Suurbier was a big part of the 70's "total football" team the "Twelve Apostles" of Ajax Amsterdam led by Johan Cruijff, which lifted the UEFA European Cup three times in a row.

In the fall of 1982, the team was renamed the Golden Bay Earthquakes and entered the Major Indoor Soccer League.

He later resumed his playing career as a player-coach of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the American Indoor Soccer Association.

[4] In 1984, the Tulsa Roughnecks of the North American Soccer League hired Suurbier as head coach.

[7] In the fall of 1986, he was hired by the Tampa Bay Rowdies as the team entered the American Indoor Soccer Association.

In November 1987, Suurbier became the head coach of the newly established Fort Lauderdale Strikers in preparation of the team's first season in 1988.