Adrianus Andreas "Adri" van Tiggelen (born 16 June 1957) is a retired Dutch

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. His career in football was intimately connected to

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

, in which he began as a professional footballer, going on to manage the side in several categories and capacities, but he also played with success in Belgium for

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

. Van Tiggelen appeared nearly 60 times for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, representing the nation at the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being M ...

and two

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, being a starter in the team that won

Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...

Club career

Born in

Oud-Beijerland Oud-Beijerland () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, now a part of the Hoeksche Waard municipality. With a population of 24,575 in 2020, it is the most populous town of the Hoeksche Waard ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

, van Tiggelen – nicknamed "De Spijker" (

nail Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip ...

) – started his professional career with

, making his

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

debut on 30 August 1978, in a 1–0 home in against neighbours

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

. During his five-year spell at the club, he was an undisputed starter, also finding the net every season (for a total of 13 league goals). In 1983, van Tiggelen signed with fellow league side

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

and remained there for three years, managing to again maintain top level status in every season. Afterwards, he had his first abroad experience, as he joined

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

in neighbouring Belgium, where he also appeared regularly (as first-choice). Aged 34, van Tiggelen returned to his own country, moving to

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

. The veteran marker still managed to collect nearly 100 official appearances, playing 26 games as the side won the 1991–92 national championship. He saw out his career at 38, after one season – and again in the top division – with

Dordrecht'90 Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, t ...

; his last game ended 5–1, at home against

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional Association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion ...

. Van Tiggelen then returned to his first club, mainly serving as assistant manager and youth trainer. In 2005, he had his first head coach experience, and finished the season in the second position, helping Sparta return to the first division. The second spell as head manager – still with Sparta – occurred in late 2007, following the dismissal of

Gert Aandewiel Gert Aandewiel (born 9 September 1969 in Leiden) is a Dutch football manager and former football player. Club career He played professional football for FC Volendam (1996-1997), Sparta Rotterdam (1997-1999) and FC Dordrecht (1999). Managerial c ...

. Subsequently, van Tiggelen was part of

Foeke Booy Foeke Booy (born 25 April 1962) is a Dutch football manager, executive, and former player. He serves as the technical manager of Cambuur. Club career Booy played for eight clubs in sixteen seasons. After hometown club Cambuur Leeuwarden, De Gra ...

's coaching staff.

International career

Van Tiggelen earned 56 caps for the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Du ...

, going scoreless in the process. His debut came at age 26, as he appeared in a friendly with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 21 September 1983 (1–1). From 1986 onwards, van Tiggelen was an automatic first-choice in the national team's setup: he played in every match and minute at

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned Netherlan ...

, which the Netherlands won, and also represented the nation at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

and

Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...

, retiring from international play following the side's elimination against eventual winners

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in the latter competition; he was aged 35, and formed in previous years an efficient fullback partnership with

Berry van Aerle Hubertus Aegidius Hermanus "Berry" van Aerle (; born 8 December 1962) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played mainly as a right back. A tough tackler, he was best known for his spell with PSV, which he helped capture the 1988 Eur ...

(also his club mate from 1991 to 1994).

Honours

Club

;PSV * Dutch League: 1991–92 *

Dutch Supercup The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

: 1992; Runner-up 1991 ;Anderlecht *

Belgian League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

: 1986–87, 1990–91 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 1987–88, 1988–89 *

Belgian Supercup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...

: 1986, 1987; Runner-up 1988, 1989

International

;Netherlands *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

: 1988

References

External links

Beijen profile

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiggelen, Adri Van 1957 births Living people People from Oud-Beijerland Dutch footballers Association football defenders Eredivisie players FC Groningen players Sparta Rotterdam players PSV Eindhoven players FC Dordrecht players Belgian First Division A players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Netherlands international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1992 players UEFA European Championship-winning players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Dutch football managers Footballers from South Holland