Arjan Swinkels (born 15 October 1984) is a Dutch professional

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 plays as a

centre 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 ...

for Belgian club Esperanza Pelt.

Club career

Swinkels made 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 against

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

, 18 September 2005. The following season, Swinkels was mostly on the bench, but in the Spring, he began playing regularly. In the last round, he saved a ball on the goalline, which meant that Willem II was safe of relegation. In the new season, Swinkels began playing as centre-back instead of injured

Delano Hill Delano Hill (born 29 April 1975) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He worked as the assisting coach of FC Dordrecht. Career Born in Rotterdam, Hill made his debut in professional football, being part of th ...

. Since then, Swinkels has been a regular starter. After signing for Lierse in the summer of 2012, Swinkels suffered a long time injury as he tore his

Meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

On 2 February 2015, Swinkels signed until the end of the season with Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

side

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

. With that club he forced promotion to the Eredivisie via the 2015 play-offs, at the expense of

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

. A year later, he contributed to reaching 14th place. After two seasons at Roda JC, Swinkels did not accept an offer to extend his contract with the club. Instead, he signed a contract in June 2016 until mid-2018 with Beerschot Wilrijk, who had been promoted to the

Belgian National Division 1 The Belgian National Division 1, commonly referred to as simply Eerste Nationale (in Dutch) or Nationale 1 (in French) is a semi-professional and the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First ...

in Belgium in the previous season. Swinkels immediately helped Beerschot Wilrijk to the

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

. There was almost a second promotion in a row for Swinkels with Beerschot Wilrijk, but

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

proved too strong in the title matches. After two years in a row having been named "Man of the Season" by fans, Swinkels moved to

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

as a free agent. In his first year in Mechelen he had a successful season, becoming champion of the Belgian First Division B and winning the

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 ...

. His contract was not renewed at the end of his second year. The 35-year-old Swinkels returned to the Netherlands, where he signed a one-year contract with Eredivisie club

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following ...

with the option for another year. On 1 September 2021, he moved to Belgian amateur club Esperanza Pelt.

Honours

Mechelen *

: 2018–19 *

: 2018–19 Belgian Cup, 2018–19

References

1984 births Living people Association football defenders Dutch footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Willem II (football club) players People from Oisterwijk Lierse S.K. players Roda JC Kerkrade players K Beerschot VA players K.V. Mechelen players VVV-Venlo players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Expatriate footballers in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Footballers from North Brabant {{Netherlands-footy-defender-stub