Jan Bens (15 April 1921 – 12 May 2012) was a Dutch professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and coach; he was also an amateur boxer and trainer.

Football career

Playing career

Born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Bens joined hometown club

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 ...

at the age of 12 and made his senior debut at the age of 17. In a match against

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), by the ancient Greek ...

on 6 December 1942, Bens became the first player ever to be sent off in

De Klassieker De Klassieker (''The Classic'') is the main football rivalry of the Netherlands, between Ajax (of Amsterdam) and Feyenoord (of Rotterdam). The record attendance was on 9 January 1966, when 65,562 watched in Rotterdam. History Amsterdam vs Rott ...

, after punching Ajax goalkeeper Gerrit Keizer. He scored 25 goals in 76 first team games for Feyenoord. In 2007, he was the last surviving Feyenoord player from before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He left Feyenoord for

EBOH Eendracht Brengt Ons Hoger (EBOH) is a Dutch current amateur and former professional association football club from Dordrecht. The club was founded in 1921 and played in professional football from 1954 to 1962. Its first squad currently plays in 2 ...

in 1947.

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Bens became a manager and coach, working in both the Netherlands and Australia with

Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles () are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in the 2020-21 season. The club's h ...

, DFC,

SC Cambuur 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 ...

, Ringwood City Wilhelmina and SVV.

Boxing career

Bens had a career as an amateur boxer, alongside his football career. He also trained professional boxer Lolle van Houten.

Later life and death

Bens died on 12 May 2012, at the age of 91.

References

1921 births 2012 deaths Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch footballers Feyenoord players Dutch football managers FC Dordrecht managers SC Cambuur managers SV SVV managers Dutch male boxers Association footballers not categorized by position EBOH players {{Netherlands-footy-bio-stub