Johannes Gerrit "Johan" Derksen (born 31 January 1949) is a Dutch
sports journalist
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
and former
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player. He played
professional football
In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
between 1966 and 1978 for six clubs:
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 ...
,
Cambuur
SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch Association football, football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league sy ...
,
Veendam
Veendam () is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck.
A Holland America Line cruise ship ...
,
HFC Haarlem,
SV Meppen
SV Meppen is a German association football club playing in Meppen, Lower Saxony. The club was founded on 29 November 1912 as ''Amisia Meppen'' and joined ''Männer-Turnverein Meppen'' on 8 February 1920 to form ''TuS Meppen 1912''. The football ...
and
MVV Maastricht
Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eerst ...
. During and after his footballing career, he became a sports journalist, specialising in football. He was the
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
of ''
Voetbal International
''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running.
History and Profile
''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM but l ...
'', the Netherlands' most prominent football magazine, from 2000 until his retirement in 2013. Derksen was while working at Voetbal International and after his retirement a television football pundit on
RTL7's ''Voetbal International'' and ''Veronica Inside'' on
Veronica TV
Veronica is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial television channel currently a part of Talpa TV ( Talpa Network). The channel was launched as TV10 Gold on 1 May 1995, then became TV10, Fox, Fox 8 and V8, before becoming Veronica on 20 September ...
. His current TV talkshow is ''Vandaag Inside'' on
SBS6
SBS6 is a Dutch free-to-air, free-to-cable commercial television channel, TV channel and is a part of Talpa TV, formerly known as SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are Net5, Vero ...
.
Early life
Derksen was born as an only child in
Heteren
Heteren is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Overbetuwe, about 12 km southwest of Arnhem on the south bank of the Rhine. Heteren was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became a part o ...
,
Gelderland
Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...
into a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
family. He described his father as being a very strict policeman, both professionally and at home. Derksen stated that his father wanted him to become a professional
football player
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 ...
instead of a
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...
; Derksen was already a member of local football team SDOO Heteren.
When he was a teenager, his family moved to
Drenthe
Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...
, where he later played for
amateur football clubs Nieuw-Buinen and Rolder Boys. Derksen then moved to
Deventer
Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...
to join the
youth academy
In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...
of
professional football
In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
club
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 ...
.
[(Dutch)]
Club career
Go Ahead Eagles (1966–1968)
Go Ahead Eagles were known for having one of the Netherlands' most successful youth academies. Derksen was one of the six players in the club's
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
, together with
Oeki Hoekema
Uilke Piebe "Oeki" Hoekema (born 28 January 1949) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a forward for Go Ahead Eagles, PSV, De Graafschap, Lierse SK, ADO Den Haag, Cambuur
SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply ...
,
André van der Leij
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...
,
Ger Veerman,
Herman Tieselink and
Tiny Broers
Tiny may refer to: Kane
Places
* Tiny, Ontario, a township in Canada
* Tiny, Virginia, an unincorporated community in the US
* Tiny Glacier, Wyoming, US
Computing
* Tiny BASIC, a dialect of the computer programming language BASIC
* Tiny Encry ...
.
In 1968, the 19-year-old
left-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
signed a one-year-contract with
Cambuur
SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch Association football, football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league sy ...
.
Cambuur (1968–1972)
He made his debut on 1 August 1968 in a
friendly against
PEC Zwolle
PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...
, and quickly developed into a reliable defender notorious for his rough playing style. His contract was later extended by another year.
In a game against
Vitesse, he
injured
Major trauma is any injury that has the potential to cause prolonged disability or death. There are many causes of major trauma, blunt and penetrating, including falls, motor vehicle collisions, stabbing wounds, and gunshot wounds. Depending ...
his knee and was forced to decline an invitation from the Dutch military football team. He did not return before the start of the next season. After fulfilling his
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...
, he was employed as a textile salesman, as Cambuur was a
semi-professional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...
club. In the summer of 1972, Derksen was transferred to
Veendam
Veendam () is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck.
A Holland America Line cruise ship ...
.
