Koen van de Laak

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

Koen van de Laak
Personal information
Full name Koen Marinus Adrianus van de Laak
Date of birth (1982-09-03) 3 September 1982
Place of birth Vught, Netherlands
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Zwaluw VFC
Den Bosch
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2005 Den Bosch 142 (46)
2005–2012 Groningen 139 (24)
2012–2014 Ajax Cape Town 19 (0)
Total 290 (70)
National team
2000–2004 Netherlands U21 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Den Bosch

Born in Vught, 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 Den Bosch on 4 November 2000. In this game he scored two times against Helmond Sport. That year his team promoted to the Dutch Eredivisie.

Groningen

After playing some good seasons at 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 four 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 Groningen, soon becoming a very important player and a fan favourite under the tenure of Ron Jans.

In the 2009–10 season, he became the captain of the team. 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 Groningen at the end of the season, once his contract expired.[1]

Ajax Cape Town

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]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Den Bosch 2000–01 Eerste Divisie 207207 [3]
2001–02 Eredivisie 280280 [3]
2002–03 Eerste Divisie 29172917 [3]
2003–04 34163416 [3]
2004–05 Eredivisie 316316 [3]
Total 1424614246 –
Groningen 2005–06 Eredivisie 24330273 [3]
2006–07 2572130308 [3]
2007–08 1821020212 [3]
2008–09 2652030315 [3]
2009–10 2652020305 [3]
2010–11 16221183 [3]
2011–12 4040 [3]
Total 13924714111016126 –
Ajax Cape Town 2012–13 Premier Soccer League 130130 [4]
2013–14 600060 [4]
Total 190190 –
Career total 29070714111031272 –

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.
  3. "Koen van de Laak » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  4. "K. van de Laak". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
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