Willem II Tilburg

Willem II Tilburg (), commonly known simply as Willem II, is a Dutch football club based in Tilburg, Netherlands. They will play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2025–26 season. The club was founded on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia. On 12 January 1898, the club was renamed Willem II after Dutch king William II (1792–1849), who, as Prince of Orange and commander of the Dutch army, had his military headquarters in Tilburg during the Belgian uprising of 1830, spent much time in the city after becoming king, and died there.

Notable former players for the club include Dutch internationals Jan van Roessel, Joris Mathijsen, Jaap Stam, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Overmars, Virgil Van Dijk and Finland's Sami Hyypiä. The club's shirt 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 Koning Willem II Stadion, also named after the King. The stadium, opened on 31 May 1995, has a capacity of 14,700 spectators. The average attendance in 2004–05 was 12,500 people. The Royal Dutch Football Association called the affair "the most concrete case of match fixing in the Netherlands" and took legal action as well as asking UEFA and FIFA to reevaluate previous matches.

In 2019, Willem II reached the KNVB Cup final for the fourth time in their history. They beat AZ Alkmaar in the semi-finals after a penalty shoot-out, but were heavily beaten by in the final by Ajax.

The fans of Willem II have close links with the fans of English championship club Bristol City. Willem supporters have been known to travel to Bristol, with Bristol City fans heading the other way to Tilburg. At Bristol City's game on 31 October 2009 against Sheffield Wednesday, some Willem II fans were seen in the 'Eastend' of the Ashton Gate Stadium, and songs were sung about Willem II by City fans. On 3 August 2024, the teams played each other for the first time in a pre-season friendly at Ashton Gate stadium in Bristol.

Rivalries

Willem II longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their neighbour, NAC Breda. This rivalry originated in the 1920s. Matches between the two are referred to as the derby of Brabant. The two cities of Breda and Tilburg are just 20 kilometres apart, leading to an intense feeling of a cross-town rivalry, heightened by a feeling that it is city against city with local pride at stake.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable players

National team players

The following players were called up to represent their national teams in international football and received caps during their tenure with Willem II:

;Armenia
Aras Özbiliz (2018–2019)
Norair Aslanyan (2013–2015)
;Belgium
Tom Caluwé (2000–2006)
Geert De Vlieger (2000–2004)
Moussa Dembélé (2005–2006)
;Burkina Faso
Ousmane Sanou (1996–2001)
;Cape Verde
Josimar Lima (2009–2011)
;Curaçao
Darryl Lachman (2016–2018)
Charlton Vicento (2014–2015)
Raymond Victoria (1998–2006)
Jason Wall (2013–2014)
Nuelson Wau (1999–2007; 2009)
;Czech Republic
Tomáš Galásek (1996–2000)
;Ecuador
Diego Palacios (2018–2019)
Jhonny Quiñónez (2019)
;Finland
Sami Hyypiä (1995–1999)
Joonas Kolkka (1996–1998; 2011–2012)
Jukka Koskinen (1997–1999)
Veli Lampi (2010–2011)
Niki Mäenpää (2009–2011)
;Gambia
Jatto Ceesay (1995–2005)
;Ghana
Kwasi Okyere Wriedt (2020–2022)

;Greece
Vangelis Pavlidis (2019–2021)
Marios Vrousai (2019–2020)
Konstantinos Tsimikas (2017–2018)
Kostas Lamprou (2014–2017, 2022–2023)
;Guinea
Sékou Soumah (1992–1995)
Mohamed Sylla (1989–1995)
;Hungary
Csaba Fehér (2005–2006)
Zsombor Kerekes (2005–2007)
;Indonesia
Nathan Tjoe-A-On (2025-Present)
Thom Haye (2016–2018)
Ole Romeny (2020–2021)
;Israel
Ben Sahar (2014–2015)
;Kosovo
Donis Avdijaj (2018–2019)
;Luxembourg
Aurélien Joachim (2012–2013)
;Morocco
Youssef Mariana (2000–2004)
Adil Ramzi (1998–2000)
Tarik Sektioui (2000–2004)
;Netherlands
Tinus van Beurden (1910–1926)
Jan Brooijmans (1954–1967)
Sjel de Bruyckere (1950–1956)
Jan Gielens (1924–1925)
Gerrit Horsten (1922–1925)
Jo Jole (1922–1923)
Coy Koopal (1956–1964)
Denny Landzaat (1999–2003; 2014)
Huub de Leeuw (1928–1939)
Herman van Loon (1928–1931)
Sjef Mertens (1945–1961)
Toine van Mierlo (1979–1981; 1982–1983)

