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Early life
Gullit was born Ruud Dil in Amsterdam to George
Gullit, an Afro-Surinamese migrant, married with three children, and
his buitenvrouw Ria Dil from the Amsterdam Jordaan inner city
district. The family lived in one split level room on the top floor
of a small apartment building. Gullit's father worked as an
economics teacher at a local school, his mother as a cleaner at the
Rijksmuseum.
Gullit developed his football skills in the
confines of the Rozendwarsstraat, street football was instrumental
in his formative years. Gullit's first team were the Meerboys, where
he joined as a junior in 1970. However, at the age of 10 Gullit
moved from the Jordaan to Amsterdam Old West where he played street
football alongside Frank Rijkaard. Gullit joined the DWS club after
his move, and came to the attention of the Dutch youth team, where
he played alongside such future greats as Erwin Koeman, Ronald
Koeman and Wim Kieft.
It was during his time at DWS that
Ruud first took
to using his father's surname, rather than his registered surname,
as he thought it sounded more like a football player. He retained
his mother's surname, officially, and continues to sign all
contracts as Ruud Dil. |