Robin Van Persie was born on the 16th day of August, 1983 and grew up in Kraligen part of East Rotterdam. Persie's parents were artists and he was always encouraged to become an artist but chose football instead. Van Persie has only two sisters, Kikai and Lilly. Robin van Persie a Dutch footballer who plays for English Premier League club Arsenal F.C. and the Dutch national team. The son of two artists, Van Persie was encouraged to follow in his parents' footsteps, but he instead preferred football and joined SBV Excelsior's youth squad in 2001. He made his breakthrough at hometown club Feyenoord, where he spent three seasons and won the 2002 UEFA Cup. In 2004, he moved to England and signed with Arsenal, with whom he promptly won the FA Community Shield, and the FA Cup. Van Persie has 33 caps and 12 goals with the Netherlands, and participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008.
Robin Van Persie Biography
Birthday: 1983/08/06
Full name: Robin van Persie
Place of Birth: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height: 6 ft. 2 in
Position: Striker, Second Striker, Winger/Attacking Midfielder
Nickname(s): RVP
Wife / girlfriend: Bouchra
Lives in: Goffs Oak, Hertfordshire
Club Football
Feyenoord
Van Persie joined Dutch side SBV Excelsior's youth squad in 2001, but left due to conflicts with the coaching staff and signed for Feyenoord. He was quickly promoted into the first team due to injury problems among the squad, and made his debut for the club at seventeen, which was the first of 15 total starts. He received the KNVB Best Young Talent award at the end of the 2001–02 season.
He signed a professional three-and-a-half year deal with Feyenoord at the start of the next season, and scored five goals in a 6–1 Amstel Cup thrashing of AGOVV on 6 February 2003. However, clashes with manager Bert van Marwijk saw van Persie demoted to the reserve squad, and an irate van Marwijk told reporters, “His behaviour made it impossible for him to remain in the squad any longer so he will join the reserve side for the time being." During a match featuring the Feyenoord and Ajax reserves, he was one of several Feyenoord players assaulted by hooligans who had invaded the pitch.
Van Persie's rift with van Marwijk continued when he was sent home on the eve of the 2003 UEFA Super Cup final against Real Madrid after the coach was reportedly displeased with Van Persie's body language upon his being asked to warm up for a recent league game. Van Persie finished his tumultuous debut season on the first team, making a total of 28 appearances and scoring eight goals, in addition to finishing runner-up in the KNVB Cup.
Feyenoord unsuccessfully attempted to extend Van Persie's contract during the offseason, and his deteriorating relationship with van Marwijk led to his spending most of 2003–04 on the bench. He again played 28 matches, but finished with two fewer goals than the previous season. Feyenoord shopped him at the end of the campaign but found few takers due to Van Persie's past disciplinary issues. During the January transfer window, the Eredivisie club opened negotiations with Arsenal, who were seeking a long-term replacement for aging veteran Dennis Bergkamp. Both parties could not agree to terms, and five months later, a deal was finalized and van Persie was sold to Arsenal for £2.75 million, just over half of Feyenoord's original asking price of £5 million.
Arsenal
On 17 May 2004, Van Persie signed a four-year deal with Arsenal. Manager Arsène Wenger, who planned to convert van Persie from a left winger to a center forward as he had successfully done with star player Thierry Henry, said of his new acquisition, "He can play on the left side of midfield, as a creative player behind the main strikers or as a target man." Arsenal had further padded their stable of strikers in January by signing Spanish forward José Antonio Reyes, leaving the two to battle for playing time. Van Persie made his debut and won a trophy in the process, as he came on as a substitute in the 3–1 FA Community Shield victory over Manchester United on 8 August 2004.
