Willem II (football club)

Willem II
Willem II.png
Full name Willem II Tilburg
Nickname(s) Tricolores
Founded August 12, 1896
(as Tilburgia)
Ground Koning Willem II Stadion,
Tilburg
(Capacity: 14,637)
Chairman Netherlands Vacant
Head Coach Netherlands Gert Heerkes
League Eredivisie
2009–10 Eredivisie, 17th
Website Club home page
Home colours
Away colours

Willem II, also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a football club based in Tilburg, North Brabant, Netherlands. The team was founded on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia. On 12 January 1898, the club was renamed Willem II, after Dutch king William II of the Netherlands (reign from 1840 until 1849), who, as Prince of Orange and commander of the Dutch army, had his military headquarters in Tilburg during the Belgian uprising of 1830.

The club has had many famous players, such as Jaap Stam and Sami Hyypiä. The club jersey consists of red-white-blue vertical stripes, inspired by the colours of the flag of the Netherlands. Willem II plays its home matches in the Koning Willem II Stadion. The stadium, opened on May 31, 1995, has a capacity of 14,700 spectators. The average attendance in 2004/05 was 12,500 people.

Contents

History

Willem II were the first champions of the Dutch league after professional football was introduced in 1954–55.

The club has won three national titles (1916, 1952 and 1955) and two national cups (1944 and 1963). In 1987, 1990 and 1999, Willem II were voted Dutch Club of the Year. In 1999, a second place in the league guaranteed the club a UEFA Champions League berth. In the first group stage (Group G), Willem II were eliminated. They scored 2 points in 6 matches. In 1963, Willem II lost to Manchester United (7–2 on aggregate) in the first round of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In 1998–99, Willem II competed in the UEFA Cup. After beating Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia 6–0 on aggregate in the first round, Willem II lost to Spanish side Real Betis in the second round, 4–1 on aggregate. After reaching the Dutch cup final in 2004 (4–0 loss against PSV Eindhoven), Willem II qualified again for the UEFA Cup, in which they lost to French side AS Monaco in the first round (5–1 on aggregate). The fans of Willem II have close relations with the fans of English Coca Cola Championship club Bristol City. Some Willem fans were seen in the 'Eastend' (Bristol City's most popular stand) for their game against Sheffield Wednesday on the 31st October 2009, there were songs sung about Willem II.

Honours

Current squad

For recent transfers, see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2010 and List of Dutch football transfers winter 2009-10.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Finland GK Niki Mäenpää
2 Netherlands DF Giovanni Gravenbeek
3 Belgium DF Bart Biemans
4 Netherlands DF Arjan Swinkels (captain)
5 Finland DF Veli Lampi
6 Netherlands MF Marlon Pereira
7 Finland FW Juha Hakola
8 Ukraine MF Evgeniy Levchenko
10 Sweden MF Andreas Landgren (on loan from Udinese)
11 Netherlands FW Rowin van Zaanen
12 Netherlands DF Junior Livramento
14 Poland FW Paweł Wojciechowski
No. Position Player
15 Cape Verde DF Josimar Lima
16 Netherlands MF Niek Vossebelt
17 Netherlands MF Jan-Arie van der Heijden (on loan from Ajax)
18 Netherlands MF Ricardo Ippel
19 Netherlands Antilles FW Gerson Sheotahul
20 Netherlands MF Jasper Waalkens
21 Belgium GK Davino Verhulst (on loan from RC Genk)
22 Netherlands FW Lars Hutten
23 Austria MF Andreas Lasnik
24 Netherlands DF Danny Schenkel
31 Netherlands GK Harmen Kuperus

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Netherlands GK Wim Kustermans
Netherlands DF Bas van Loon
Netherlands DF Tom Sanders
Netherlands DF Bas van Stokkum
Netherlands DF Stefan Wiegerink
Netherlands MF Thijs van den Berg
No. Position Player
Netherlands MF Ricardo Ippel
Netherlands MF Ayden Kuypers
Netherlands MF Ruben Tilburgs
Netherlands FW Rangelo Janga
Netherlands FW Jelle van Kruijssen
Netherlands FW Thomas Verhaar

Notable former players

  • Netherlands Bud Brocken
  • Netherlands Romano Denneboom
  • Netherlands Huub Loeffen
  • Netherlands Jean-Paul van Gastel
  • Netherlands Jack de Gier
  • Netherlands Wanny van Gils
  • Netherlands Kew Jaliens
  • Netherlands Ruben Kogeldans
  • Netherlands Bert Konterman
  • Netherlands Michel Kreek
  • Netherlands John Lammers
  • Netherlands Denny Landzaat
  • Netherlands Joris Mathijsen
  • Netherlands Oscar Moens
  • Netherlands Marc Overmars
  • Netherlands Martijn Reuser
  • Netherlands Jaap Stam
  • Argentina Mariano Bombarda
  • Belgium Tom Caluwé
  • Belgium Moussa Dembélé
  • Brazil Cristiano
  • Czech Republic Tomáš Galásek
  • Ecuador Jose Valencia Murillo
  • Finland Sami Hyypiä
  • Netherlands Rob ( SAR )
  • Finland Joonas Kolkka
  • Guinea Mohamed Sylla
  • Morocco Adil Ramzi
  • Morocco Tarik Sektioui
  • Scotland Jimmy Calderwood
  • Scotland Scott Calderwood
  • United States Earnie Stewart
  • The GambiaJatto Ceesay

Managers

Year Manager
1980-82 Netherlands Bert Jacobs
1982 Netherlands George Knobel
1982-84 Netherlands Jan Brouwer
1984-85 Netherlands Jan Notermans
1985-90 Netherlands Piet de Visser
1990-91 Netherlands Adrie Koster
1991 Netherlands Piet de Visser
1991-95 Netherlands Jan Reker
1995–96 Netherlands Theo de Jong
1996-97 Scotland Jimmy Calderwood
1997-00 Netherlands Co Adriaanse
2000 Netherlands Hans Verèl
2000-02 Netherlands Hans Westerhof
2002-04 Netherlands Mark Wotte
2004 Netherlands André Wetzel
2004-05 Netherlands Robert Maaskant
2005-06 Netherlands Kees Zwamborn
2006-07 Netherlands Dennis van Wijk
2007-09 Netherlands Andries Jonker
2009-10 Netherlands Alfons Groenendijk
2010 Netherlands Arno Pijpers
2010 Netherlands Theo de Jong
2010- Netherlands Gert Heerkes

See also

External links

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