One To Watch – Ferrie Bodde

A centre midfielder as leading goal-scorer for his Club? That is the situation at Swansea City with Ferrie Bodde leading the club`s scoring table having scored 5 goals so far this season. Ferrie Bodde signed for Swansea City for an undisclosed fee in July 2007 from Dutch club ADO Den Haag. And the general feeling among Swans` fans seems to be Bodde really is the “one to watch”.

Born in Delft, the Netherlands, in May 1982, Bodde joined Dutch side Den Haag in 2000. He graduated from the Youth Academy and made his first team debut in 2001 at 18 years old. Bodde played for them for seven years, making 161 appearances in total and scoring 10 goals. He left after the club were relegated to the Dutch First Division.

Swansea brought Bodde over from the Netherlands and he has played over 40 games for them since signing in the summer of 2007, having scored 12 goals so far (5 of them coming this season alone). Bodde made his debut for the Swans in their pre-season tour of Sweden in 2007, followed by his League One debut against Oldham in August 2007. His first goal for the club came against Bournemouth in October 2007. His latest goal was scored on the weekend as Swansea drew 2-2 away to Ipswich.

Bodde featured in 33 games last season as Swansea City marched to the League One title, despite seeing “red” a couple of times during the season. He has also received 10 yellow cards to-date (4 of them coming this season). Bodde returned from a one-match suspension on the weekend (against Ipswich), having missed the Swans 3-1 victory over league leaders Wolves at the beginning of October.

At the end of last season, Bodde made it into the PFA League One “Team of the Year”. Not a bad feat for his first season in English football! This was followed, during the 2008 close season, with Bodde being linked to clubs like Middlesbrough, Derby and Reading. However, in July 2008, he showed his commitment and loyalty to the Swans by signing a new contract, despite having two years left on his old contract.

Bodde has represented his country at U-23 level. He has been described by Swansea as a tough tackling midfielder and in Holland as the Dutch Roy Keane. He wears the number 6 shirt.