Van Persie spent most of his time on the bench during earlier parts of the 2004–05 season, and made his competitive debut on 27 October by scoring Arsenal's opening goal in a 2–1 League Cup win over Manchester City. However, he was sent off for the first time in an Arsenal uniform on 26 February during a 1–1 road draw with Southampton, following a lunge at left back Graeme Le Saux, for which Wenger was seen yelling an obscenity at van Persie from the sidelines. He then later lambasted his charge in the press. "I do not support Van Persie today, but he did not look out of control at half-time. When the referee has sent off a home player, he is under pressure, so, if any player had to behave, it was him." Meanwhile, Telegraph sportswriter Clive White described van Persie in his match report as "21 going on nine." Van Persie was consequently benched for a number of games, starting with Arsenal's upcoming FA Cup replay against Sheffield United, and he was reintroduced into the squad only after Henry was out with a calf injury, and his return to the first team saw him score twice in a FA Cup semi-final win over Blackburn Rovers. The rest of van Persie's season was cut short by injury, and he finished with ten goals in 41 appearances in all competitions.
Van Persie's ongoing form earned him the Player of the Month award for November 2005 after eight goals in eight starts, and he was rewarded with a five-year contract extension until 2011 on 4 January. However, two days after signing the contract, van Persie was again wracked with injury after an opponent stepped on his foot and broke his toe during an FA Cup match against Cardiff. Van Persie played the next three matches with a hole cut into his shoe to alleviate the pain until he was finally rested for Arsenal's Premiership match against West Ham United on 1 February. He was an unused substitute in Arsenal's first Champions League final appearance, a 2–1 loss to FC Barcelona.
The beginning of the 2006–07 season included an airborne volley against Charlton Athletic that Wenger called "the goal of a lifetime" and was later named BBC's Goal of the Month for September, and he capped off the calendar year by being named the 2006 Rotterdam Sportsman of the Year. However, his season ended early for the second time in his career on 21 January, when he fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot while celebrating his late equalizer in a match against Manchester United. He finished with a team-leading 13 goals.
After Henry departed for Barcelona prior to the 2007–08 season, Van Persie assumed the role as Arsenal's main striker. Following a streak of seven goals in ten regular-season games, van Persie was sidelined for two months with a knee injury suffered on international duty. He made his comeback in Arsenal's Champions League group stage win over FC Steaua Bucharest on 12 December.
Van Persie opened his 2008–09 account on 31 August with a brace in Arsenal's 3–0 league victory over Newcastle United. On 29 October, he scored his fiftieth career Arsenal goal in a 4–4 home draw with North London derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but was hit with his first red card of the season on 1 November after knocking down goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen with a shoulder charge in a 2–1 loss to Stoke City. Sorensen later admitted to "teasing" van Persie in an attempt to provoke a reaction.
With captain Cesc Fabregas injured and regular stand-in skipper Manuel Almunia rested, van Persie captained Arsenal for the first time on 3 January 2009 for the club's 3–1 third-round FA Cup victory over Plymouth Argyle. Van Persie scored Arsenal's first and third goals, while the second was a result of his cross being deflected into the net by a Plymouth player for an own goal. Also, he had the "perfect" January 2009 with Arsenal football club, as every goal scored by Arsenal was either by Van Persie or assisted by Van Persie.
International Football
Van Persie earned his first caps for the Netherlands in less than the span of a week, first in a 2–0 2006 World Cup qualifying win over Romania on 4 June 4 2005, and in another qualifier four days later against Finland, which saw him pick up his first international goal in a 4-0 victory.
2006 World Cup
Despite not being a regular starter for Arsenal, Van Persie was part of coach Marco van Basten's roster for the 2006 World Cup finals. He played in all four of the Netherlands' matches and scored his only goal in the group stage against Côte d'Ivoire via a free kick as the Oranje were eliminated in the round of sixteen.
Euro 2008
Van Persie scored a team-best four Euro 2008 qualifying goals, and was deployed as a winger behind lone striker Ruud van Nistelrooy during the tournament after van Basten decided to change to a 4-2-3-1 formation. On June 13, he scored as a 55th-minute substitute in a 4–1 Group C victory over 2006 World Cup finalists France, and started the next match against Romania, scoring off a pass from Demy de Zeeuw. He finished with two goals as the Netherlands finished atop their group but again suffered a first knock-out round, second stage elimination.
