Jeroen Verhoeven () (born 30 April 1980, in

Naarden Naarden () is a city and former municipality in the Gooi region in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren since 2016. History Naarden was granted its city rights in 1300 (the only t ...

) 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 ...

who last played as a

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 ...

for

ASV De Dijk Amsterdamse Sport Vereniging De Dijk are a Dutch amateur association football club from the Amsterdam borough of Amsterdam-Noord, in the neighborhood of Schellingwoude. The club was founded on 1 June 1999 out of a fusion of two clubs, Rood Wit-A ...

in the Dutch Hoofdklasse. He also played for

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 ...

, FC Volendam,

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

and FC Utrecht in the span of his 17-year career as a professional goalkeeper in the Netherlands.

Career

He started his career in

's youth academy. He played for FC Volendam between 2002 and 2009. In July 2009, Ajax signed the goalkeeper from Volendam on a three-year deal, meaning Verhoeven returned to Amsterdam after seven years. Ajax deployed him as backup for

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

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, ...

. He made his debut for Ajax in 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 ...

on 24 October 2010, coming on as a second-half substitute for the injured Stekelenburg. In this match he helped his team to a 2–2 draw with

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 ...

by making three saves in the closing minutes. In the summer of 2012, Verhoeven was released by Ajax and signed a deal with FC Utrecht, where he served as second goalkeeper behind Robbin Ruiter. In August 2015, he signed a one-year deal with former club FC Volendam. He announced his retirement from professional football on 6 May 2016. On 28 November 2017 he announced his retirement from football altogether after an injury plagued season with

playing in the Dutch Hoofdklasse.Jeroen Verhoeven zet door aanhoudend blessureleed punt achter loopbaan
(Dutch). Voetbalzone. 28 November 2017. Verhoeven was often teased about his large waistline, which is uncharacteristic for a keeper, by opposing fans. In one match against ADO Den Haag during the 2010–11 season, the home supporters showered him with chants of "Pizza!" when he touched the ball.

References

External links

Official website

1980 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players RKC Waalwijk players FC Volendam players AFC Ajax players FC Utrecht players Sportspeople from Naarden ASV De Dijk players Footballers from North Holland {{Netherlands-footy-goalkeeper-stub