Veendam (1972–1975)
In 1973, in Veendam's
away match against Cambuur, Derksen received a
yellow card
Yellow card may refer to:
* Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas
* Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band
* Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...
from
referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
Gerard Jonker. Derksen later made a harsh foul by charging Cambuur's
centre-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
Sietse Visser in a
scrimmage, leaving Visser severely injured; Jonker did not send Derksen off. Cambuur's chanted insults at Derksen, who gave
the finger
In Western culture, "the finger", or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger, the bird or flipping someone off) is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent i ...
to the crowd. The police later closed the gates to ensure Veendam would be granted a safe passage home. Cambuur won the game 3–1.
According to some bystanders Derksen had threatened the Cambuur players that they "would indeed get a good licking". Derksen's charge fueled the debate on the ever more violent behaviour shown on the pitch. Derksen received a monetary fine (150
fl.) and was suspended for four games. His colleagues
Dick Nanninga
Dirk Jacobus Willem "Dick" Nanninga (17 January 1949 – 21 July 2015) was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward. At club level, he played for Dutch sides BV Veendam, Roda JC and MVV Maastricht. He also had a short spell with Hong Kong club ...
(3 matches, 100 fl. fine) and Jan Bont (1 match, 100 fl.) were also punished by the
Arbitration
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...
committee.
A week later, Veendam put Johan Derksen on the transfer list. Veendam stated his behaviour in the match against Cambuur was "the
last straw".
Despite rumours of a fl. 15.000 transfer agreement with
FC VVV, no deal was concluded and Derksen stayed in
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
for another season. A year later, he was released by Veendam. He stated in the press that only five players (including himself) were good enough to play 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 the ...
.
In the January transfer window of 1975,
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
signed Derksen on a half-year deal.
Haarlem (1975–1976)
Derksen immediately made an impression; he formed the link Haarlem's defence had missed, and his contract was extended by a year. Haarlem, with Derksen, took the
1975–76 Eerste Divisie
The Dutch Eerste Divisie in the 1975–76 season was contested by 19 teams. HFC Haarlem won the championship.
New entrants
Relegated from the 1974–75 Eredivisie
* HFC Haarlem
* FC Wageningen
League standings
Promotion competition
In the p ...
title and won
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
back 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 ...
.
SV Meppen (1976–1977)
In 1976, he signed for
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
team
SV Meppen
SV Meppen is a German association football club playing in Meppen, Lower Saxony. The club was founded on 29 November 1912 as ''Amisia Meppen'' and joined ''Männer-Turnverein Meppen'' on 8 February 1920 to form ''TuS Meppen 1912''. The football ...
, who were playing in the
Oberliga Nord
The Oberliga Nord was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany. It covered the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. With the introduction of the 3. Liga, the league ceased to exist f ...
, the
third tier of German football. Derksen, who lived in
Emmen, wanted to play for a more local club; Meppen is situated across the German-Dutch border, while Haarlem is located in western Netherlands.
In November 1976, Derksen made a TV appearance in the "Mini-voetbalshow" (English: mini football show), a
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...
tournament and an initiative of
VI and
NCRV
NCRV (Nederlandse Christelijke Radio Vereniging) (English: Dutch Christian Radio Association) was a public radio and television broadcaster in the Netherlands, mostly transmitting on NPO 1 and NPO 2.
On 1 January 2014, NCRV merged with KRO to for ...
, representing the Northern Netherlands football team.
In 1977, Derksen was named the coach of the Northern Netherlands team.
He did not play professional football for eight months. In the spring of 1977, he signed a contract with
MVV Maastricht
Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eerst ...
. The 28-year-old defender signed a provisional contract valid until the end of the season. He was signed to replace
John Webb, who departed for the United States to serve out his outstanding contract with
Chicago Sting
The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1 ...
.
MVV Maastricht (1977)
Although Derksen did not play football for a long time, he did very well in his first games. His manager
George Knobel
George Knobel (10 December 1922 – 5 May 2012) was a Dutch football manager.
Knobel was born and died in Roosendaal. He was the coach of the Netherlands national football team for 15 matches (9 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses) from 1974 to 1976. Durin ...
stated: "I am very happy with Johan Derksen. He has the experience to deal with this kind of thing." In an article published in ''
Voetbal International
''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running.
History and Profile
''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM but l ...
