Willem II (football club)

Willem II (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪləm ˈtʋeː]), also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a Dutch football club based in Tilburg, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. The club 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 (1792–1849), who, as Prince of Orange and commander of the Dutch army, had his military headquarters in Tilburg during the Belgian uprising of 1830, spent much time in the city after becoming king, and died there.^[1]

Willem II

Full name	Willem II Tilburg
Nickname(s)	Tricolores Superkruiken (Super Pitchers)
Founded	12 August 1896; 127 years ago (1896-08-12) (as Tilburgia)
Ground	Koning Willem II Stadion
Capacity	14,800
Chairman	Jan van deer Laak
Manager	Peter Maes
League	Eerste Divisie
2022–23	Eerste Divisie, 4th of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Notable former players for the club include Dutch internationals Jan van Roessel, Joris Mathijsen, Jaap Stam, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Overmars, Virgil Van Dijk and Finland's Sami Hyypiä. The club's shirt 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, also named after the King. The stadium, opened on 31 May 1995, has a capacity of 14,700 spectators. The average attendance in 2004–05 was 12,500 people.^[1]

The club has won the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie three times each.^[1]

History

Established on 12 August 1896 in Tilburg as Tilburgia, the club first played at the Gemeentelijk Sportpark Tilburg and in 1995 relocated to the Koning Willem II Stadion, the ground where they have played ever since. Willem were champions of the Eredivisie in 1916, 1952 and 1955. The Tricolores also won two KNVB Cups in 1944 and 1963 and were also crowned champs of the Eerste Divisie in 1958, 1965 and 2014.^[1]

 

Willem II - Manchester United,
25 September 1963: 1–1

With regard to European competition, Willem II first appeared in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup of 1963 where they lost to Manchester United in the first round by an aggregate score of 7–2. In 1998–99, Willem once again competed in the Cup Winners' Cup and after beating Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia 6–0 in both legs, Willem then lost to Spanish side Real Betis in the second round, 4–1 on aggregate. A second place in the Eredivisie of 1999 guaranteed the club a UEFA Champions League berth for the first time. At the tournament's group stage, Willem only attained two points in their six group G matches and were thus eliminated. After reaching the KNVB Cup final in 2005 where they lost 4–0 against PSV Eindhoven, Willem II again qualified again for the UEFA Cup, in which they lost to French side AS Monaco in the first round by 5–1 on aggregate.^[1]

 

Historical chart of league performance

At the end of the 2010–11 season, Willem II were relegated from the Eredivisie for the first time in 24 years. In the 2011–12 season under new manager Jurgen Streppel Willem II was promoted back to the Eredivisie, but they went right back down the next season after finishing bottom of the table. The club became champions of the Eerste Divisie in the subsequent season and were thus promoted back to the Eredivisie.^[1]

In early 2015, journalists at De Volkskrant revealed that Willem II had its matches fixed by an "Asian gambling syndicate", who had paid Willem's players a total sum of €100,000 to lose matches against Ajax and Feyenoord (in October and December 2009). According to the journalists, midfielder Ibrahim Kargbo was the Asians' main contact within the club; Kargbo denies having accepted their money.^[1][2] The Royal Dutch Football Association called the affair "the most concrete case of match fixing in the Netherlands" and took legal action as well as asking UEFA and FIFA to reevaluate previous matches.^[3]

In 2019, Willem II reached the KNVB Cup Final for the fourth time in their history. They beat AZ Alkmaar in the semi-finals after a penalty shoot-out, but were defeated by in the final by AFC Ajax.

The fans of Willem II have close links with the fans of English championship club Bristol City. Willem supporters have been known to travel to Bristol, with Bristol City fans heading the other way to Tilburg. At Bristol City's game on 31 October 2009 against Sheffield Wednesday, some Willem II fans were seen in the 'Eastend' of the Ashton Gate Stadium, and songs were sung about Willem II by City fans.^[4][5]

Rivalries

Willem II longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their neighbour, NAC Breda. This rivalry originated in the 1920s. Matches between the two are referred to as the derby of Brabant. The two cities of Breda and Tilburg are just 20 kilometres apart, leading to an intense feeling of a cross-town rivalry, heightened by a feeling that it is city against city with local pride at stake.

