Willem II Tilburg

Willem II Tilburg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪləm ˈtʋeː]), commonly known simply as Willem II, is a Dutch football club based in Tilburg, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2023–24 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 (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)
Short name	Willem II
Founded	12 August 1896; 128 years ago (1896-08-12) (as Tilburgia)
Ground	Koning Willem II Stadion
Capacity	14,800
Chairman	Meindert van Duijvenbode
Head coach	Peter Maes
League	Eredivisie
2023–24	Eerste Divisie, 1st of 20 (promoted)
Website	www.willem-ii.nl
Home colours Away 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 three times, and the Eerste Divisie four times.^[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 v 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 heavily beaten by in the final by 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] On the 3rd of August 2024, the teams played each other for the first time in a pre-season friendly at Ashton Gate stadium in Bristol.

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 4 February 2025

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FRA Thomas Didillon-Hödl 4 DF  NED Erik Schouten (2nd captain) 5 DF  ISL Rúnar Þór Sigurgeirsson 6 MF  BEL Boris Lambert 7 FW  NED Nick Doodeman 8 MF  NED Jesse Bosch 9 FW  BEL Kyan Vaesen (on loan from Westerlo) 11 FW  GER Emilio Kehrer 14 MF  BEL Cisse Sandra (on loan from Club Brugge) 15 DF  SRB Miodrag Pivaš (on loan from Newcastle United) 16 MF  NED Ringo Meerveld 17 FW  NED Patrick Joosten 18 FW  COD Jeremy Bokila 19 FW  BEL Youssuf Sylla (on loan from Charleroi)

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 DF  NED Valentino Vermeulen 21 FW  SWE Amar Fatah (on loan from Troyes) 22 DF  BEL Rob Nizet 24 GK  NED Connor van den Berg 25 DF  BEL Mickaël Tırpan 27 MF  NED Dani Mathieu 30 DF  AUT Raffael Behounek 33 DF  IDN Tommy St. Jago 34 DF  NED Amine Lachkar 41 GK  NED Maarten Schut 48 DF  NED Jens Mathijsen 50 MF  NED Per van Loon 77 MF  TUR Dennis Kaygin (on loan from Rapid Wien)

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  NED Niels van Berkel (at VVV-Venlo until 30 June 2026) — MF  NED Max de Waal (at VVV-Venlo until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  NED Khaled Razak (at Roda JC until 30 June 2025)

Notable players

Further information: Category:Willem II (football club) players

National team players

The following players were called up to represent their national teams in international football and received caps during their tenure with Willem II:

Armenia Aras Özbiliz (2018–2019) Norair Aslanyan (2013–2015) Belgium Tom Caluwé (2000–2006) Geert De Vlieger (2000–2004) Moussa Dembélé (2005–2006) Burkina Faso Ousmane Sanou (1996–2001) Cape Verde Josimar Lima (2009–2011) Curaçao Darryl Lachman (2016–2018) Charlton Vicento (2014–2015) Raymond Victoria (1998–2006)[nb 1] Jason Wall (2013–2014) Nuelson Wau (1999–2007; 2009)[nb 2] Czech Republic Tomáš Galásek (1996–2000) Ecuador Diego Palacios (2018–2019) Jhonny Quiñónez (2019) Finland Sami Hyypiä (1995–1999) Joonas Kolkka (1996–1998; 2011–2012) Jukka Koskinen (1997–1999) Veli Lampi (2010–2011) Niki Mäenpää (2009–2011) Gambia Jatto Ceesay (1995–2005) Ghana Kwasi Okyere Wriedt (2020–2022)