Personal Info
Van Persie and his Dutch-Moroccan wife Bouchra have one son, Shaqueel, who was born on 16 November 2006. They live in Goffs Oak, Hertfordshire.
Rape Allegations
On 13 June 2005, while in Rotterdam with the Dutch national team for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Van Persie was arrested on suspicion of rape by Dutch police after Sandra Krijgsman, a former Miss Nigeria Holland, claimed that he had attacked her two days earlier in a hotel. He spent two weeks in prison while the police investigated Krijgsman's allegations, and was then released because it was deemed unnecessary by the courts to keep him detained, though he remained a suspect.
In February 2006, the case was completely dismissed by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service after they completed their investigations. The prosecution stated, after a thorough investigation, that no sexual contact with coercion happened. Van Persie publicly spoke of his imprisonment several months later, describing it as a degrading experience and claiming he was treated like a criminal despite his innocence. He revealed that conditions in the prison were so hot that they caused him to lose consciousness. An October 2005 report emerged that over two hundred Rotterdam police officers had attempted to view his case files, despite the vast majority of them being unauthorised to do so.
I was born on 6th August 1983 in Kralingen, Rotterdam. I have a very creative family. Both my parents are artists. My mum is also an art teacher and has an art gallery and runs workshops. My dad creates unique pieces of art/sculptures that can be viewed in various galleries. I am the youngest of three children. My eldest sister Kiki is a mum of two lovely children. She has a fashion degree and at present teaches at a Fashion Academy in Rotterdam. Her true passion lies in creating her own designs and in time her own brand. My other sister Lilly has a degree in creative therapy and Art psychotherapy. She is extremely well travelled and has enjoyed places such as India and South Africa. During such visits she would volunteer to work for charitable organisations that involves orphans. So as you can see the creativity runs throughout the family.
I have always been very sporty. I enjoy table tennis, swimming and tennis. When I used to go to school, I was always walking and keeping the ball up at the same time. I was always at my happiest when I was playing football in the streets. I always remember the guys from my neighbourhood competing against other local teams. We would play in ‘the Cage’ and the competition between us was fierce. We would gather there and play ‘Goal to Goal’ and ‘Amerikaantje’.
At the age of 13 I attended Thorbecke High School, this is a special sports school that worked together with Feyenoord. The school was specifically for talented children who excelled in sports. I would wake up at 6.30am and rush to leave the flat. With both my schoolbag and sportsbag to carry I would catch the tram to Voorschoterlaan, and then the tube to Prinsenland. A typical day for me at school would begin with 3 hours of lessons in the morning. We would then be driven to Feyenoord’s youth training ground for a 1,5 hour football session and then back to school for a further 3 hours of study. Depending on which day I would also have either a further football session after school or a match. This went on until I was 17 years old.
When I was 19 years old I met Bouchra, who was studying Communication and Accountancy at University. Two years later on 31st March 2004 we married in Rotterdam, and 3 months after we moved to London and my career at Arsenal began. Our first years in London were very hard. As you can imagine we were young, it was our first time living abroad and we were missing our family and friends. As time progressed I got to play more regularly for the team and we got to experience and enjoy London. It did not take long for us to fall in love with the city and call London our home.
On 16th November 2006 our son Shaqueel was born. This was a life changing moment for me and at that time without doubt the best moment of my life. I fell in love with him from the moment I saw him. The older he gets the cheekier he becomes, in fact he reminds me a lot of myself.
On 10th October 2009 was the next best moment in my life. Our second child was born, our beautiful daughter Dina Layla. She is a real daddy’s girl and is and always will be my little princess.
Away from football my life is devoted to my family. With the free time I have there is nothing I enjoy more than spending time with them and playing with the kids. Every day is a new experience and I could not be any prouder of my family than I am already.
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