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Willem II

Full name	Willem II
Nickname(s)	Red White Blue Army King's Army Tricolores
Founded	August 12, 1896
Ground	Koning Willem II Stadion Tilburg (Capacity: 14,637)
Chairman	Hans Verbunt
Manager	Alfons Groenendijk
League	Eredivisie
2008-09	Eredivisie, 12th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Willem II is a Dutch football club playing in Tilburg. The club was founded as Tilburgia on August 12, 1896. On January 12, 1898, the club was renamed Willem II, after Dutch king Willem II (1840-1849), who, as Prince of Orange and commander of the Dutch army, had his military headquarters in Tilburg during the Belgian uprising of 1830.

[edit] History

The club has had many famous players, such as Jaap Stam and Sami Hyypiä. The club jersey 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 Willem II Stadion. 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 fans of Willem II have close relations with the fans of Bristol City. Some Willem fans were seen in the Eastend (Bristol City's stand) for their game against Sheffield Wednesday and there were songs sung about Willem II.

Willem II 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).

[edit] Honours

• Eredivisie
  • Winners (3): 1916, 1952, 1955
• Eerste Divisie
  • Winners (2): 1957, 1965
• KNVB Cup
  • Winners (2): 1944, 1963

[edit] Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Maikel Aerts (captain) 2 DF Jens Janse 3 DF Danny Schenkel 4 DF Arjan Swinkels 5 DF Léo Veloso 6 MF Mehmet Akgün 7 MF Boy Deul 8 MF Christophe Grégoire 9 FW Frank Demouge 10 MF Saïd Boutahar 11 FW George Mourad 12 DF Bart Biemans 14 FW Sergio Zijler 15 FW Ronnie Reniers

No. Position Player 16 GK Niki Mäenpää 17 DF Josimar Lima 18 MF Paul Quasten 19 FW Gerson Sheotahul 20 MF Jasper Waalkens 21 DF Daan van Dinter 22 MF Ibrahim Kargbo 23 FW Sidney Schmeltz 24 MF Jan-Arie van der Heijden (on loan from Ajax) 25 DF Marciano Bruma 26 GK Ariën Pietersma 27 DF Junior Livramento 28 MF Marlon Pereira Freire 29 FW Stef Nijland (on loan from PSV)

[edit] Reserve squad

No. Position Player DF Bas van Loon MF Thijs van den Berg MF Faysal Bouchkachkhe MF Marc Corman FW Rangelo Janga

No. Position Player MF Wojciech Luczak FW Jelle van Kruijssen FW Ratko Vansimpsen FW Thomas Verhaar FW Bram Weyten

[edit] Notable former players

[edit] Former managers

• Co Adriaanse
• Jimmy Calderwood
• Bert Jacobs
• Adrie Koster
• Robert Maaskant
• Hans Verèl
• Piet de Visser
• Hans Westerhof
• André Wetzel
• Mark Wotte
• Kees Zwamborn
• Andries Jonker

[edit] See also

• Dutch football league teams

[edit] External links

• Official website (Dutch)