The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part Five
The supply of players from the Netherlands to England began to slow towards the end of the 1980s. With financial problems, hooliganism and the European ban on English clubs after Heysel in 1985, the Football League became a less attractive destination. Few Dutch internationals moved to the First Division. Hans Kraay Jr. had one of…
The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part Four
Another look at Dutch players in the Football League during the 1980s, with the expert help of Jan Roskott: Johannes Franciscus ‘Hans’ van Breukelen – Nottingham Forest 1982-84 He was an up and coming keepers talent, very outspoken and Mr Positivo as he was called. He started his career at FC Utrecht where he was…
The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part Three
Jan Roskott continues a series looking in-depth at the Dutch players in the Football League during the 1980s. Franciscus Johannes ‘Frans’ Thijssen – Ipswich Town 1979-83 / Nottingham Forest 1983 Thijssen was a Gordon Strachan or Xavi type playmaker. Silent Frans, they called him. He talked with his feet. A very gifted passer of the…
The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part Two
Continuing an in-depth look at the Dutch players in the Football League between 1978 and 1992, with the help of Jan Roskott: Fransiscus Leonardus Albertus ‘Frans’ Koenen – Newcastle United (1980-81) All I know is that he moved to Newcastle from NEC Nijmegen on a two-year deal. He was a winger (currently football coach in amateurs)…
The Netherlands: Foreign Players in the Football League – Part One
The Netherlands supplied more players to the Football League between 1978 and the start of the Premier League in 1992 than any other country outside Britain and Ireland. From international stars to fleeting lower-division stays, a steady stream of Dutchmen tried their luck in England. Twice beaten World Cup finalists in the 1970s, the gifted…
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