Damian van Bruggen (born 18 March 1996) 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 lea ...

who plays for

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

. Mainly a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he can also play as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or a full-back.

Club career

Van Bruggen moved from

Almere City Almere City Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Netherlands. Founded in 2001, the club currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, following relegation from the Eredivisie in 2024–25 Eredivisie, 20 ...

to the

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

youth academy at the start of the 2011–12 season. In March 2013, Van Bruggen signed his first professional contract with Ajax, at the age of 16. Van Bruggen made his professional debut for

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

as a 61st-minute substitute for

Ricardo van Rhijn Ricardo van Rhijn (born 13 June 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club AFC. Club career Early career Born to an Antillean mother and a Dutch father, Van Rhijn began his football career at RKSV DoCoS, wh ...

in an

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

match against

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; ) is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was establi ...

on 16 August 2014. He moved on a season-long loan to

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

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

in August 2017. After a successful season, he joined the club on a permanent deal in May 2018. Between 2020 and 2022, Van Bruggen played for Croatian clubs

Inter Zaprešić Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Fi ...

and

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in ...

, then briefly joined Slovenian side Olimpija Ljubljana in February 2022. He returned to his native Netherlands in July 2022, rejoining his first club, Almere City. His stint at the club proved rewarding as he played a crucial role in their historic promotion to the Eredivisie during the 2022–23 season, scoring once in 43 league appearances, including the play-offs. Under Van Bruggen's

captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

, the team secured their promotion after a victory over Emmen in the play-off finals. On 5 July 2024,

club

confirmed that they had signed van Bruggen on a deal until 30 June 2026.

Career statistics

References

External links

* *
Netherlands profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruggen, Damian van 1996 births Living people Footballers from Utrecht (city) Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football central defenders Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Croatian Football League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Jong Ajax players Jong PSV players VVV-Venlo players NK Inter Zaprešić players NK Slaven Belupo players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players Almere City FC players Vejle Boldklub players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Denmark 21st-century Dutch sportsmen