Wilkes played for
Xerxes Rotterdam, before moving to
Internazionale in the summer of 1949. There he played 95 matches, scoring 47 goals. After his stay in
Milan ended in 1952, he had a one-season spell at
Torino. At age 30 he moved to
Valencia in Spain, scoring a total of 38 goals in 62 appearances between 1953–54 and 1955–56, making him the first foreign idol of the club. He also played for
VVV,
Levante, and
Fortuna '54. He died of a cardiac arrest in 2006, aged 82. He is considered one of the best footballers the Netherlands ever produced, being especially known for his creative style of play and brilliant dribbling. Wilkes was the 4th Dutch player (after
Gerrit Keizer,
Bep Bakhuys and Gerrit Vreken) who moved to play abroad. He held the record of most goals scored for the Netherlands national team from 1959 until 1998. The Dutch cartoon character Kick Wilstra was named in part after Faas Wilkes (Wilstra was also named after two other Dutch men's footballers,
Kick Smit and
Abe Lenstra). == Gallery ==