Koen van de Laak

Koen van de Laak
Personal information
Full name Koen Marinus Adrianus van de Laak
Date of birth (1982-09-03) September 3, 1982
Place of birth Vught, Netherlands
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
Zwaluw VFC
Den Bosch
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2005 FC Den Bosch 143 (46)
2005–2012 FC Groningen 139 (24)
2012–2014 Ajax Cape Town 19 (0)
National team
2000–2004 Netherlands U21 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 June 2013

Koen van de Laak (born 3 September 1982, in Vught) is a former Dutch football player. He played for FC Den Bosch, FC Groningen and Ajax Cape Town in South Africa.

Early career


A central midfielder, Koen van de Laak started to play for a local club named Zwaluw VFC in 1988 when he was six years old. He moved to FC Den Bosch in 1994. After spending six years in the youth team, he made his debut in the first squad of FC Den Bosch on November 4, 2000. In this game he scored two times against Helmond Sport. That year his team promoted to the Dutch Eredivisie.

After playing some good seasons at FC Den Bosch and being top scorer several times, he opted to move to another team. He had several clubs to choose from but FC Groningen signed him for 4 years. In the first year playing for FC Groningen they ended up fifth in the league and managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup for the 2006–07 season. He quickly adjusted at FC Groningen, soon becoming a very important player and a fan favourite under the tenure of Ron Jans.

In season 2009–10, he became the captain of the team. FC Groningen managed to qualify twice for the Europe League which was unique in the history of Groningen. In December 2010, he picked up a knee injury in a match against Vitesse Arnhem which kept him off the pitch till January 2012; despite that, his club agreed to extend his contract by one more year (from June 2011 to June 2012).

On 29 March 2012, it was revealed Van de Laak would leave FC Groningen at the end of the season, once his contract expires.[1]

On 15 June 2012 Van de Laak signed with Ajax Cape Town from South Africa, playing in the Premier Soccer League for two seasons before parting ways with the Cape club.[2]

Club statistics

Season Club Country League Matches Goals
2000–01FC Den BoschNetherlandsEerste Divisie21 7
2001–02FC Den BoschNetherlandsEerste Divisie28 0
2002–03FC Den BoschNetherlandsEerste Divisie29 17
2003–04FC Den BoschNetherlandsEerste Divisie34 16
2004–05FC Den BoschNetherlandsEredivisie31 6
2005–06FC GroningenNetherlandsEredivisie24 3
2006–07FC GroningenNetherlandsEredivisie25 7
2007–08FC GroningenNetherlandsEredivisie18 2
2008–09FC GroningenNetherlandsEredivisie26 5
2009–10FC GroningenNetherlandsEredivisie26 5
2010–11FC GroningenNetherlandsEredivisie16 2
2011–12FC GroningenNetherlandsEredivisie4 0
2012–13Ajax Cape TownSouth AfricaPremier Soccer League13 0
2013–14Ajax Cape TownSouth AfricaPremier Soccer League6 0
Total 301 70

References

  1. ↑ "Van de Laak weg bij Groningen" [Van de Laak leaves Groningen] (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Koen van de Laak moet weg bij Ajax Cape Town" [Van de Laak leaves Ajax Cape Town] (in Dutch). De Gelderlander. 23 May 2014. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.