Players

Current squad

As of 1 September 2023

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF   NED Freek Heerkens (captain) 4 DF   NED Erik Schouten (2nd captain) 5 DF   ISL Rúnar Þór Sigurgeirsson 6 MF   BEL Matthias Verreth 7 FW   NED Nick Doodeman 9 FW   SUR Jeredy Hilterman (on loan from Almere City) 10 MF   NED Max de Waal 11 FW   SWE Max Svensson 16 MF   NED Ringo Meerveld 17 FW   NED Patrick Joosten 18 FW   COD Jeremy Bokila 20 DF   NED Valentino Vermeulen

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 GK   NED Joshua Smits 23 FW   NED Michael de Leeuw 24 GK   NED Connor van den Berg 27 MF   NED Dani Mathieu 29 MF   NED Thijs Oosting 30 DF   AUT Raffael Behounek 32 MF   NED Jesse Bosch 33 DF   NED Tommy St. Jago 34 DF   NED Amine Lachkar 36 FW   NED Jelte Pal 44 DF   NED Niels van Berkel

Notable players

The players below had senior international cap(s) for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed represented their countries while playing for Willem II.

Albania   Lindon Selahi Armenia   Aras Özbiliz   Norair Aslanyan Austria   Andreas Lasnik Belgium   Geert De Vlieger   Moussa Dembélé   Christophe Grégoire   Chris Janssens   Tristan Peersman Bulgaria   Igor Tomašić Burkina Faso   Ousmane Sanou Curaçao   Kemy Agustien   Darryl Lachman Czech Republic   Tomáš Galásek Denmark   Lucas Andersen Finland   Juha Hakola   Sami Hyypiä   Joonas Kolkka   Jukka Koskinen   Veli Lampi   Niki Mäenpää Gambia   Jatto Ceesay

Guinea   Mohamed Sylla Hungary   Csaba Fehér   Zsombor Kerekes Israel   Ben Sahar Kosovo   Arijanet Muric   Donis Avdijaj Luxembourg   Aurélien Joachim Morocco   Rochdi Achenteh   Youssef Mariana   Mourad Mghizrat   Adil Ramzi   Tarik Sektioui Netherlands   Kevin Bobson   Bud Brocken   Romano Denneboom   Nicky Hofs   Kew Jaliens   Bert Konterman   Michel Kreek   Kees Krijgh   Denny Landzaat   Joris Mathijsen   Oscar Moens   Marc Overmars   Martijn Reuser   Jaap Stam

Netherlands (continued)   Virgil van Dijk   Jean-Paul van Gastel   Ulrich van Gobbel   Frenkie de Jong   Toine van Mierlo   Jan van Roessel   Kenneth Vermeer New Zealand   James McGarry Nigeria   Bartholomew Ogbeche Northern Ireland   James Quinn Peru   Renato Tapia Sierra Leone   Ibrahim Kargbo Slovakia   Adam Nemec Switzerland   Stephan Keller Sweden   Alexander Isak   Andreas Landgren   George Mourad Thailand   Geoffrey Prommayon Ukraine   Evgeniy Levchenko United States   Earnie Stewart

Domestic results

17 ↓	1 ↑	16	8	10	8	15 ↓	10	1 ↑	10	18 ↓	4	14	6	14	15	14	18	14	9	11	7	3 ↑	8	10	14	14	17 ↓	8	4	2 ↑	4	15	13	11	12	10	8	7	12	15	5	2	9	8	11	11	7	10	17	15	15	12	17	18 ↓	5 ↑	18 ↓	1 ↑	9	16	13	13	10	5	14	17 ↓	4
57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Eredivisie* Eerste divisie ↓ relegation ↑ promotion

Below is a table with Willem II's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.

