Welcome to Last Word on Football’s ‘Families in Football’ series. Over the next few weeks, we take a look at siblings, cousins, and even parents and children that have played the beautiful game. Some have played cup finals together while others have been on opposing sides. Today we look at Frank and Ronald de Boer, football’s most famous twins.
Families in Football: Frank and Ronald de Boer
For most of these features, individual profiles have been provided for players but such is the alignment of the de Boer’s careers, one will suffice here.
To set the scene, the two were born on May 15, 1970, Ronald being the older by ten minutes.
Identical twins with near-identical career paths – the brothers of course played for the Netherlands national team together, as well as a remarkable five clubs, first coming through together at Ajax in the late 1980s.
Ajax – Louis van Gaal’s Red and White Army
Frank and Ronald De Boer were given their debuts by the legendary Johan Cruyff in the 1987/88 Dutch Cup. Frank’s came in the first round and Ronald’s in the second, where he scored on his first-team debut. Appearances were limited in their rookie season before they established themselves the following year.
Both fast became first-team regulars – Frank as an elegant left-sided centre back and Ronald as an unorthodox right-winger, in a sort of Thomas Muller role of the time.
League success came in 1989/90 before the near-conjoined twins were briefly separated for 18 months as Ronald made the switch to fellow Eredivise outfit Twente in 1991, where his goal-scoring exploits continued. This led to new gaffer Louis van Gaal bringing him back to Amsterdam in January 1993. Ronald missed out as Ajax landed the sole UEFA Cup in their history the previous May.
A combination of van Gaal’s “Total Football” tactics, a generational crop of academy talent and old heads like Frank Rijkaard and Danny Blind saw Ajax hit heights not seen since their 1970s heyday.
Names such as Edwin van der Sar, Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert and Dennis Bergkamp (left Ajax in 1993) would form the nucleus of the national team alongside the de Boers for the next ten years.
Three titles in a row were claimed from 1993/94 to 1995/96, the first Dutch club to achieve this feat in near 30 years.
The apex of van Gaal’s reign came in the 1994/95 campaign, both at home and abroad. His charges became the only Dutch side ever to go a full league season unbeaten and topped this off by winning the club’s fourth European Cup with a 1-0 win over AC Milan in the final.
A second final, lost on penalties to Juventus, came the following year for the de Boers but this signalled the end of a glorious era at Ajax. With the Bosman transfer ruling in full place and foreign restrictions on players lifted, Frank and Ronald soon found themselves without many of their illustrious international teammates at club level.
A league and cup double arrived in 1997/98, with Frank often stepping in to captain the side. However, European success was in short supply as Dutch domestic football diminished due to the growing financial disparity with the bigger leagues.
Barcelona – A Home Away From Home
The brothers eventually tired of this and joined their old boss van Gaal (he had come in 1997) at Barcelona in January 1999, signing on for a fittingly combined fee of £22 million after a lengthy transfer saga.
The de Boers were the latest to migrate to the newfound colony in Catalonia, as their arrival brought the number of Dutch players to eight at the club, on top of King Louis and three of his coaches, one of whom was Ronald Koeman.
League success was instant, their sixth together, as Los Cules secured their second La Liga title in straight seasons. This was the only trophy won by either brother at the club as Barca experienced a barren spell by their lofty standards.
On an individual level, things couldn’t have gone much different for the pair. Frank, like at Ajax, would captain Barca on numerous occasions and play over 200 games for the club in a four-and-a-half stint. Ronald, on the other hand, experienced the only blip of his career as the goals dried up – just three in 54 appearances during an unhappy 18 months at the Nou Camp.
Rangers – Oranje Again
He found refuge in another Dutch enclave, this time at Rangers as he joined his ex-national team coach Dick Advocaat and the Oranje Order of Glasgow. Here, he would return to his best form as his new side duked it out with Old Firm rivals Celtic for Scottish supremacy. Ronald would top score with 20 goals as the Gers sealed a domestic treble in 2002/03, adding three more pieces of silverware to his ever-growing trophy cabinet.
What happened next should be rather easy to predict.
After a brief sojourn in Turkey with Galatasary, Frank reunited the twin act when he signed on for Rangers in January 2004. This was the last European landing spot for the de Boers as their career began to wind down.
Qatar – A Retirement Home
Instead of riding into the sunset, the brothers wandered the Qatari desert, playing for both Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal. Frank would announce his retirement in 2006, leaving Ronald to go it alone until 2008.
Frank and Ronald De Boer at International Level
Frank and Ronald de Boer totalled a combined 179 caps – Frank with 112 (first Dutch player to reach 100) and Ronald with 67. 13 was a lucky number, as it was the goals scored by each in their international career.
Frank captained the Netherlands on a record 44 occasions, featuring at the European Championships in 1992, 2000 and 2004 and the World Cup in 1994 and 1998.
Ronald was a member of the EURO 1996 squad, which Frank missed due to injury, as well as the 2000 edition and the same World Cups as his brother.
Games Played Together
Unsurprisingly given the above, the de Boers have played together on over 400 occasions, the bulk of which came at Ajax (275), the national team (56) and Barcelona (41).
The brothers have played together in some of the biggest games in world football – two Champions League finals in 1995 and 1996, a World Cup semi-final in 1998 and a EURO semi-final in 2000.
Both suffered penalty heartache in the latter two as the Oranje crashed out to Brazil and Italy respectively. Ronald missed in the 1998 shoot-out while Frank went Double Dutch at a home semi in 2000, failing to convert in both normal time and the shoot-out.
Interesting Facts
Frank and Ronald de Boer are the most capped twins in International football history, 20 clear of the also identical Berezutskis.
They are tied with the Nevilles for most trophies won while playing together – 14 apiece.
The pair have both captained Ajax.
Frank featured on the cover of the international edition of FIFA ’96, bizarrely alongside Jason McAteer. In a weird twist of fate, McAteer would cost Frank’s Dutch side a place at the 2002 World Cup.
Ronald won Dutch Player of the Year in both 1994 and 1996.
Frank has had a mixed bag management career, replicating his playing success at Ajax with four straight league titles from 2010/11 to 2013/14 but lasting just 14 and five games at Inter Milan and Crystal Palace before being sacked by both.
Jose Mourinho branded de Boer the “worst manager in the history of the Premier League” in response to comments about his handling of Marcus Rashford. Ruthless.
Frank was assistant to Bert van Marwijk at the 2010 World Cup, where the Netherlands lost to Spain in the final.
He also managed the national team for 15 games from September 2020 to June 2021, stepping down after a disappointing quarter-final exit at the European Championships. He had succeeded old teammate Ronald Koeman and was replaced by his old mentor Louis van Gaal.
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