Netherlands (continued)
Harry Mommers (1909–1925)
Jo Mommers (1946–1955)
Jan van Roessel (1951–1957)
Jos van Son (1912–1929)
Piet Stevens (1916–1924)
Henk Vriens (1961–1973)
;New Zealand
James McGarry (2018–2020)
Michael Woud (2018–2021)
;Northern Ireland
James Quinn (2002–2005)
;Peru
Renato Tapia (2019)
;Sierra Leone
Ibrahim Kargbo (2006–2010)
;Slovakia
Adam Němec (2015–2016)
;Suriname
Jeredy Hilterman (2023–2024)
;Sweden
Sebastian Holmén (2019–2021)
Alexander Isak (2019)
;United States
Earnie Stewart (1990–1996)

Players in bold actively play for Willem II and for their respective national teams. Years in brackets indicate careerspan with Willem II.

National team players by Confederation

Member associations are listed in order of most to fewest current and former Willem II players represented internationally

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left"

|+ Total national team players by confederation

! scope="row" | Confederation

! scope="col" | Total

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | (Nation) Association

| AFC

| 2

| Indonesia (3)

| CAF

| 10

| Morocco (3), Guinea (2), Burkina Faso (1), Cape Verde (1), Gambia (1), Ghana (1), Sierra Leone (1)

| CONCACAF

| 7

| Curaçao (5), Suriname (1), United States (1)

| CONMEBOL

| 3

| Ecuador (2), Peru (1)

| OFC

| 2

| New Zealand (2)

| UEFA

| 40

| Netherlands (18), Finland (5), Belgium (3), Armenia (2), Greece (2), Hungary (2), Sweden (2), Czech Republic (1), Israel (1), Kosovo (1), Luxembourg (1), Northern Ireland (1), Slovakia (1)

Players in international tournaments

The following is a list of Willem II players who have competed in international tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, CONCACAF Gold Cup, Copa América, Africa Cup of Nations, Amílcar Cabral Cup, and the Caribbean Cup. To this date no Willem II players have participated in the AFC Asian Cup, or the OFC Nations Cup while playing for Willem II.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left"

|- style="text-align: center"

!Cup

!Players

|align="left"| 1994 Africa Cup of Nations|| Sékou Soumah Mohamed Sylla

|align="left"| 1994 FIFA World Cup|| Earnie Stewart

|align="left"| 1995 Copa América|| Earnie Stewart

|align="left"| 1995 Amílcar Cabral Cup|| Jatto Ceesay

|align="left"| 1998 Africa Cup of Nations|| Ousmane Sanou

|align="left"| 2000 Africa Cup of Nations|| Adil Ramzi Ousmane Sanou

|align="left"| UEFA Euro 2000|| Geert De Vlieger

|align="left"| 2002 FIFA World Cup|| Geert De Vlieger

|align="left"| 2014 Caribbean Cup|| Charlton Vicento Jason Wall

|align="left"| UEFA Euro 2016|| Adam Němec

|align="left"| 2017 Caribbean Cup|| Darryl Lachman

|align="left"| 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup|| Darryl Lachman

|align="left"| 2019 Copa América|| Renato Tapia

Domestic results

{| Cellpadding="0" CellSpacing="0" border=0 style="font-size:80%;border:1px solid #AAAAAA;padding:10px"

|- valign="bottom"

|- align=center style="font-size:80%;"

|57||58||59

|60||61||62||63||64||65||66||67||68||69

|70||71||72||73||74||75||76||77||78||79

|80||81||82||83||84||85||86||87||88||89

|90||91||92||93||94||95||96||97||98||99

|00||01||02||03||04||05||06||07||08||09

|10||11||12||13||14||15||16||17||18||19

|20||21||22||23||24

| colspan="80" |

{|align="center"

|valign="top" |

{| Cellpadding="0" CellSpacing="0" style="font-size:80%;border:1px solid #AAAAAA;text-align:center;" width="150"

|-bgcolor="#C0FFC0"

| Eredivisie*

|valign="top" |

{| Cellpadding="0" CellSpacing="0" style="font-size:80%;border:1px solid #AAAAAA;text-align:center;" width="150"

|-bgcolor="#FFC0A0"

| Eerste divisie

↓ relegation

↑ promotion

Below is a table with Willem II's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width: 100%; text-align: center;"