Domestic results since 1956
Domestic league	League result	Qualification to	KNVB Cup season	Cup result
1956–57 Eredivisie	18th	Eerste Divisie (relegation)	1956–57	?^[citation needed]
1957–58 Eerste Divisie	1st (group A)	Eredivisie (promotion)	1957–58	?^[citation needed]
1958–59 Eredivisie	16th	–	1958–59	?^[citation needed]
1959–60 Eredivisie	8th	–	not held	not held
1960–61 Eredivisie	10th	–	1960–61	?^[citation needed]
1961–62 Eredivisie	8th	–	1961–62	?^[citation needed]
1962–63 Eredivisie	15th	Cup Winners' Cup Eerste Divisie (relegation)	1962–63	winners
1963–64 Eerste Divisie	10th	–	1963–64	second round^[citation needed]
1964–65 Eerste Divisie	1st	Eredivisie (promotion)	1964–65	first round^[citation needed]
1965–66 Eredivisie	10th	–	1965–66	group stage^[citation needed]
1966–67 Eredivisie	18th	Eerste Divisie (relegation)	1966–67	first round^[citation needed]
1967–68 Eerste Divisie	4th	–	1967–68	round of 16^[citation needed]
1968–69 Eerste Divisie	14th	–	1968–69	first round^[citation needed]
1969–70 Eerste Divisie	6th	–	1969–70	second round^[citation needed]
1970–71 Eerste Divisie	14th	–	1970–71	second round
1971–72 Eerste Divisie	15th	–	1971–72	first round
1972–73 Eerste Divisie	14th	–	1972–73	second round
1973–74 Eerste Divisie	18th	–	1973–74	round of 16
1974–75 Eerste Divisie	14th	–	1974–75	first round
1975–76 Eerste Divisie	9th	–	1975–76	first round
1976–77 Eerste Divisie	11th	–	1976–77	round of 16
1977–78 Eerste Divisie	7th	–	1977–78	first round
1978–79 Eerste Divisie	3rd	Eredivisie (winning promotion/releg. play-offs)	1978–79	second round
1979–80 Eredivisie	8th	–	1979–80	second round
1980–81 Eredivisie	10th	–	1980–81	quarter-final
1981–82 Eredivisie	14th	–	1981–82	second round
1982–83 Eredivisie	14th	–	1982–83	second round
1983–84 Eredivisie	17th	Eerste Divisie (relegation)	1983–84	first round
1984–85 Eerste Divisie	8th	–	1984–85	first round
1985–86 Eerste Divisie	5th	promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion	1985–86	first round
1986–87 Eerste Divisie	2nd	Eredivisie (promotion)	1986–87	first round
1987–88 Eredivisie	4th	– (losing UC play-offs)	1987–88	quarter-final
1988–89 Eredivisie	15th	–	1988–89	semi-final
1989–90 Eredivisie	13th	–	1989–90	semi-final
1990–91 Eredivisie	11th	–	1990–91	quarter-final
1991–92 Eredivisie	12th	–	1991–92	third round
1992–93 Eredivisie	10th	–	1992–93	third round
1993–94 Eredivisie	8th	–	1993–94	round of 16
1994–95 Eredivisie	7th	–	1994–95	round of 16
1995–96 Eredivisie	12th	–	1995–96	second round
1996–97 Eredivisie	15th	–	1996–97	semi-final
1997–98 Eredivisie	5th	UEFA Cup	1997–98	round of 16
1998–99 Eredivisie	2nd	Champions League	1998–99	second round
1999–2000 Eredivisie	9th	–	1999–2000	quarter-final
2000–01 Eredivisie	8th	–	2000–01	second round
2001–02 Eredivisie	11th	Intertoto Cup (R2)	2001–02	second round
2002–03 Eredivisie	11th	Intertoto Cup (R2)	2002–03	third round
2003–04 Eredivisie	7th	–	2003–04	round of 16
2004–05 Eredivisie	10th	UEFA Cup	2004–05	final
2005–06 Eredivisie	17th	– (surviving promotion/relegation play-offs)	2005–06	round of 16
2006–07 Eredivisie	15th	–	2006–07	quarter-final
2007–08 Eredivisie	15th	–	2007–08	second round
2008–09 Eredivisie	12th	–	2008–09	third round
2009–10 Eredivisie	17th	– (surviving promotion/relegation play-offs)	2009–10	second round
2010–11 Eredivisie	18th	Eerste Divisie (relegation)	2010–11	third round
2011–12 Eerste Divisie	5th	Eredivisie (winning promotion/relegation play-offs)	2011–12	second round
2012–13 Eredivisie	18th	Eerste Divisie (relegation)	2012–13	second round
2013–14 Eerste Divisie	1st	Eredivisie	2013–14	second round
2014–15 Eredivisie	9th	–	2014–15	second round
2015–16 Eredivisie	16th	– (surviving promotion/relegation play-offs)	2015–16	round of 16
2016–17 Eredivisie	13th	–	2016–17	first round
2017–18 Eredivisie	13th	–	2017–18	semi-final
2018–19 Eredivisie	10th	–	2018–19	final
2019–20 Eredivisie	5th	Europa League (Q2)	2019–20	round of 16
2020–21 Eredivisie	14th	–	2020–21	second round
2021–22 Eredivisie	17th	Eerste Divisie (relegation)	2021–22	first round
2022–23 Eerste Divisie	4th	promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion	2022–23	first round