'', Derksen asked "what the world had come to when creative players in the Eerste Divisie cannot freely practice their job", after which he was widely criticised. Derksen was noted as one of the most aggressive players in the Eerste Divisie.
Career statistics
Source:
Journalistic career
After his professional footballing career, he focused mainly on his journalistic career. Derksen started writing in the regional daily ''
Dagblad De Noord-Ooster'', later becoming an editor for the ''
Winschoter Courant'' and ''
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden
The ''Nieuwsblad van het Noorden'' (; "Newspaper of the North") is a former regional daily newspaper from the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. It was published from 1888 to 2002, when it was merged with the ''Groninger Dagblad'' and the ' ...
''. Starting on 1 February 1977, he was employed by weekly magazine ''Voetbal International'' (VI). Since 2000 he was the magazine's
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
. He confessed to have written for VI before as a side job, using the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
s "Gerrit Westers" and "Freek Zoontjes", without his employer's permission.
Cambuur incident
Johan Derksen claimed in VI that Cambuur had paid a large sum of money to keep
Oeki Hoekema
Uilke Piebe "Oeki" Hoekema (born 28 January 1949) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a forward for Go Ahead Eagles, PSV, De Graafschap, Lierse SK, ADO Den Haag, Cambuur
SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply ...
from being suspended. According to Derksen,
Vlaardingen
Vlaardingen () is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas river at the confluence with the Oude Maas. The municipality administers an area of , of which is land, with residents in .
Geogr ...
player Herman den Haag had received a few
banknote
A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand.
Banknotes w ...
s from a Cambuur official whilst on the toilet. ''
De Volkskrant
''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000.
Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...
'' called
KNVB
The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...
official Van Zon, who stated he had laughed very hard when he heard the claims: "Money handed out on the toilet? How did he come up with that? I have seen it with my own eyes: the Cambuur representative gave the cash to the witnesses. No, not on the toilet but in public in the bar of our restaurant. It wasn't much money either, If I recall correctly it was fl. 50. Those few ten-guilder notes aren't even enough to cover the witnesses' expenses, since all the witnesses had to travel from
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 ...
to here. The KNVB pays fl. 0.35 per kilometre." "Quite a crappy story indeed, Derksen wrote, but then again, that's what we're accustomed to. You wanna know who were present in court at the time? Me, another journalist and a man with a
tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...
. Derksen wasn't there. Probably on the toilet."
Becoming CEO of BV Veendam
In the spring of 2002, Derksen agreed to become the new CEO of Veendam. He would lead the club together with manager
Jan Korte and quit his job as editor-in-chief of ''Voetbal International'' immediately, where he had worked for almost 25 years. Two days after he was presented as successor of
Henk Nienhuis he reversed his decision. He did not agree to the contract presented to him because of the retirement arrangements. Derksen called the contract "outrageous and shameless".
Controversies
In his role as panelist in various television programmes, Derksen has been occasionally criticized for his jokes and remarks against women,
ethnic minorities
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
and the
gay community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...
. In 2020, during the aftermath of the
murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
, some Dutch football players and advertisers criticized him for minimizing racism in the Netherlands, and for joking about a
Zwarte Piet
Zwarte Piet (; lb, Schwaarze Péiter, fy, Swarte Pyt), also known in English by the translated name Black Pete, is the companion of Saint Nicholas ( nl, Sinterklaas, fy, Sinteklaas, lb, Kleeschen) in the folklore of the Low Countries. The ...
protester as possibly being black Dutch rapper Akwasi.
Derksen compared the protester with the rapper in a cynical manner, later inciting "I had never heard of Akwasi. I saw him yelling and inciting violence during the
Black_Lives_Matter">nowiki/>Black_Lives_Matter.html" ;"title="Black_Lives_Matter.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Black Lives Matter">nowiki/>Black Lives Matter">Black_Lives_Matter.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Black Lives Matter">nowiki/>Black Lives Matterprotest at the Dam Square. It was a peaceful and good demonstration. How is it possible that such a person hijacks a demonstration?" Broadcaster Veronica TV, Veronica refused to reprimand Derksen,
and he did not withdraw his words nor apologized. A number of companies reconsidered their advertising contracts with the programme ''Veronica Inside''. Furthermore, internationals of the
Dutch national football team
The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Du ...
decided to boycott the programme.