Greece Vangelis Pavlidis (2019–2021) Marios Vrousai (2019–2020) Guinea Sékou Soumah (1992–1995) Mohamed Sylla (1989–1995) Hungary Csaba Fehér (2005–2006) Zsombor Kerekes (2005–2007) Israel Ben Sahar (2014–2015) Kosovo Donis Avdijaj (2018–2019) Luxembourg Aurélien Joachim (2012–2013) Morocco Youssef Mariana (2000–2004) Adil Ramzi (1998–2000) Tarik Sektioui (2000–2004) Netherlands Tinus van Beurden (1910–1926) Jan Brooijmans (1954–1967) Sjel de Bruyckere (1950–1956) Jan Gielens (1924–1925) Gerrit Horsten (1922–1925) Jo Jole (1922–1923) Coy Koopal (1956–1964) Denny Landzaat (1999–2003; 2014) Huub de Leeuw (1928–1939) Herman van Loon (1928–1931) Sjef Mertens (1945–1961) Toine van Mierlo (1979–1981; 1982–1983)

Netherlands (continued) Harry Mommers (1909–1925) Jo Mommers (1946–1955) Jan van Roessel (1951–1957) Jos van Son (1912–1929) Piet Stevens (1916–1924) Henk Vriens (1961–1973) New Zealand James McGarry (2018–2020) Michael Woud (2018–2021) Northern Ireland James Quinn (2002–2005) Peru Renato Tapia (2019) Sierra Leone Ibrahim Kargbo (2006–2010) Slovakia Adam Němec (2015–2016) Suriname Jeredy Hilterman (2023–2024) Sweden Sebastian Holmén (2019–2021) Alexander Isak (2019) United States Earnie Stewart (1990–1996)

• Players in bold actively play for Willem II and for their respective national teams. Years in brackets indicate careerspan with Willem II.

National team players by Confederation

Member associations are listed in order of most to fewest current and former Willem II players represented internationally

Total national team players by confederation

Confederation	Total	(Nation) Association
AFC	0
CAF	10	Morocco (3), Guinea (2), Burkina Faso (1), Cape Verde (1), Gambia (1), Ghana (1), Sierra Leone (1)
CONCACAF	7	Curaçao (5), Suriname (1), United States (1)
CONMEBOL	3	Ecuador (2), Peru (1)
OFC	2	New Zealand (2)
UEFA	40	Netherlands (18), Finland (5), Belgium (3), Armenia (2), Greece (2), Hungary (2), Sweden (2), Czech Republic (1), Israel (1), Kosovo (1), Luxembourg (1), Northern Ireland (1), Slovakia (1)

Players in international tournaments

The following is a list of Willem II players who have competed in international tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, CONCACAF Gold Cup, Copa América, Africa Cup of Nations, Amílcar Cabral Cup, and the Caribbean Cup. To this date no Willem II players have participated in the AFC Asian Cup, or the OFC Nations Cup while playing for Willem II.

Cup	Players
1994 Africa Cup of Nations	Sékou Soumah Mohamed Sylla
1994 FIFA World Cup	Earnie Stewart
1995 Copa América	Earnie Stewart
1995 Amílcar Cabral Cup	Jatto Ceesay
1998 Africa Cup of Nations	Ousmane Sanou
2000 Africa Cup of Nations	Adil Ramzi Ousmane Sanou
UEFA Euro 2000	Geert De Vlieger
2002 FIFA World Cup	Geert De Vlieger
2014 Caribbean Cup	Charlton Vicento Jason Wall
UEFA Euro 2016	Adam Němec
2017 Caribbean Cup	Darryl Lachman
2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup	Darryl Lachman
2019 Copa América	Renato Tapia

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	1 ↑
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	23	24
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 (promotion)	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
2023–24 Eerste Divisie	1st	Eredivisie (promotion)	2023–24	second round

Club officials

Position	Staff
Head coach	Peter Maes
Assistant coach	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	Tom Caluwe
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^[1][6]
  • Winners (3): 1915–16, 1951–52, 1954–55
  • Runners-up (1): 1998–99
• Eerste Divisie^[1][6]
  • Winners (4): 1956–57, 1964–65, 2013–14, 2023–24
  • 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