Club officials

Position	Staff
Manager	Reinier Robbemond
Assistant managers
Goalkeeper coach	Peter den Otter
Video analyst	Rick Mennes
Chief scout	Steven Aptroot
Club doctor	Jan de Waal Malefijt   Pieter Vioen
Physiotherapist	Gijs van der Bom
Team official	Henry van Amelsfort
Manager	Jos de Kruif
Team Manager	Jos van Nieuwstadt
Kit Manager	Paul Coenhorst
Performance manager	Nils Thörner
Technical director	Teun Jacobs

Coaches

Year Coach 1949–1956   František Fadrhonc 1956–1962   Heinrich "Wudi" Müller 1963–1966, 1967–1971   Jaap van der Leck 1971–1972   Henk Wullems July 1980–June 1982   Bert Jacobs 1982   George Knobel 1982–1984   Jan Brouwer 1984–1985   Jan Notermans July 1985–June 1990   Piet de Visser 1990–91   Adrie Koster July 1991–Oct 1991   Piet de Visser Oct 1991–March 1995   Jan Reker March 1995–June 1996   Theo de Jong July 1996–June 1997   Jimmy Calderwood July 1997–May 2000   Co Adriaanse May 2000–June 2000   Hans Verèl (interim) July 2000–June 2002   Hans Westerhof July 2002–Jan 2004   Mark Wotte Feb 2004–June 2004   André Wetzel

Year Coach July 2004–Nov 2005   Robert Maaskant Nov 2005–June 2006   Kees Zwamborn July 2006–Nov 2007   Dennis van Wijk Nov 2007–Feb 2009   Andries Jonker Feb 2009–Feb 2010   Alfons Groenendijk Feb 2010   Mark Schenning (interim) Feb 2010–April 2010   Arno Pijpers April 2010–May 2010   Theo de Jong (interim) July 2010–April 2011   Gert Heerkes April 2011–June 2011   John Feskens (interim) July 2011–May 2016   Jurgen Streppel July 2016–March 2018   Erwin van de Looi March 2018–May 2018   Reinier Robbemond (interim) July 2018–January 2021   Adrie Koster January 2021–June 2021   Željko Petrović July 2021–March 2022   Fred Grim March 2022–December 2022   Kevin Hofland

Honours

• National Football League Championship/Eredivisie^[1][6]
  • Winners (3): 1915–16, 1951–52, 1954–55
  • Runners-up (1): 1998–99
• Eerste Divisie^[1][6]
  • Winners (3): 1956–57, 1964–65, 2013–14
  • Runners-up (1): 1986–87
• KNVB Cup^[1][6]
  • Winners (2): 1943–44, 1962–63
  • Runners-up (2): 2004–05, 2018–19

See also

• Dutch football league teams

References

1. "Historisch Overzicht". Willem-ii.nl.
2. "Goksyndicaat fixte duels Willem II" [Gambling syndicate fixed Willem II matches]. de Volkskrant. 17 January 2015.
3. "KNVB: meest concrete zaak tot nu toe" [Royal Dutch Football Association: most concrete case so far]. NOS. 17 January 2015.
4. "The club named after a king!". CCFC.co.uk.
5. "Video: Dutch fans pay emotional tribute to Bristol City supporter Mark Saunders". Bristol Post.co.uk.
6. "Feiten En Trivia". Willem-ii.nl (in Dutch).

External links

 

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