Frans Thijssen

Frans Thijssen
Personal information
Date of birth 23 January 1952 (1952-01-23) (age 60)
Place of birth Malden, Netherlands
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
SV Juliana '31
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1970–1973 NEC Nijmegen 83 (10)
1973–1979 FC Twente 167 (47)
1979–1983 Ipswich Town 125 (10)
1983 Nottingham Forest 17 (3)
1983–1984 Vancouver Whitecaps 45 (9)
1984–1987 Fortuna Sittard 79 (11)
1987–1988 FC Groningen 25 (0)
1988–1991 Vitesse 87 (1)
National team
1975–1981 Netherlands[1] 14 (3)
Teams managed
1995–1996 Vitesse
1997–1998 Malmö FF
1999 De Graafschap
2000–2001 Fortuna Sittard
2002–2003 Al Wahda (youth)
2003–2004 Al Wakra (assistant)
Qatar SC (youth)
2008–2009 Al-Jazira Club (youth)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Frans Thijssen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfrɑns ˈtɛi̯.sə(n)]) (born 23 January 1952 in Malden, Gelderland) is a former international Dutch footballer. He started his professional career in 1970 with NEC Nijmegen. In 1973 he moved to FC Twente, where the midfielder played for nearly six seasons.

Thijssen won fourteen caps for Holland between 1975 and 1981.

In 1979, he moved to England to sign for Ipswich Town, and in 1981 was voted English Footballer of the Year as he helped Ipswich Town win the UEFA Cup, scoring one goal in each of the two legs of the final. He played a big part in their run to the semi finals of the FA Cup, and they also finished second in the league that season. He helped them finished second again the following year, but a year later he departed from Portman Road after four years to sign for Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, but he was not nearly as successful at the City Ground as he had been in East Anglia, and he had left the club within months.

He also had a stint in the NASL with the Vancouver Whitecaps. In 1984 he returned to his native country, to play for Fortuna Sittard (1984–1987), FC Groningen (1987–1988) and Vitesse Arnhem (1988–1991).

After his active career he became a football manager. In 1997 he became manager for the Swedish club Malmö FF and spent two years there.

After several seasons without success, Thijssen was sacked as manager for Malmö FF during the middle of season 98. At the time of his dismissal Malmö was in danger of being relegated to the first division(Superettan) for the first time in the club's history. Thijssen was replaced by Roland Andersson and Thomas Sjöberg.

Contents

Honours

As a player

Ipswich Town

References

  1. ^ http://www.voetbalstats.nl/nedxi/sp503.html

External links
Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 1980
Vitesse – managers
De Graafschap – managers
  • IJssennagger (1954–55)
  • Huber (1955)
  • Poulus (1955–59)
  • Engel (1959)
  • Jones (1960–62)
  • Teunissen (1962–67)
  • Zonderland (1967–71)
  • van Lingen (1971)
  • de Visser (1971–74)
  • Teunissen (1974–76)
  • Polak (a.i.) (1976)
  • Dorjee (1976–77)
  • Ellens (1977–78)
  • van de Meent (1978–80)
  • Ruijgrok (1980–83)
  • Popovics (1983–85)
  • van Brussel (1985–87)
  • Verbeek (1987–89)
  • Stehouwer (1989)
  • Zweers (1989)
  • Kistemaker (1989–93)
  • Versleijen (1993–94)
  • Körver (1994–95)
  • van Doorneveld (1995)
  • Korbach (1995–98)
  • van Doorneveld (1998–99)
  • Thijssen (1999)
  • Morales (1999)
  • McDonald (1999–2000)
  • Koolhof (a.i.) (2000)
  • Marsman (2000–01)
  • Koolhof (2001–02)
  • Bosz (2002–03)
  • Adelaar (2003–04)
  • Kruys (2004–05)
  • Ulderink (a.i.) (2005)
  • de Jonge (2005–08)
  • van Stee (2008–09)
  • Kalezić (2009–11)
  • Ulderink (2011–)