Frans Thijssen (born 23 January 1952) is a Dutch former

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 ...

. He started his professional career in 1970 with

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion fr ...

. In 1973, he moved to

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

, where the midfielder played for nearly six seasons. Thijssen won fourteen caps for Holland between 1975 and 1981. In 1979, he moved to England to sign for

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

joining former FC Twente teammate

Arnold Mühren Arnold Johannes Hyacinthus Mühren (born 2 June 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. His older brother Gerrie, also a midfield player, won three European Cup titles with Ajax in the early 1970s. Mühren is among the few play ...

. In 1981 he was the first Dutchman to be voted English Footballer of the Year as he helped Ipswich Town win 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 Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

, scoring one goal in each of the two legs of the final. He played a big part in their run to the semi finals of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, and they also finished second in the league that season. He helped them finish second again the following year, but a year later he departed from

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...

after four years to sign for Brian Clough's

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, but he was not nearly as successful at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when E ...

as he had been in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

, and he had left the club within months. He also had a stint in the NASL with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

. In 1984, he returned to his native country, to play for

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

(1984–1987),

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 ...

(1987–1988) and

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

(1988–1991). After his active career he became a football manager. In 1997, he became manager for the Swedish club

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

and spent two years there. After several seasons without success, Thijssen was sacked as manager for Malmö FF during the middle of season 1998. At the time of his dismissal Malmö was in danger of being relegated to the first division (Superettan) for the first time in the club's history. Thijssen was replaced by

Roland Andersson Åke-Erik Roland Andersson (born 28 March 1950) is a former Swedish football player and coach. His most recent job was that as the assistant coach of the Nigeria national team under Lars Lagerbäck. As a player, he played for Malmö FF and D ...

and

Thomas Sjöberg Thomas Sjöberg (born 6 July 1952) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. A full international between 1974 and 1981, he won 45 caps for the Sweden national team and represented his country at the 1978 FIFA Wor ...

. On 24 November 2014, Thijssen was named interim coach of the

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

in the Australian

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

FC Twente *

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 ...

: 1976–77 Ipswich Town *

: 1980–81 Vitesse Arnhem *

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 ...

: 1988–89 Individual * Ipswich Town Player of the Year: 1979–80 * Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year: 1980–81 *

Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

1980–81 *

Player of the Year: 1987–88 * Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2008

References

External links

Dutch Players Abroad site for Thijssen

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thijssen, Frans 1952 births Living people People from Heumen Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers Dutch football managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Ipswich Town F.C. players Fortuna Sittard players NEC Nijmegen players Nottingham Forest F.C. players FC Twente players FC Groningen players SBV Vitesse players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players English Football League players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate soccer players in Canada Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Canada SBV Vitesse managers De Graafschap managers Malmö FF managers Expatriate football managers in Sweden Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Al-Wakrah SC managers Fortuna Sittard managers Qatar SC managers UEFA Euro 1980 players Association football midfielders UEFA Cup winning players Juliana '31 players Expatriate soccer managers in Australia A-League Men managers Brisbane Roar FC managers Footballers from Gelderland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Australia