Andy van der Meyde’s wild Everton spell included drink, drugs and row

Dutch football star Andy van der Meyde’s wild spell at Everton included drink, drugs and an X-rated row with manager David Moyes. As a youngster the Dutch winger had the world at his feet and thrived at boyhood club Ajax before helping Holland reach the Euro 2004 semi-finals.

At the age of 24 the Dutch side sold him for £4million to Inter Milan and he grabbed English attention by scoring against Arsenal in the Champions League group stages. A change of management in Italy resulted in Van der Meyde falling out of favour and a move to Monaco seemed on the cards.

Van der Meyde said that the Ligue 1 club offered him “a lot of money” but they only had apartments and his then-wife Diana Grifhorst wanted a garden for her exotic pets which included 11 horses, a camel and zebras. Instead the Dutch international opted for an Everton move on a £2.1m deal earning £30,000 a week. Injured when he arrived in England, Van der Meyde took his friend’s son to a strip club as a 16th birthday treat.

In his book, No Mercy, the Dutch star said: “After a couple of hours of alcohol I drove to the nearest strip club. Getting drunk in a strip club in the middle of Liverpool was not very smart. But I had a strong longing for naked women.”

It was at the strip club that he met a dancer called Lisa who he had an affair with. Once his wife arrived in Liverpool she became suspicious of his time away from the family home and discovered the affair after hiring a private detective.

Van der Meyde and Lisa had a child together, named Dolce, who fought for life in Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital after being born with a serious stomach condition. His time on the pitch at Everton was unsuccessful making 24 appearances in four seasons and was given a red card in the Merseyside derby. Manager Moyes wanted to send him out on loan while his child was in hospital, resulting in an X-rated row.

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In Ryan Baldi’s book, The Next Next Big Thing , Van der Meyde recalled: “[Moyes] said to me, ‘Go to London, you can play there.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to go to London. My kid is in hospital. I want to stay here.’ He said to me, ‘It’s always something with your kid. Always problems.’ From that moment on, I thought, ‘F*** you. You speak like that about my kid? You can do whatever you want with me now.’ It was unbelievable.”

The relationship was made worse when Moyes fined the Dutch player £30,000 and suspended him after missing training due to his drink being spiked during a night out. When his contract expired the winger stayed in Liverpool with no club and admitted to ‘taking drugs’.

In 2010, he returned to Holland signing a short-term deal with PSV Eidhoven before retiring a year later at the age of 31. Van der Meyde’s wild career was summed up years after his retirement when he refereed the Lingerie World Cup.

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