'I was Tony Blair's favourite Premier League player – now I put criminals behind bars'

Premier League cult hero Arjan de Zeeuw has arguably lived a more exciting life since hanging up his boots.

While many retired pros take the well-travelled path into coaching or punditry, the former centre-back had a couple of more unconventional career options at his disposal. De Zeeuw had earned a medical science degree before choosing to take his football seriously, remarkably not turning professional until he was already 22 years old.

The defender signed for Dutch club Telstar but was soon playing in the Premier League with Barnsley. Later, he helped Portsmouth reach the top flight and captained Harry Redknapp's side before leading Wigan Athletic to their best-ever league finish.

De Zeeuw planned to resume his path to becoming a doctor when he retired. However, the 54-year-old ultimately swapped tackling strikers for catching criminals as he ended up working as a police detective in Alkmaar.

“I still work with the Dutch police force, believe it not as an inspector or detective as you call it," he told his former Wigan team-mate on The Emmerson Boyce podcast in 2020. "I realised that I loved playing football so much that I didn't not want to play it and be on the side of the pitch all the time.

"I realised I didn't want to be on the football pitch not playing football, so I thought no, I'm not going to do all the badges and go into management, I'm just going to get completely out of football altogether.

Having a medical degree, my first idea was to become a doctor, but at the time the Dutch police were looking for people with higher education to do a fast-track course into the police force.

"It sounded a little bit like a boys' dream – being in fast cars and having a gun and all that stuff and I realised it was still going to take me a long time to become a doctor, whereas it was a much quicker route into the police force.”

In a life full of twists and turns, even De Zeeuw must have been surprised when he was named one of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s favourite Premier League players in 2005. Asked to list some of the league’s unsung heroes, the then-Wigan defender made the cut alongside Fulham winger Steed Malbranque and West Ham veteran Teddy Sheringham.

"He's really strong, never gives up. I could do with him at the whips' office," Blair joked about De Zeeuw on BBC's Football Focus. When asked about the Prime Minister’s comments, the defender quipped: “The Prime Minister must know an awful lot about football.”

After leaving Barnsley in 1999, De Zeeuw twice won Wigan’s Player of the Year in the third tier. He returned to the Latics in 2005, captaining the club to 10th in the Premier League and a spot in the 2006 League Cup final. De Zeeuw was later voted the club’s all-time best player.

At Portsmouth, the defender was key to the side that won the First Divison in 2003. After the club’s first season in the Premier League, he received another Player of the Year trophy and was later rewarded with the captaincy. Towards the end of his career, the Dutchman played for Coventry City before returning to the Netherlands with ADO ‘20 and retiring in 2009.

Football was supposed to be a brief hiatus but turned into a 17-year career. This sense of adventure convinced De Zeeuw to ditch his potential future as a doctor and join the police.

“I thought 'hang on', I'll just try it, just like I did with coming across to England [to play football]. I thought I'll just try it and see how it goes and I have to say, I really enjoy it," he explained.

“Being a footballer, obviously you have the good lifestyle and are a bit of a figure in the community because you play for the local team and all that. Being a policeman, you see the other side of society. It's interesting, I'll tell you that - and I do have a fast car and I do have a gun."

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