Willem II (football club)

Willem II
	emblem
Full name	Willem II
Nickname(s)	Red White Blue Army; King's Army; Tricolores
Gegründet	August 12, 1896
Ground	Willem II Stadion; Tilburg
Capacity	14,700
Chairman	Hans Verbunt
Manager	Dennis van Wijk
League	Eredivisie
2005-06	Eredivisie, 17h (relegation playoff)
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. In 2004, the club added Tilburg to its official name, becoming Willem II Tilburg.

The club has had many famous players, including Jaap Stam, and Martijn Reuser. The club jersey consists of red-white-blue vertical stripes. 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.

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.

In the 2005-2006 season, the team won the relegation playoffs: Willem II - De Graafschap (1-0 and 2-1), and will be playing in the Eredivisie the coming season.

1999/2000 Champions League

Matches	Classification Group G
Willem II - Spartak Moskva 1-3 Girondins de Bordeaux - Willem II 3-2 Sparta Praha - Willem II 4-0 Willem II - Sparta Praha 3-4 Spartak Moskva - Willem II 1-1 Willem II - Girondins de Bordeaux 0-0	Sparta Praha 6 - 12 Girondins de Bordeaux 6 - 12 Spartak Moskva 6 - 5 Willem II Tilburg 6 - 2

Honours

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

Current squad 2006/2007

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	BEL	Tristan Peersman
2	DF	ANT	Nuelson Wau
3	DF	DEN	Thomas Bælum
4	DF	NED	Frank van der Struijk
5	DF	ECU	José Valencia Murillo
6	MF	BEL	Kristof Imschoot
7	FW	NED	Anouar Hadouir
10	FW	MAR	Mounir El Hamdaoui
11	FW	NED	Kevin Bobson
12	DF	NED	Jens Janse
14	MF	BEL	Mohamed Messoudi
15	DF	NED	Arjan Swinkels
16	GK	AUS	Peter Zois


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	FW	BEL	Jonathan Wilmet
18	FW	HUN	Zsombor Kerekes
19	MF	BEL	Maarten van Lieshout
20	MF	ENG	Joe Keenan
21	DF	NED	Ryan Holman
22	DF	SLE	Ibrahim Kargbo
26	GK	BEL	Björn Sengier
25	FW	NED	Geert den Ouden
28	MF	MAR	Saïd Boutahar
29	FW	BRA	Cristiano
30	DF	NED	Delano Hill
31	GK	NED	Maikel Aerts
32	FW	NED	Rydell Poepon

Out on loan Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
8	MF	FRA	Matthieu Assou-Ekotto (On Loan to R.E. Mouscron)
9	FW	NED	Iwan Redan (On Loan to Cardiff City)

Notable former players

Former managers

External links

Template:Fb start

Template:Fb end

v t e Eredivisie
2024–25 clubs	Ajax Almere City AZ Feyenoord Fortuna Sittard Go Ahead Eagles Groningen Heerenveen Heracles Almelo NAC Breda NEC PEC Zwolle PSV RKC Waalwijk Sparta Rotterdam Twente Utrecht Willem II
Stadiums	Abe Lenstra Stadion De Adelaarshorst AFAS Stadion Erve Asito Euroborg Fortuna Sittard Stadion Galgenwaard De Goffert De Grolsch Veste Johan Cruyff Arena Het Kasteel Koning Willem II Stadion De Kuip MAC³PARK Stadion Mandemakers Stadion Philips Stadion Rat Verlegh Stadion Yanmar Stadion
Former clubs	ADO Den Haag Alkmaar '54 FC Amsterdam Blauw-Wit Cambuur De Graafschap De Volewijckers Den Bosch Dordrecht DOS DS '79 DWS FC Eindhoven Elinkwijk Emmen SC Enschede Excelsior Fortuna '54 Haarlem Helmond Sport MVV NOAD RBC Roda JC SVV Telstar Veendam VVV-Venlo Wageningen Vitesse Volendam XerxesDZB
Competition	Champions Players (foreign) Managers Top scorers Hat-tricks Derbies Eredivisie Live
Awards	Footballer of the Year Rinus Michels Award Eredivisie Player of the Month
Associated competitions	League system Eerste Divisie KNVB Cup Johan Cruyff Shield Eredivisie for women UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League
Netherlands Football League seasons	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56
Eredivisie seasons	1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Eredivisie Eerste Divisie Tweede Divisie Derde Divisie Vierde Divisie Eerste Klasse Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse Vierde Klasse Vijfde Klasse