girls. I saw this brunette and wanted only one thing: sex. And after I had sex with Lisa I was addicted. She was wild, crazy and horny like horse.”

The affair cost him his marriage. His wife hired a private eye who photographed the player with his stripper girl. “There are some pics and movies of me having sex with her. My wife asked me if she was good in bed. A day later, I had to say farewell to my daughters. What an idiot I was….”

The winger, who only played 10 games in three seasons at Everton discovered cocaine, apart from women and hard liquar.


Andy at Everton with Moyes who was on Van der Meyde’s case

“I hung out with Lisa a lot and in her world, cocaine was normal. When she turned 26 year old, we had a little party. Suddenly I got sick. I only had two beers by then but I had to vomit and gave up blood and I lost consciousness. I woke up in hospital. They probably gave me shit drugs…”

At Everton, coach David Moyes tried to get him disciplined. He once got a 30,000 pound fine for being in a bar two days before a game. Some days later, Moyes and Van der Meyde almost ended up in a fistfight. “Moyes grabbed me by the throat and yelled at me: at now you will start practising.”

From that moment on his life was on a highway to hell. “I was once partying in Manchester. I had downed a full bottle of rum. I got in my car and went straight to practice. I wasn’t able to keep the liquor in. Strangely enough, my tests were all fine in those days…”


Andy in Oranje

His constant battles with his girlfriend Lisa and the illness of his daughter, he got insomnia. “I drank bottles of wine and rum on a day and never got tired. I started to take sleeping pills to sleep. I couldn’t sleep without them. I was addicted. And they were pretty strong. You needed a prescription for them and I simply stole them from the club doctor’s office. For two years.”

“My friends had the solution: cocaine. I took coke and alcohol and partied seven days a week. I couldn’t concentrate on football or anything else for that matter. Partying was what my life was about. Liverpool is dangerous if you don’t now how to control yourself. I realised Liverpool would kill me. I needed to leave.”

This was in 2009. But his move to PSV in 2010 was not a success. He didn’t play one single game. Van der Meyde is back in Holland for a couple of years now and totally clean. He hopes to return to football soon as a coach.

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73 comments

  1. Does anyone think Theo jannsen deserves a call up for the NT, he is and always has been such a good player to have on the team for experience and ability. LVG if you could hear me?

  3. Good article.

    @ steen: Jaansen has played for the NT in the past and he was out of his element, too slow.

    Back online after hurricane sandy knocked out the power for a week, at a cousin’s house now online, i miss soccer…good to see PSV continue winning, Ajax losing and RVP scoring.

  4. This guy was pure class in the early years of his career….a prime example that Drugs, sex and sport dont mix!

    Dont get me wrong, these guys all take supplements, but not ‘street’ drugs. Thats crazy! And sex? Ok, well, Casano was reknown in madrid for living in a hotel and having sex with (umm…lets call them girlfriends) before eating big chunks of cake to ‘prep’ himself for a big game. And look how he turned out….all that talent and never really making the outmost of it. One only woners how much better he would have been, had he not abused in those early years. If you decide to dedicate your life to professional sports, R&R should be left untouched!

  5. good for VDM that he’s clean now. it takes alot of strength and courage to reveal this part of his life. I’m sure there are a sh!t load of footballers who has gone thru this road whom we don’t know about.

  6. This is a terrible waste – I admire AVM’s courage to come out and discuss this. I hope others will learn.

    You only get one chance with “god-given” talent and many will try to get in your way, to distract you and to help you to find any number of fun ways to fail.

    Coaches, managers, family and clubs need to find ways to help young players grow in talent yes – but maturity also. Unfortunately the right balance isn’t always possible – in spite of all of the best intentions of those who support and train young players.

    OJF

  7. I wonder if his bio is now a mandatory read for Ajax’s youth academy! Maybe the reserve team and the A1 team!
    Used to like Van Der Meyde a lot. And I knew he had some problems but i thought it was Everton that wasn’t giving him the chance, but apparently it was the other way around.

    Glad that Ola John is finally finding his feet at Benfica. Read that he got1 assist and heavily involved in the other 2 goals in the last game and received standing ovation when subbed off. Praise from the coach too.

    Watched Newcastle today, Anita didn’t look very motivated and confident..

  10. Great courage by Andy..but i never liked him…Coz never saw his game before 2004 and i expected dutch to start with overmars and zendon on wings against germany in Ec2004.But He played in the place of Overmars my favorite player(Later overmars played in zendon’s postion after first half).Andy was too far away from overmars class.i was dissappointed by him and total play by the dutch.But dutch played a strong second half by the arrival of overmars and cannot forget the acrobatic goal of RVN from the cross of Andy.that was his contribution.

  12. I remember when Van Der Meyde was at Everton, some local chavs broke into his house and stole his dog.
    That always sickened me.
    I guess they couldn’t find any medals to take…..

  13. Guys…Anyone have seen Ajax-Vitsee???How was partick van annholt…Goal.com has given him 3.5/5 star rating.The guy is athletic,speedy,skilled,not bad in postioning too…i love his speed….
    @LVG please follow him…

  14. Hey people who follow the eredivisie, I would like to make match comps of young dutch players but I don’t follow the league myself.

    If somebody like Strootman, Maher, Clasie, van Ginkel ect play an incredible game post it here and I’ll see if I can make a match comp.

  15. Such a sad story. I used to like Andy a lot. It was a pleasure watching him play. He could have become a big player. Glad he is back to normal, I hope his daughter is well.

  26. Ajax are looking very good, I’m glad I decided to skip Arsenal over this (I’m an Arsenal fan usually). The punters on ITV are full of praise for the superior technical abilities of Ajax.

    1-2 means the second half will be more of the same exciting quick passing football. Good luck Ajax, but football is already a winner tonight!

