Danny Buijs (born 21 June 1982) is a Dutch professional football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player and current manager. He is currently unemployed after most recently managing Belgian First Division A side K.V. Mechelen.

Early life

Buijs was born in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

and raised in

Alblasserdam Alblasserdam () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It covers an area of , of which is water, and has a population of as of . Alblasserdam is officially a part of the Drechtsteden region. A po ...

. When he was six years old he joined local amateur side VV Alblasserdam where his father and uncle played in the first team, while his grandfather was a staff member.Danny Buijs spelers info
, feyenoord.nl When he was nine years old his VV Alblasserdam team faced Strijen, the team where

Geert Meijer Geert Meijer (born 15 March 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. Playing career Born in Sellingen, Meijer played as a left winger, and began his professional career in 1972 with FC Amsterdam. After moving to city r ...

's son played. Meijer was assistant manager of

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), 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 bef ...

in these days and was impressed by Buijs' skills that match and offered him a trial at Feyenoord. The trial was a success and Buijs joined Feyenoord's youth system.

Club career

Early career

In total he would play ten years at Varkenoord, Feyenoord's youth complex. His development from team to team went without any trouble and his team featured about seven times in a pre-match in

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

. When he reached the A-level status in youth football he played in Feyenoord's A1 team on Saturdays and in Sportclub Feijenoord's (Feyenoord amateur side) team in the Hoofdklasse for about half a season. His time in the A1 team was a successful period and under manager

Henk van Stee Henk van Stee (, born 17 December 1961 in Rotterdam, South Holland) is a former football midfielder from the Netherlands, who played for Sparta Rotterdam and De Graafschap. He retired in 1990, and became a football manager, who worked for Sp ...

they became the Dutch national champions twice. They also won all international events they participated in. Buijs was a regular goalscorer, was captain of the team and was able to train with the first team squad every now and then. He also joined the first team squad to friendly matches against amateur sides.

Feyenoord and Excelsior

When Buijs came closer to his debut in professional football he realised that he was still skilled enough to compete with

Brett Emerton Brett Michael Emerton (born 22 February 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played for Sydney Olympic, Sydney FC, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Blackburn Rovers and the Australia national team. Able to play as a wide midfielder or ...

for his right back position and he asked the Feyenoord staff whether he could move to Feyenoord's satellite club

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 ...

on loan. At first Feyenoord did not want to cooperate as they positioned him in their second team, but 6 months later he eventually was allowed to go. Excelsior played in the

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 t ...

and were contenders for the title. On 8 March 2002 Buijs made his professional debut in Excelsior's 3–0 home win over

Cambuur Leeuwarden SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 Ee ...

. They did not become the league champions but gained promotion to 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 ...

through the promotion play-offs at the end of the season. In the Eredivisie he was a first team regular for Excelsior, but they struggled to compete with the other teams and relegated back into the Eerste Divisie straight away. Buijs almost moved to Sparta Rotterdam as Henk van Stee almost became their manager, but when he eventually became Excelsior's new manager he decided to stay and play another year on Eerste Divisie level. That year Excelsior lost the title on the last matchday of the season and they were unable to win promotion through the promotion play-offs as well. Feyenoord wanted to extend his contract, but for the same salary as he already received from his first professional contract. Other teams that showed interest were Vitesse Arnhem,

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 Divisi ...

and FC Groningen. Eventually he decided to sign a contract with FC Groningen and leave Feyenoord.

FC Groningen

At FC Groningen he had a successful period. When he came to the club he said in an interview he wanted to achieve European football at his new club. Nobody took his words serious and Martin Drent even asked him if he was nuts. He started as a right back with

Kurt Elshot Kurt Elshot (born 3 July 1977) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He usually played as a defender in a right back position. He has formerly played for FC Groningen and NAC Breda. Club career Youth Elshot was born in Paramaribo, Surina ...

as the right midfielder. This did not turn out to be a success and due to several injuries Buijs eventually became a defensive midfielder and the following season he exclusively played as a right midfielder. In this season FC Groningen qualified for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

in the 2006–07 season. Buijs started that season at FC Groningen, played two Eredivisie matches and his efforts at Groningen earned him a transfer back to his beloved Feyenoord.

Return to Feyenoord

He had always said that if Feyenoord wanted to have him back he would return there. Buijs had been a member of Het Legioen himself for 10 years and has an intense relationship with the fans at the club. His first season since his return was no success as Feyenoord finished on the seventh position in the Eredivisie and missed out on European football for the first time in many years. Buijs was often criticised in the media, but for the fans he is still one of the most popular players at the club.

ADO Den Haag

In the summer of 2009, Buijs joined ADO Den Haag, after already being on loan with the team for half a season. He signed a contract for two years. However, ADO Den Haag struggled in the Eredivisie in Bujis first season there and, on 14 April 2010, English Football League Championship side

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

announced they had agreed a deal to sign Buijs for the start of the 2010–11 season. They pulled out of the deal, however, following the signing of

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

John Brayford John Robert Brayford (born 29 December 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Burton Albion. Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, he began his career at Burton Albion, which was then a non-League club, before ...

Kilmarnock

On 1 July 2011, Buijs signed a one-year deal with Scottish Premier League club Kilmarnock. Buijs made his debut in a 0–0 draw against Motherwell at Rugby Park on Saturday 30 July 2011. On 18 March, Buijs played in the 2012 Scottish League Cup Final which Kilmarnock won after beating

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

1–0. Buijs started the game and was substituted for Lee Johnson after 20 minutes due to an injury.

Sparta Rotterdam

In the summer of 2012, Buijs signed a one-year deal with Sparta Rotterdam.

Coaching career

On 1 June 2022, Buijs was hired by Belgian club Mechelen. On 17 October 2022 he was sacked and replaced by assistant Steven Defour.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Feyenoord * KNVB Cup: 2007–08 Kilmarnock *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

External links

Voetbal International profile

Official Feyenoord profile

References

Voetbal International website and 2007/2008 presentation magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buijs, Danny 1982 births Living people Footballers from Dordrecht Dutch footballers Association football midfielders Excelsior Rotterdam players FC Groningen players Feyenoord players ADO Den Haag players Kilmarnock F.C. players Sparta Rotterdam players Kozakken Boys players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Derde Divisie players Scottish Premier League players Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland Dutch football managers Kozakken Boys managers FC Groningen managers K.V. Mechelen managers Eredivisie managers Belgian Pro League managers Dutch expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium