Roel Wiersma

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Roel Wiersma
Roel Wiersma (right) with Coen Moulijn (left) in 1959.
Personal information
Date of birth (1932-04-15)April 15, 1932
Place of birth Hilversum, Netherlands[1]
Date of death February 4, 1995(1995-02-04) (aged 62)[2]
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s) Right back[3]
Youth career
1940–1949 Donar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1954–1965 PSV 316 (2)
1965–1966 EVV 4 (0)
International career
1954–1962 Netherlands 53 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roel Wiersma (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrul ˈʋirsmaː], 15 April 1932 – 4 February 1995) was a Dutch footballer, who most notably played for PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team.

Wiersma was born in

1963 when his team won the Eredivisie title. Between 1954 and 1962, he also played 53 caps for Netherlands national team. In fifteen of his appearances, Wiersma served as captain of the Dutch squad. After a short period at EVV
, he retired and committed himself to coaching and policy positions.

Early life

Wiersma was born in

Harlingen.[4] At age 8, he joined sports club Donar in his home town. Besides football, Wiersma played a range of different sports at Donar, including baseball, basketball and table tennis.[2][5]

Club career

In 1949, Wiersma debuted for the Donar first team, which played in the Dutch Fourth Division at the time. In his first season, the club was immediately promoted to the Third Division. Wiersma played for Donar until the 1954-55 season, when the team again won promotion; this time to the Second Division. His games at Donar were combined with his performances at the national Air Force football team (as part of his conscription).[6] For Wiersma’s military service, he was stationed in Eindhoven as a sports instructor sergeant. He arranged a match for the Air Force team against an English military team. After Heerenveen’s Imke de Jong was outplayed by his English counterpart, Wiersma decided to substitute De Jong and bring himself onto the field.[7] During his service, Wiersma trained several times at PSV Eindhoven and his performances at Donar and the Air Force football team meant that PSV decided to sign him in 1954.[6]

From the 1950s onwards, PSV conducted a shift in player’s heritage; the team went from mostly

Rapid Wien (and lost 6-2 on aggregate). More successful was PSV's 1963-64 European Cup campaign, when they reached the quarterfinals. Wiersma played in all six matches that season.[8]

After PSV appointed Bram Appel as the new coach, he announced a new focus on younger players and notified Wiersma that he was not needed anymore. Disappointed, Wiersma left for rivals EVV in 1965 on a free transfer.[6] In total, he played 316 league matches and scored twice for PSV. Wiersma also appeared in 14 cup matches and eight European matches.[2][5][7] His career at EVV was cut short through injury: in a game against Budel, he broke his tibia, forcing him to end his career.[2][7]

International career

The Netherlands squad lining up before a match against Belgium in 1960. From left to right: Cor van der Hart, Eddy Pieters Graafland, Jan Klaassens, Wiersma and Kees Kuijs.

While still playing for Donar in the third tier of the Dutch league system, Wiersma debuted in the Netherlands national team. On 24 October 1954, he appeared in an exhibition match against Belgium. Since his first cap, Wiersma set a 35-match streak for not missing a single Netherlands match. This series of matches in a row (starting from the player’s first cap) is a Dutch record until this day. In the match that Wiersma missed and thus ended his record, the Netherlands lost to West Germany 0-7. He mostly appeared in friendly matches; Wiersma played four 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and three 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.[1] Wiersma's most notorious qualification match was an away fixture against Austria. The Dutch team lost 3-2 and Wiersma was stretchered off the field: after a hard tackle by Robert Dienst, he landed on the running track and ended up with an bloody face and a concussion.[7][9][10] In 15 of his matches, Wiersma served as captain of the Dutch side.[5][11] His national team career ended after a row with coach Elek Schwartz, who benched Wiersma after a 4-1 loss against Denmark in 1962. Schwartz blamed Wiersma’s bad performance on a disproportionate attention to his engineering study; Wiersma simply condemned his teammates’ mentality. The Denmark match later turned out to be his last for The Netherlands.[7]

Style of play

Wiersma was a right-footed right wing back.[3] He was known to be a powerful, physical defender with great stamina.[2] Wiersma usually played a rough but fair game.[9] He was lacking in technical abilities, but he was strong in the air.[6] Wiersma commented about his own game in 1962: “I am a player with very average technical skills. I could only manage so many years at this level because of my combativeness and because apparently, there are no better defenders around.”[7]

Post-career

After his retirement, Wiersma remained involved in sports. He became coach for the PSV

KNVB.[5] After he quit his position as board member, he also served in several commissions at the KNVB. He also worked as analyst for Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.[7] On 4 February 1995, Wiersma died of a heart failure during a game of tennis.[2][9]

Awards and honours

Club

PSV Eindhoven

Career statistics

International

National team Season Apps Goals
Netherlands 1954 1 0
1955 7 0
1956 7 0
1957 8 0
1958 7 0
1959 6 0
1960 7 0
1961 6 0
1962 4 0
Total 53[1] 0

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c "Roel Wiersma - International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Roel Wiersma" (in Dutch). PSV Zuipsite. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Roel Wiersma". Enciclopedia Football. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Friese voorouders - Roel Wiersma" (in Dutch). Friese Voetballers. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Alleskunner Roel Wiersma" (in Dutch). PSV.nl. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "De 4e landstitel" (in Dutch). Stichting 1913. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Een verdediger die nooit versaagde" (in Dutch). Volkskrant. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Roel Wiersma - 8 wedstrijden" (in Dutch). Voetbalstats. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  9. ^ a b c "Roel Wiersma 1932 - 1995" (in Dutch). Trouw. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Austria v Netherlands, 26 May 1957". 11 vs 11. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Roel Wiersma" (in Dutch). Voetbalstats. Retrieved 10 July 2013.