Boy de Jong (born 10 April 1994) is a 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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

VV Zwaluwen Voetbalverenging Zwaluwen Vlaardingen is a football club from Vlaardingen, Netherlands. The club was founded in 1935. Its first squad plays in the Hoofdklasse since 2010. History The first squad promoted to the Derde Klasse in 1946. Since, it ha ...

. He also works for

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 ...

as a goalkeeper coach on the club's academy.

Club career

Early career

De Jong was born in

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 people ...

and played in the youth teams of

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

, before moving to

, where he was a first-choice goalkeeper throughout Feyenoord's youth academy. However, he was unable to find playing time for the first team, with

Erwin Mulder Erwin Mulder (; born 3 March 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Go Ahead Eagles. He is a former Netherlands U20's international and also received a call up to the senior Netherlands side in 2012. Early life ...

and

Kostas Lamprou Kostas Lamprou ( gr, Κώστας Λάμπρου; born 18 September 1991) is a Greek professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Feyenoord. Club career Early year ...

ahead of him in the pecking order. In June 2013, it was announced that De Jong would be loaned to

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

for one season in order to gain first-team experience. However, he would only play one friendly match for Excelsior, as manager

Jon Dahl Tomasson Jon Dahl Tomasson (; born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player who is the current head coach of EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers. A forward, his most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, w ...

and his replacement

Marinus Dijkhuizen Marinus Dijkhuizen (born 4 January 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who manages Excelsior. As a player, he had notable spells in his native Netherlands with Excelsior, SC Cambuur and TOP Oss. He retired in 2009 a ...

both preferred

Jordy Deckers Jordy Deckers (born 20 June 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Veensche Boys. Club career He formerly played for AZ, Telstar, Ajax, Excelsior and VVV-Venlo. He joined FC Oss in September 2016, after a summe ...

as the starting goalkeeper. In January 2014, De Jong criticised Feyenoord for not supporting him at Excelsior.

PEC Zwolle

In the summer of 2014, De Jong moved to

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

on a free transfer, signing a contract for two seasons. In his first season, he made no appearances as third-choice goalkeeper behind Warner Hahn and

Kevin Begois Kevin Begois (born 13 May 1982) is a Belgian former football player who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently working as a goalkeeper coach for the youth sector of PSV Eindhoven. Coaching career After retiring at the end of the 2018-19, Bego ...

. In the 2015–16 season, Hahn left Zwolle, but De Jong remained third-choice, behind Begois and new signing

Mickey van der Hart Mickey van der Hart (born 13 June 1994) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Heerenveen. Club career Ajax Acquired into the Ajax Youth Academy from local amateur side Amsterdamsche FC in 2007, Van der Hart wor ...

. Nevertheless, on 19 December 2015, De Jong made his debut in the

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 ...

in an away match against PSV, being substituted on after half an hour due to an injury to Begois. PEC Zwolle manager

Ron Jans Ron Jans (, born 29 September 1958) is a Dutch football coach and former player, he currently is the head coach of Twente. Coaching career FC Groningen Born in Zwolle, Overijssel, Ron Jans joined FC Groningen on 2002, and was the longest-serv ...

considered his performance "a fine job." De Jong made one more appearance during the season, starting in the

Europa League play-offs The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

away match against

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

, which they lost 5–2. At the end of the season, his contract was not extended.

Telstar

On 23 June 2016, De Jong started training with SC Telstar. On 29 July 2016, it was announced that both parties had agreed to a one-season contract. De Jong made his debut for Telstar on 20 September 2016, playing in the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

away match against

JVC Cuijk JVC Cuijk is a Dutch association football club from Cuijk, Netherlands. The club was founded in 1931 and plays in Derde Divisie, the fourth tier of Dutch football, in the Sunday league. The team plays home games at Sportpark De Groenendijkse, whi ...

(3–1 win). Three days later, he made his

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 ...

league debut, replacing the injured Wesley Zonneveld in the fourth minute of the home match against

FC Eindhoven FC Eindhoven is a Dutch football club based in Eindhoven, North Brabant. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie (second tier of Dutch football), and are one of two professional clubs which are based in the city of Eindhoven, the other one bei ...

(1–4 loss). On 30 September, he started in the away match against

FC Den Bosch FC Den Bosch () is a football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadium is called 'De Vliert', an 8,500 all-seater. R ...