! colspan=5 | Domestic results since 1956

! width="20%"|Domestic league

! width="20%"|League result

! width="20%"|Qualification to

! width="20%"|KNVB Cup season

! width="20%"|Cup result

|1956–57 Eredivisie

|bgcolor="pink"|18th

|Eerste Divisie (relegation)

|1956–57

|1957–58 Eerste Divisie

|bgcolor="gold"|1st (group A)

|Eredivisie (promotion)

|1957–58

|1958–59 Eredivisie

|16th

| –

|1958–59

|1959–60 Eredivisie

|8th

| –

|not held

|1960–61 Eredivisie

|10th

| –

|1960–61

|1961–62 Eredivisie

|8th

| –

|1961–62

|1962–63 Eredivisie

|bgcolor="pink"|15th

|Cup Winners' Cup Eerste Divisie (relegation)

|1962–63

|bgcolor="gold"|winners

|1963–64 Eerste Divisie

|10th

| –

|1963–64

|second round

|1964–65 Eerste Divisie

|bgcolor="gold"|1st

|Eredivisie (promotion)

|1964–65

|first round

|1965–66 Eredivisie

|10th

| –

|1965–66

|group stage

|1966–67 Eredivisie

|bgcolor="pink"|18th

|Eerste Divisie (relegation)

|1966–67

|first round

|1967–68 Eerste Divisie

|4th

| –

|1967–68

|round of 16

|1968–69 Eerste Divisie

|14th

| –

|1968–69

|first round

|1969–70 Eerste Divisie

|6th

| –

|1969–70

|second round

|1970–71 Eerste Divisie

|14th

| –

|1970–71

|second round

|1971–72 Eerste Divisie

|15th

| –

|1971–72

|first round

|1972–73 Eerste Divisie

|14th

| –

|1972–73

|second round

|1973–74 Eerste Divisie

|18th

| –

|1973–74

|round of 16

|1974–75 Eerste Divisie

|14th

| –

|1974–75

|first round

|1975–76 Eerste Divisie

|9th

| –

|1975–76

|first round

|1976–77 Eerste Divisie

|11th

| –

|1976–77

|round of 16

|1977–78 Eerste Divisie

|7th

| –

|1977–78

|first round

|1978–79 Eerste Divisie

|bgcolor="#CD7F32"|3rd

|Eredivisie (winning promotion/releg. play-offs)

|1978–79

|second round

|1979–80 Eredivisie

|8th

| –

|1979–80

|second round

|1980–81 Eredivisie

|10th

| –

|1980–81

|quarter-final

|1981–82 Eredivisie

|14th

| –

|1981–82

|second round

|1982–83 Eredivisie

|14th

| –

|1982–83

|second round

|1983–84 Eredivisie

|bgcolor="pink"|17th

|Eerste Divisie (relegation)

|1983–84

|first round

|1984–85 Eerste Divisie

|8th

| –

|1984–85

|first round

|1985–86 Eerste Divisie

|5th

|promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion

|1985–86

|first round

|1986–87 Eerste Divisie

|bgcolor="silver"|2nd

|Eredivisie (promotion)

|1986–87

|first round

|1987–88 Eredivisie

|4th

| – (losing UC play-offs)

|1987–88

|quarter-final

|1988–89 Eredivisie

|15th

| –

|1988–89

|bgcolor="#CD7F32"|semi-final

|1989–90 Eredivisie

|13th

| –

|1989–90

|bgcolor="#CD7F32"|semi-final

|1990–91 Eredivisie

|11th

| –

|1990–91

|quarter-final

|1991–92 Eredivisie

|12th

| –

|1991–92

|third round

|1992–93 Eredivisie

|10th

| –

|1992–93

|third round

|1993–94 Eredivisie

|8th

| –

|1993–94

|round of 16

|1994–95 Eredivisie

|7th

| –

|1994–95

|round of 16

|1995–96 Eredivisie

|12th

| –

|1995–96

|second round

|1996–97 Eredivisie

|15th

| –

|1996–97

|bgcolor="#CD7F32"|semi-final

|1997–98 Eredivisie

|5th

|UEFA Cup

|1997–98

|round of 16

|1998–99 Eredivisie

|bgcolor="silver"|2nd

|Champions League

|1998–99

|second round

|1999–2000 Eredivisie

|9th

| –

|1999–2000

|quarter-final

|2000–01 Eredivisie

|8th

| –

|2000–01

|second round

|2001–02 Eredivisie

|11th

|Intertoto Cup (R2)

|2001–02

|second round

|2002–03 Eredivisie

|11th

|Intertoto Cup (R2)

|2002–03

|third round

|2003–04 Eredivisie

|7th

| –

|2003–04

|round of 16

|2004–05 Eredivisie

|10th

|UEFA Cup

|2004–05

|bgcolor="silver"|final

|2005–06 Eredivisie

|17th

| – (surviving promotion/relegation play-offs)

|2005–06

|round of 16

|2006–07 Eredivisie

|15th

| –

|2006–07

|quarter-final

|2007–08 Eredivisie

|15th

| –

|2007–08

|second round

|2008–09 Eredivisie

|12th

| –

|2008–09

|third round

|2009–10 Eredivisie

|17th

| – (surviving promotion/relegation play-offs)

