Gert Bals

Gerrit "Gert" Bals (18 October 1936 – 20 May 2016) was a Dutch footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Gert Bals

Bals in 1968
Personal information
Full name	Gerrit Bals
Date of birth	(1936-10-18)18 October 1936
Place of birth	Utrecht, Netherlands
Date of death	20 May 2016(2016-05-20) (aged 79)
Place of death	Veenendaal, Netherlands
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Velox
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1955–1957	Zeist
1957–1961	't Gooi
1961–1965	PSV
1965–1970	Ajax	345	(0)
1970–1973	Vitesse
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bals became the first Dutch goalkeeper in an UEFA Cup final, when he played for Ajax in the 1969 European Cup Final against Milan.^[1]

Club career

Born in Utrecht, Bals played for local side RUC and Velox before joining SV Zeist^[2] when they entered at the start of the professional era in Holland. After a spell at 't Gooi, he moved to PSV for whom he would play 120 matches winning the 1963 league title^[3] and later Ajax.

He played 216 official matches for Ajax after making his debut for them in August 1965 and won 4 league titles with the club.^[4] He won the Dutch Footballer of the Year Award in 1969.

He finished his career at Vitesse after losing Ajax´ number one jersey to Heinz Stuy in 1970.

Personal life

After retiring as a player, Bals owned a sportshop in Velp and later a tobacco shop in Veenendaal.^[5] He died in May 2016.