"I used to find my best form against Spurs!'" – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink recalls four games that changed his life

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink made his first steps as a professional footballer in his native Netherlands, before moving to Portugal and catching the eye of Premier League clubs with his performances for Boavista. 

After arriving at Leeds United, the striker made a name for himself as a powerful goal-scorer with an eye for the spectacular. A transfer to Chelsea in 2000 proved successful, as Hasselbaink earned legendary status at Stamford Bridge. All told, the Dutchman scored 127 goals across 288 Premier League appearances, making him one of the greatest strikers in English top-flight history. 

Hasselbaink was speaking to FourFourTwo in association with Grosvenor Casinos.

Vitoria Setubal 2- 2 Boavista 

May 4, 1997 - Primeira Divisao

“My first game is for Boavista against Vitoria Setubal - you didn’t expect me to choose this one, did you? (Laughs) The Leeds manager George Graham was in the stadium, he saw me for the first time, he was scouting me - I scored, from that moment he liked me, and a deal to join Leeds started to get going with my agent. I scored 20 league goals for Boavista that season, I couldn’t stop scoring - we had a really good year, with me and Nuno Gomes up front, we played a lot of games together. But in the Netherlands, we got the BBC and Match of the Day, so I always wanted to play in England, and I got that opportunity thanks to this game. When the opportunity came, I didn’t need to think about it - I just took it.”

Leeds 1-1 Arsenal

August 9, 1997 - Premier League

“This was my debut for Leeds, and I scored. It was very special, playing against Arsenal - Ian Wright was one of the strikers you looked at in the Premier League, to see how he did things, how he scored his goals. To play against Steve Bould in your first match, against that famous back four, and to score against David Seaman, it just felt so good. I went one on one with him, a defender was closing in and I had to make a quick decision to shoot. I think Seaman thought I was going to aim for the near corner, but I went for the far corner, he slipped a bit with his left foot and the ball went in. A very special moment - your debut at a packed Elland Road, with all the fans going absolutely mental. I still get goosebumps when I think about it.”

Netherlands 0-0 Belgium

June 13, 1998 - World Cup

“This was my World Cup debut. I didn’t know that I was going to be called up for that tournament, I was one of the last ones on the list - number 21 was designated to me, and in those days you could only have 22 players. I went into a mini pre-season with the Dutch national team, and it went so well that the manager Guus Hiddink started me in the first match. I was a little bit unlucky, it was 0-0 and I think I hit the post, but I’d come from Boavista, played one year at Leeds and then been called up for the national team straight away. Two years before that, when the Euros were in England, I went with friends to watch the Dutch national team, when England beat them 4-1. I was going to do the same in France, but I was called up myself, and my family came to watch me.”

Chelsea 4-0 Tottenham

March 13, 2002 - Premier League

“My fourth game has to be a Chelsea game, when I scored a hat-trick against Spurs - left foot, right foot and a header. When I was told after the match that I’d scored a perfect hat-trick, I didn’t know what that was, I just thought a hat-trick was a hat-trick. But when they explained, that made it very special too. I think all the Spurs fans remember it - I always played really well against them for Chelsea, and also for Leeds, I used to find my best form against them and score. There weren’t a lot of games that I lost against them in my career, and I must have played them maybe 20 times over 10 years, with Middlesbrough and Charlton as well. My lawyer is a big Spurs fan and he doesn’t like it when I speak about my record against them!” (laughs)