|2009–10

|second round

|2010–11 Eredivisie

|bgcolor="pink"|18th

|Eerste Divisie (relegation)

|2010–11

|third round

|2011–12 Eerste Divisie

|5th

|Eredivisie (winning promotion/relegation play-offs)

|2011–12

|second round

|2012–13 Eredivisie

|bgcolor="pink"|18th

|Eerste Divisie (relegation)

|2012–13

|second round

|2013–14 Eerste Divisie

|bgcolor="gold"|1st

|Eredivisie (promotion)

|2013–14

|second round

|2014–15 Eredivisie

|9th

| –

|2014–15

|second round

|2015–16 Eredivisie

|16th

| – (surviving promotion/relegation play-offs)

|2015–16

|round of 16

|2016–17 Eredivisie

|13th

| –

|2016–17

|first round

|2017–18 Eredivisie

|13th

| –

|2017–18

|bgcolor="#CD7F32"|semi-final

|2018–19 Eredivisie

|10th

| –

|2018–19

|bgcolor="silver"|final

|2019–20 Eredivisie

|5th

|Europa League (Q2)

|2019–20

|round of 16

|2020–21 Eredivisie

|14th

| –

|2020–21

|second round

|2021–22 Eredivisie

|bgcolor="pink"|17th

|Eerste Divisie (relegation)

|2021–22

|first round

|2022–23 Eerste Divisie

|4th

|promotion/relegation play-offs: no promotion

|2022–23

|first round

|2023–24 Eerste Divisie

|bgcolor="gold"|1st

|Eredivisie (promotion)

|2023–24

|second round

Club officials

{| class="wikitable"

!Position

!Staff

| Head coach || Peter Maes

| Assistant coach || Peter van den Berg

| Goalkeeper coach || Peter den Otter

| Data and Video analyst || Rick Mennes

| Chief scout || Steven Aptroot

| Club doctor || Jan de Waal Malefijt Pieter Vioen

| Physiotherapist || Gijs van der Bom

| Manual therapist || Jasper de Langen

| Team official || Henry van Amelsfort

| Manager || Jos de Kruif

| Team Manager || Jos van Nieuwstadt

| Kit Manager || Paul Coehorst Guus Bierings

| Performance manager || Nils Thörner

| Technical director || Tom Caluwe

| General director || Martin van Geel

Coaches

{| class="wikitable"

! Year

! Coach

| 1949–1956

| František Fadrhonc

| 1956–1962

| Heinrich "Wudi" Müller

| 1963–1966, 1967–1971

| Jaap van der Leck

| 1971–1972

| Henk Wullems

| July 1980–June 1982

| Bert Jacobs

| 1982

| George Knobel

| 1982–1984

| Jan Brouwer

| 1984–1985

| Jan Notermans

| July 1985–June 1990

| Piet de Visser

| 1990–91

| Adrie Koster

| July 1991–Oct 1991

| Piet de Visser

| Oct 1991–March 1995

| Jan Reker

| March 1995–June 1996

| Theo de Jong

| July 1996–June 1997

| Jimmy Calderwood

| July 1997–May 2000

| Co Adriaanse

| May 2000–June 2000

| Hans Verèl (interim)

| July 2000–June 2002

| Hans Westerhof

| July 2002–Jan 2004

| Mark Wotte

| Feb 2004–June 2004

| André Wetzel

{| class="wikitable"

! Year

! Coach

| July 2004–Nov 2005

| Robert Maaskant

| Nov 2005–June 2006

| Kees Zwamborn

| July 2006–Nov 2007

| Dennis van Wijk

| Nov 2007–Feb 2009

| Andries Jonker

| Feb 2009–Feb 2010

| Alfons Groenendijk

| Feb 2010

| Mark Schenning (interim)

| Feb 2010–April 2010

| Arno Pijpers

| April 2010–May 2010

| Theo de Jong (interim)

| July 2010–April 2011

| Gert Heerkes

| April 2011–June 2011

| John Feskens (interim)

| July 2011–May 2016

| Jurgen Streppel

| July 2016–March 2018

| Erwin van de Looi

| March 2018–May 2018

| Reinier Robbemond (interim)

| July 2018–January 2021

| Adrie Koster

| January 2021–June 2021

| Željko Petrović

| July 2021–March 2022

| Fred Grim

| March 2022–December 2022

| Kevin Hofland

| December 2022-September 2023

| Reinier Robbemond

| September 2023–April 2025

| Peter Maes

| April 2025-June 2025

| Kristof Aelbrecht (interim)

| July 2025-Present

| John Stegeman

Honours

National Football League Championship/Eredivisie
Winners (3): 1915–16, 1951–52, 1954–55
Runners-up (1): 1998–99
Eerste Divisie