  30. good for AJAX…a draw in machester is a really good result. All they need to do now is win the last two games against the champions of spain and germany:P

    But seriously, i was so proud of their fighting spirit. Some might say they got lucky, but you get some luck and you lose some luck. Such is football. Last year they got screwed when Lyon bought the game away in Croatia…this year, i think they’ll be lucky.

  31. Congrats to Ajax and to Dutch Football!!

    They’ve done well and psychologically these last two games may be just what is needed to push Ajax to a higher level – It’s a long-shot but hey maybe they can do it!!

    One thing is for sure – if Ajax gets out of this group – it will be very very big news for the football world.

    OJF

  34. Ajax played a great game. It will be very difficult to go through but mathematically there is a possibility and I they’ll fight till the end. If they don’t go through I hope they at least reach the Europa League because they can win that tournament.

  37. I dont see ajax that impressing yet, most of their goals in champions league are from set pieces corner kicks,the real test is against dortmund, hope they will impress in football playing, but am happy to see them continue in champion league or even worse case Europa league.

  38. the important thing is ajax player don’t fear teams like Man city anymore. and it would be the best thing they learn in this year. however they eliminate

  40. I don’t expect man city to get more than 2 points in their next two games . Ajax can get 3 points in their game against Dortumond in Amesterdam Arena , or at least 1 point . Don’t expect any points from Real Madrid game but i’m sure they will play better than they did in Amesterdam .

    If Ajax qulifies to the Europa league , this will be a great achievement imo . They can win the Europa league this year .
    Siem de Jong is getting better every game . He reminds me with Ronald de Boer . Still not sure if he deserves an Oranje spot atm . well , definitly deserves to be in the pre-selection 🙂 .

  42. Yep, I have to say… I didn’t rate him too much but in this season I have seen him play great football. Shows leadership, composure… I like him more and more.

  43. Gret article about GVDM… a waste of talent.

    Tuji, Van Anhold played VERY good against Ajax… I have to watch hi more, but at the moment I rate him better than Buttner. He is better on defense.

    Siem De Jong is playing better ecah game. And he is strong too. He deserves a call to NT, but… wich player you take out?

  44. Siem is getting better but what I like the most about him is his leadership and mentality. He works so hard for the team!.

    Yes, he is not a striker he should play as creative midfielder but I bet LVG will know how to play him more than I do.

  45. Good news!

    Siem is doing great
    Daley Blind has demonstrated he’s Oranje material.
    Afellay is getting back his old form 🙂
    Huntelaar keeps on scoring…sadly for him but RVP keeps on scoring as well
    Emanuelson is a starter and is doing well for Milan

  46. I still hope that Ajax beats Real and B. Dortmund and qualifies for CL. I think FDB finally figure out how this Ajax teams can play to win. I also see FDB to succeed LVG as the national team coach.
    Until seeing otherwise, I think Sneijder and VDV are on the decline, so if Siem De Jong keeps improving, he may take over number 10 and play behind Van Persie. I wish my starting 11 for WC is (given all in top forms/fitness, no injury)
    Krul
    Van Rhijn Douglas BMI Pieters
    Clasie S. De Jong Strootman
    Afellay Van Persie Robben
    Yes, I am still dreaming of Oranje winning the first WC in 2014.

    1. @Hein your line up so great and it is balanced..Except i doubt pieters has the speed to handle the speedy guys of spain,arjentina,germany,portugal and even brazil.Rest are very fine.but we another equal 11 players too…WC is 7 matches and you need service of minmum 16/17 players in top fit condition.LVG should experiment with Jetro and Vann annholt…i think LB is still a weak point..Normally i dont like unskilled players as striker or winger.but good point with siem dejong is he not playing as a striker or winger..thats great and we could use his work rate in midfeild…

    1. It is a shame he seems to play on the right wing position while salvio plays on the left. John is much better on the left,so I hope he will play there in the second half.
      I do not watch the game so I could be wrong,though…

        2. He is only 18 years old , Tiju .
          with Robben , Lens , John starting to regain his form , Elia & may be Babel it will be difficult to select him now , especially that he is still not a regular starter with PSV .

          1. @Mohmed Elia and Babel we can forget,it seems like that.Elia playing crap and babel is not so convincing either.still babel looks better than elia.Some says ola john is deal,is unplayable at times…About Lenz am still not impressed even after 3 assit and 3 goals for orange…we have 4 vaccencies for winger spot..When consider injury he can hope..i mean
            Roben Vs Afaleey Vs Lenz Vs Narsingh Vs olajohn Vs Memphis Depay…4/6 wingers…

    1. RVP is more than amazing. I would put him on same level as Messi especially with regards to intelligence and wisdom. It is a pleasure to watch him play.

      1. @Balkan RVP is much more intelligent than Messi,i think messi better skilled than him..RVP is more a genious player though he is amazingly skilled.
        Xavi,Wesly,Vaart,RVP,Cassius are genious players though all of them are pretty skilled..

  50. guys huntelaar aren’t that important( don’t get me wrong I absolutely love them) anymore because it is unlikely that they will improve significantly before the wc 14. but having said that ola john was insane today against Spartak ( the same team which dumped ajax out of the el when fdb famously humilitated ac Milan) and I know it is early days but that should see him with more playing time because he has bailed benfica out in two games now ! The one player who I used to have serious doubts about was siem de jong because I assumed he would become the new sneijder, but there will never be a new sneijder. siem de jong has shown his value to a team in his hard work and he makes yaya toure look as versatile as a Nigel de jong . he is a hard worker and we need that seeing as kuyt is no longer fully needed but what’s best is he has more quality than kuyt. just imagine our midfield of siem clasie/fer/strootman and sneijder passing like ajax did around any team .

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