In April 2022, Derksen stated in his TV talkshow ''Vandaag Inside'' that during his tenure at Veendam he and the club's
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 ...
had "penetrated an unconscious woman with a candle"; according to Derksen "technically a
prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
could have seen the act as
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
."
Derksen qualified the incident as a "youthful error".
The following day, several prominent Dutch people stated that Derksen should be banned from TV.
Dutch prosecutors did open inquiry "aimed at establishing the truth of possible criminal behaviour that was discussed in that programme.”
Derksen himself refused to make apologies for the incident claiming "it happened in the
zeitgeist
In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history.
Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...
of then." On 27 April, he did retract the sexual assault story, claiming he had not penetrated the woman but had put a candle between her legs.
Veendam's goalkeeper, Dick Ploeger, stated he could not remember the event and that he could not imagine the story to be true. Derksen's colleagues at ''Vandaag Inside'',
René van der Gijp
René van der Gijp (born 4 April 1961) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger for Sparta Rotterdam, Lokeren, PSV, Neuchâtel Xamax, Aarau and Heerenveen, as well as for the Netherlands national team. Since r ...
and
Johan Boskamp
Johannes "Johan/Jan" Boskamp (born 21 October 1948) is a Dutch former football player and manager.
He played the majority of his career for hometown club Feyenoord and Belgian side RWDM and managed primarily in the Belgian leagues. Currently he ...
, claimed Derksen's story was fabricated. Derksen and his colleagues at ''Vandaag Inside'' quit the program on 29 April; but they and ''Vandaag Inside'' returned on television on 16 May 2022.
The criminal inquiry into the case was closed on 2 June 2022; prosecutors had questioned Derksen but the case was dismissed due to the facts could not be established.
The alleged victim was not questioned because she had not been identified.
Personal life
Derksen has been married three times. At age 41 he lost his wife in an accident, leaving him and a twelve-year-old daughter behind. He remarried a younger wife with whom he has one daughter. After a year they divorced. He then met and married his current wife; they do not have children together, but his
step-son is also working at ''Voetbal International'' as a photographer. Derksen is a
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and a staunch
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
.
Music
Derksen's greatest passion is music. He has been a fan of
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
. As an adolescent, he met singer
Harry Muskee
Harry "Cuby" Muskee (10 June 1941 – 26 September 2011) was the singer of the blues band Cuby + Blizzards, which he co-founded with Eelco Gelling.
Muskee was born in Assen, and died in Rolde aged 70.
Biography
Muskee was born in the Wilhelmin ...
of the Dutch
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
band
Cuby & the Blizzards
Cuby + Blizzards, also known as Cuby & the Blizzards, were a Dutch blues group, founded in 1964 by vocalist Harry Muskee and guitarist Eelco Gelling.Larkin C ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) p 137 During the 1960s, ...
, who became his idol. In 1972, the band dissolved; in 1996, Derksen and businessmen
Henk Aa and
Jan Lagendijk founded "Cuby is back", a
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
committed to bring the band back. The band members later reunited and recorded a new album, while their tour was considered a success.
Derksen worked for the American record label
Stax
Streaming API for XML (StAX) is an application programming interface ( API) to read and write XML documents, originating from the Java programming language community.
Traditionally, XML APIs are either:
* DOM based - the entire document is read i ...
in the late 1970s. As a
press officer
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage.
Duti ...
in
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
it was part of his job to make sure the visiting American musicians got everything they needed. He jokingly referred to himself as a "notorious whore-hopper", since he accompanied American soul artists to the
red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...
De Wallen
De Wallen () or De Walletjes () is the largest and best known red-light district in Amsterdam. It consists of a network of alleys containing approximately 300 one-room cabins rented by prostitutes who offer their sexual services from behind a win ...
in Amsterdam almost weekly.
Derksen stated he dislikes "happy music"; for him music cannot be melancholic enough. According to Derksen, the greatest artist of all time is the American singer-songwriter
Mickey Newbury
Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. (May 19, 1940 – September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter, recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Early life and career
Newbury was born in Houston, Texas, on May 19, ...
