Johannes Adrianus "Hans" Vonk (; born 30 January 1970) is a retired
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
n professional
football 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 ...
of
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
parentage who last played for
Ajax Cape Town FC
Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ma ...
.
Career
Netherlands
Vonk began his professional career at
RKC Waalwijk
RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...
where he made 25 appearances in three seasons. He became first-choice goal keeper for
FC Wageningen, but was forced to leave after just one season, when the club went bankrupt and ceased to exist. Vonk returned to
North Brabant
North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...
where he played for
FC Den Bosch, before joining his first club RKC, this time as their first keeper. His breakthrough came with his transfer to
sc Heerenveen
Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands.
History
Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...
, a club on the rise. They reached a domestic cup final in 1996–97 and finished second in the league in 1999–2000, resulting in
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 competi ...
football the next season. After eight years, Vonk was approaching the autumn of his career. He left Heerenveen to become third-choice goalkeeper for Ajax behind
Maarten Stekelenburg
Maarten Stekelenburg (; born 22 September 1982) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Ajax.
Stekelenburg began his career at Ajax, playing 282 matches over nine seasons in his first spell there and win ...
and
Bogdan Lobonț
Bogdan Ionuț Lobonț (; born 18 January 1978) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper.
He amassed 86 appearances for the Romania national team between 1998 and 2018, representing the country in ...
. In a surprising turn of events, Vonk managed to play 26 games in two seasons.
First stint at South Africa
After 18 years of professional playing Vonk left the Netherlands to return to his country of birth, and played 2 seasons for Ajax' satellite club,
Ajax Cape Town
Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ...
. He was terminated from his contract after a conflict with the coach of Ajax Cape Town, which made him a free agent.
Return to Netherlands
Ajax signed him due to injury problems with their current goalkeepers
Maarten Stekelenburg
Maarten Stekelenburg (; born 22 September 1982) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Ajax.
Stekelenburg began his career at Ajax, playing 282 matches over nine seasons in his first spell there and win ...
and
Dennis Gentenaar, leaving the Amsterdam club with only one professional goalkeeper left:
Kenneth Vermeer
Kenneth Harold Vermeer (born 10 January 1986) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati.
A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Vermeer has played for Jong Ajax, Willem II on loan, ...
. In the winter transfer window of 2008–09, with the regular Ajax keepers back in shape, he once again moved to an old club, Heerenveen to become second-choice goalkeeper behind
Brian Vandenbussche. He soon took over Vandenbussche's spot and played several league games, and another cup final, which Heerenveen won.
Second spell at Ajax Cape Town
Continuing his tour amongst clubs he'd already played for, Vonk once again moved, this time back to his homeland South Africa, to play for Ajax Cape Town, citing family reasons, as well as sensing an opportunity to make the Bafana Bafana World Cup 2010 squad.
International
Vonk played once for the
Netherlands national under-20 football team
The Netherlands national under-19 football team represents the Netherlands at this age level and is governed by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond — KNVB.
They compete in international competitions like the UEFA European Under-19 Champions ...
in a 3–1 win against Denmark. He played the second half coming on as a substitute for
John Karelse.
Vonk made his debut for the
South African national team in May 1998 and was first choice goalkeeper for the
1998 FIFA World Cup as well as an unused substitute for
Andre Arendse
Andre Leander Arendse (born 27 June 1967) is a South African former soccer player who played as a goalkeeper.
He now works as an assistant and goalkeeper coach for Supersport United and has also been a co-presenter with SuperSport.
Playing ...
at the
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...
. Vonk announced his retirement for Bafana Bafana in 2005 after South Africa failed to qualify for the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, after earning a total of 43 caps.
Honours
Club
Ajax
*
KNVB Cup:
2005–06
Ajax Cape Town
*
Telkom Knockout
The Telkom Knockout was a South African professional football knockout competition which comprised the 16 teams in the South African Premier Soccer League.
The competition was established in 1982 and was first known as the Datsun Challenge. Unde ...
:
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
*
Nedbank Cup
The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's premier club soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance t ...
: 2007
*
Mangaung Cup
The Old Mutual Mangaung Cup is an annual pre-season association football tournament. The cup is sponsored by Old Mutual Emerging Markets, a Licensed Financial Services Provider.
References
External linksOfficial site
{{Football in South Afr ...
: 2007, 2008
Heerenveen
*
KNVB Cup:
2008–09
International
South Africa
*
Africa Cup of Nations third place:
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
References
External links
Vonk signs for Ajax Cape Town from bbc.co.uk*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vonk, Hans
1970 births
Living people
South African soccer players
Men's association football goalkeepers
RKC Waalwijk players
FC Wageningen players
FC Den Bosch players
Netherlands men's youth international footballers
Directors of football clubs in the Netherlands
SC Heerenveen players
AFC Ajax players
Cape Town Spurs F.C. players
Eredivisie players
Eerste Divisie players
South Africa men's international soccer players
1998 FIFA World Cup players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2000 African Cup of Nations players
2002 African Cup of Nations players
South African expatriate soccer players
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
South African expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
South African people of Dutch descent
Afrikaner people
People from Alberton, Gauteng
Soccer players from Gauteng
SC Heerenveen non-playing staff