Willem II (football club)

Willem II
Full name Willem II Tilburg
Nickname(s) Tricolores, Superkruiken"
Founded 12 August 1896 (1896-08-12) (as Tilburgia)
Ground Koning Willem II Stadion,
Tilburg, Netherlands.
Ground Capacity 14,637
Chairman Vacant
Manager Erwin van de Looi
League Eredivisie
2015–16 Eredivisie, 16th
Website Club home page

Willem II (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪləm də ˈtʋeːdə]), also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a Dutch football club based in Tilburg, 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, who, as Prince of Orange and commander of the Dutch army, had his military headquarters in Tilburg during the Belgian uprising of 1830.

Notable former players for the club include Dutch internationals Jan van Roessel, Joris Mathijsen, Jaap Stam and Marc Overmars plus the Finn 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 May 31, 1995, has a capacity of 14,700 spectators. The average attendance in 2004–05 was 12,500 people.

The club won the National League three times in its history and came second in 1998–99, qualifying for the Champions League as a result.

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 championship club Bristol City. Some Willem II 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. Fans of the club have been known to travel to Bristol, with Bristol City fans heading the other way to Tilburg.

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 2013–14 season and were promoted back to the Eredivisie.

In early 2015, Volkskrant journalists revealed that Willem II had its matches fixed by an "Asian gambling syndicate", who had paid Willem II 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] The Royal Dutch Football Association calls the affair "the most concrete case of match fixing in the Netherlands" and has taken legal action as well as asking UEFA and FIFA to reevaluate previous matches.[2]

Current squad

As of 1 September 2016

For recent transfers, see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2016

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

No. Position Player
1 Greece GK Kostas Lamprou
3 Netherlands DF Freek Heerkens
4 Netherlands DF Jordens Peters (Captain)
5 Netherlands DF Dico Koppers
6 Belgium MF Funso Ojo
7 Netherlands MF Jari Schuurman (on loan from Feyenoord)
8 Netherlands MF Thom Haye
9 Spain FW Fran Sol
10 Netherlands MF Erik Falkenburg
11 Brazil FW Bruno Andrade
14 Belgium FW Jordy Croux
15 Belgium DF Dries Wuytens
No. Position Player
17 Netherlands MF Branco van den Boomen (on loan from Heerenveen)
20 Morocco MF Anouar Kali
22 Nigeria FW Bartholomew Ogbeche
23 Netherlands GK Nigel Bertrams
24 Netherlands DF Guus Joppen
26 Belgium DF Derrick Tshimanga
27 Netherlands MF Elmo Lieftink
28 Portugal FW Asumah Abubakar
29 Curaçao DF Darryl Lachman (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday)
30 Romania MF Andreas Calcan
31 Netherlands GK Mattijs Branderhorst
46 Netherlands DF Pele van Anholt

Honours

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
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Eredivisie*
Eerste divisie

* Official position, including playoff (if played). If playoffs has been played the position before playoffs between brackets.
# demotion
^ promotion

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

Managers

Year Manager
1949–56 Czechoslovakia František Fadrhonc
1956–62 Austria Heinrich "Wudi" Müller
1963–66, 1967–71 Netherlands Jaap van der Leck
1971–72 Netherlands Henk Wullems
July 1980–June 82 Netherlands Bert Jacobs
1982 Netherlands George Knobel
1982–84 Netherlands Jan Brouwer
1984–85 Netherlands Jan Notermans
July 1985–June 90 Netherlands Piet de Visser
1990–91 Netherlands Adrie Koster
July 1991–Oct 91 Netherlands Piet de Visser
Oct 1991–March 95 Netherlands Jan Reker
March 1995–June 96 Netherlands Theo de Jong
July 1996–June 97 Scotland Jimmy Calderwood
July 1997–May 00 Netherlands Co Adriaanse

Year Manager
May 2000–June 00 Netherlands Hans Verèl (interim)
July 2000–June 2 Netherlands Hans Westerhof
July 2002–Jan 04 Netherlands Mark Wotte
Feb 2004–June 4 Netherlands André Wetzel
July 2004–Nov 05 Netherlands Robert Maaskant
Nov 2005–June 6 Netherlands Kees Zwamborn
July 2006–Nov 07 Netherlands Dennis van Wijk
Nov 2007–Feb 09 Netherlands Andries Jonker
Feb 2009–Feb 10 Netherlands Alfons Groenendijk
Feb 2010 Netherlands Mark Schenning (interim)
Feb 2010–April 10 Netherlands Arno Pijpers
April 2010–May 10 Netherlands Theo de Jong (interim)
July 2010–April 11 Netherlands Gert Heerkes
April 2011–June 11 Netherlands John Feskens (interim)
July 2011–May 16 Netherlands Jurgen Streppel

Notable (former) 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.

See also

References

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