Footballer (Frans Thijssen)

BBC Look East report on Dutch football player Frans Thijssen signing the contract to join Ipswich Town Football Club. Interviews with Frans Thijssen, Ipswich Town's manager Bobby Robson and teammate Arnold Muhren.

Ipswich Town football manager Bobby Robson and Dutch International midfielder Frans Thijssen sit side by side at a table. Close up of Ipswich Town Football Club logo on Bobby Robson’s jumper. Frans Thijssen signs a contract at Portman Road. Close up of Bobby Robson turning the pages of the contract and Frans Thijssen signing each page. They shake hands and Bobby Robson says that he hopes that this will be the start of a very long and successful contract. Interview with Bobby Robson where he says that his job is to get the best possible team at the cheapest price. He talks about the high quality players Ipswich Town has. Camera zooms out to show midfielders Frans Thijssen and fellow Dutch player Arnold Mühren sitting alongside Bobby Robson. Bobby Robson talks about their contract and the strengths of each player. The interviewer asks Frans Thijssen how much he really knows about the sort of football he is expected to play in England. Frans Thijssen replies that it will be difficult for him at first as he hadn’t trained in a long time and that he hopes it will prove to be a good choice that he joined Ipswich. The interviewer then asks Arnold Mühren what he thinks Frans is going to find the hardest to get used to whilst playing English football. Arnold replies that when he first played in England he struggled as the tempo is much higher and is a very different style of playing compared to Holland. The interviewer states that Arnold’s English has improved tremendously in the time he’s been in England and suggests that he should teach some Dutch words to the English players so they can do their tactical talks without anybody knowing what they’re talking about. Arnold replies that Dutch is a very difficult language to learn. He states that he has worked with Frans before and so suggested to the management that he should join the Ipswich team.

Featured Buildings

Portman Road.

Keywords

Arnold Muhren; Bobby Robson; Football; Footballer; Frans Thijssen; Ipswich; Ipswich Town Football Club; International Players; Portman Road; Sport;

Background Information

The fee for Frans Thijssen to join Ipswich Town was two hundred thousand pounds. Bad weather prevented the manager of the Dutch club F.C.Twente from flying from Amsterdam to add his signature to the contract. Instead, he telexed his agreement.