, keeping the first clean sheet of his senior career as the game ended 0–0. Due to a serious injury sustained by Zonneveld in January 2017, De Jong became the first choice goalkeeper for Telstar for the remainder of the season. He ended his first season with the club with 20 league appearances and 22 in total. At the start of the 2017–18 season, De Jong once again found himself second-choice, as the new head coach

Mike Snoei Mike Snoei (born 4 December 1963) is a former Dutch football player and manager. He is currently in charge of Eerste Divisie side Telstar. During his playing days, Snoei played for Excelsior and Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie and Eerste Di ...

preferred

Rody de Boer Rody may refer to: People ;Nicknames * Rodrigo Duterte (born 1945), former President of the Philippines, referred to as "DU30" and "Rody" * Roderick Rijnders (1941–2018), Dutch rower ;Surname * George E. Rody (1899–1956), U.S. basketball coach ...

as the starting goalkeeper.

Anderlecht

On 24 August 2017, it was announced that De Jong had joined Belgian champions

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 ...

, as a replacement for

Davy Roef Davy Roef (born 6 February 1994) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Gent. Club career Early career Roef spent time with several clubs in his youth, such as Beerschot A.C., KFCO Beerschot Wilrijk, and Anderlecht. Anderlecht Ro ...

. According to De Jong, he was signed as third goalkeeper behind

Matz Sels Matz Willy Els Sels (born 26 February 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Strasbourg and the Belgium national team. Club career Lierse SK Sels started his youth career at Kontich, but transferre ...

and

Frank Boeckx Frank Boeckx (; born 27 September 1986) is a retired Belgian football goalkeeper. He became Sint Truiden's first-choice goalkeeper in February 2007, replacing Bart Deelkens between the posts. Before that he had also been playing in the teams o ...

. Since his father Max de Jong already worked at Anderlecht as goalkeeper coach, allegations of

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

were made, but De Jong denied that it was his father who decided on the transfer. On 21 January 2018, during a league away match against

Genk Genk () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. I ...

, De Jong was on the substitute bench for the first time, replacing the injured Boeckx. For the remainder of the season, he served as back-up goalkeeper due to Boeckx' long-term injury, but did not make an appearance. On 22 June 2018, De Jong signed a contract extension, keeping him at the club for one more year. During the 2018–19 season, he again did not feature in an official match, being third-choice goalkeeper behind new signing Thomas Didillon and Boeckx. At the end of the season, his contract was not extended, upon which De Jong expressed his fondness of the club and having had the experience of

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

matches during his time there.

Stellenbosch

On 4 July 2019, it was announced De Jong had signed a contract with South African club Stellenbosch F.C., who were newly promoted to the country's highest division. On 3 August 2019, he made his debut for Stellenbosch in the first league match of the season, starting and keeping a clean sheet in the 0–0 draw against

Chippa United Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) is a South African professional football club based in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province, having previously being based in Nyanga suburb of the city of Cape Town. The club' ...

. On 26 March 2020, it was announced De Jong had terminated his contract with the club to return to the Netherlands, in the light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In total, De Jong played 17 league matches for Stellenbosch.

Later career

In June 2020, De Jong joined Dutch

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie ( en, Second Division) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and b ...

club

VV Katwijk Voetbal Vereniging Katwijk is a Dutch football team founded in 1939, based in Katwijk, currently competing in the Dutch Tweede Divisie. History Katwijk have become Dutch amateur champions, by winning the overall Topklasse title in 2012–13. As ...

. In October 2020, he was also hired as a goalkeeper coach at the academy of his former club,

. In the summer 2021, De Jong then moved to

, after the deal was confirmed in March 2021.

International career

As a

youth player, De Jong played in various Netherlands national youth teams. He was the starting goalkeeper of the Netherlands team which was victorious at the 2011 European Under-17 Championship.

Personal life

On 5 August 2018, De Jong became a father. His partner gave birth to a daughter, named Philou Lovée.

Career statistics

¹ Includes

and

matches. ² Includes

Johan Cruyff Shield 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 ...

and Play-off matches.

Honours

Club

; PEC Zwolle *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

International

; Netherlands U17 * European Under-17 Championship:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Boy de 1994 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Feyenoord players Excelsior Rotterdam players PEC Zwolle players SC Telstar players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Stellenbosch F.C. players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Dutch expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Netherlands men's youth international footballers Sportspeople from Voorburg Tweede Divisie players VV Katwijk players ADO Den Haag players VSV TONEGIDO players VV Zwaluwen players Footballers from South Holland