Willem II (football club) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
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
Ground Capacity	14,800
Chairman	Jan van deer Laak
Manager	Peter Maes
League	Eerste Divisie
2022–23	Eerste Divisie, 4th of 20
Home colours Away colours Third colours

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.

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.

The club has won the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie three times each.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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

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

No. Position Player 21 GK Joshua Smits 22 DF Rob Nizet 23 FW Michael de Leeuw 24 GK Connor van den Berg 27 MF Dani Mathieu 29 MF Thijs Oosting 30 DF Raffael Behounek 32 MF Jesse Bosch 33 DF Tommy St. Jago 34 DF Amine Lachkar 36 FW Jelte Pal 44 DF 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.

Domestic results

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

Club officials

Position	Staff
Manager	Peter Maes
Assistant manager	Peter van den Berg
Goalkeeper coach	Peter den Otter
Data and Video analyst	Rick Mennes
Chief scout	Steven Aptroot
Club doctor	Jan de Waal Malefijt Pieter Vioen
Physiotherapist	Gijs van der Bom
Manual therapist	Jasper de Langen
Team official	Henry van Amelsfort
Manager	Jos de Kruif
Team Manager	Jos van Nieuwstadt
Kit Manager	Paul Coehorst Guus Bierings
Performance manager	Nils Thörner
Technical director	Martin van Geel (interim)
General director	Martin van Geel

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 December 2022-September 2023 Reinier Robbemond September 2023–Present Peter Maes

Honours

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

See also

In Spanish: Willem II Tilburg para niños

• Dutch football league teams