. Derksen has made plans to move to the United States, a country he refers to as a "heaven of music".
In 2012, he said he won't move to the United States because of the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
.
Derksen's successful insistence that
Danny Vera would play in his TV talkshows ''VI'' and ''Voetbal Inside'' launched Vera's musical career.
From 2014 until May 2022 Derksen was an unpaid employee of the theater agency
AT Next, during concert tours of ensembles of blues artists he acted as ringmaster.
AT Next terminated its collaboration with Derksen on 29 April 2022 after Derksen refused to apologise for having told, earlier that month,
a story on TV about "penetrating an unconscious woman with a candle".
Writing
Derksen has written several books on football.
* Derksen, J., & Collette, R. (1983) ''Wiel Coerver: Leerplan voor de ideale voetballer'', Amsterdam: Elsevier.
* Derksen, J., Coerver, W., Lehmann, M. (1984). ''Fußballtechnik : Dribbeln und Tricksen, Passen und Schießen''. München ; Wien ; Zürich : BLV-Verlagsgesellschaft.
* Derksen, J., Coerver, W., Nieuwenkamp, H J. (1986). ''Scoren : opleiding voor attractief en productief voetbal''. Amsterdam : Elsevier.
* Derksen, J., Hughes, B., Raucamp, W. (1987). ''Barry Hughest : de entertainer''. Amsterdam : Weekbladpers.
* Derksen, J., & Verkamman, M. (1989). ''Het Nederlands Elftal : 1905–1989 : de historie van Oranje''. Amsterdam: Weekbladpers.
* Derksen, J., Coerver, W., Arcidiacono, A., (1990). ''A scuola di goal : per apprendere e migliorare le tecniche del calcio''. Roma: Gremese.
* Derksen, J., & Verkamman, M. (1996). ''Het Nederlands elftal : de historie van Oranje 1905–1989''. Amsterdam: Luitingh-Sijthoff.
* Derksen, J. (1998). ''Linkspoot''. Amsterdam: Anthos. Antwerpen: Icarus.
* Derksen, J., Nederhof, B., Van Cuilenborg, C., Bakker, J. (2000). ''De beste interviews van 2000''. Naarden: Strengholt.
* Derksen, J. & Jansma, K. (2002). ''De columnisten''. Naarden: Strengholt.
* Derksen, J., Verkamman, M., Van den Nieuwenhof, F., Van der Meer, E. (2004). ''50 jaar betaald voetbal : de complete geschiedenis''. Eindhoven: De Boekenmakers.
* Derksen, J., Borst, H., Spaan, H. (2007) ''Feyenoord. De top & flop 100, sterren & miskopen volgens Johan Derksen, Henk Spaan & Hugo Borst''. Allround Media Producties. .
* Derksen, J., Barend, F., Borst, H., Van Cuilenborg, C., Groot de, J., Nederhof, B., Verkamman, M. (2007) ''Johan Cruijff''. Gouda: Nummer 14.
* Derksen, J., Borst, H., Driessen, L., Echtelt van, H., Jong de, W., Nederhof, B., Nijnatten van, C., Verkamman, M., Visser, J. (2008) ''Willem van Hanegem''. Uitgeverij de Buitenspelers.
References
External links
*
Johan Derksen at VI.nlJohan Derksen interview on SP.NL – Tribune September 20, 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derksen, Johan
1949 births
Living people
People from Overbetuwe
Dutch atheists
Dutch footballers
Dutch sports journalists
Dutch sportswriters
Dutch republicans
Dutch publishers (people)
Dutch magazine editors
Dutch biographers
Dutch male writers
Dutch columnists
Dutch critics
Dutch association football commentators
Dutch television presenters
Dutch radio presenters
Dutch former Christians
Former Calvinist and Reformed Christians
Male biographers
Association football fullbacks
Go Ahead Eagles players
SC Cambuur players
SC Veendam players
HFC Haarlem players
SV Meppen players
MVV Maastricht players
Eerste Divisie players
Eredivisie players
Regionalliga players
Dutch expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Germany
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Footballers from Gelderland
Television controversies in the Netherlands