Joel Tillema (born 5 September 1989) is a Dutch

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 ...

who plays as a

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for AFC.

Career

Tillema started playing football at amateur club in his hometown of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

before moving to RVC Rijswijk, where he was noticed by talent scouts of

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 ...

. He ended up in the youth academy of the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

-based club, but after some time returned to his hometown to play in the youth academy of

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

. He made his professional debut on 24 October 2008 as a starter in the 3–1 away match against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

after

Ahmed Ammi Ahmed Ammi ( ar, أحمد عمي; born 19 January 1981) is a Dutch- Moroccan footballer who plays as a right defender. He currently plays for Dutch amateur outfit SC Irene. Club career Ammi was born in Temsamane, Morocco, but moved to the Nethe ...

was forced on the sideline after falling out injured in the warm-up. In the end, Tillema made no more than four appearances in three seasons for ADO Den Haag. In the summer of 2011, Tillema left for

Hoofdklasse The Vierde Divisie, formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of ...

club

SVV Scheveningen Scheveningse Voetbal Vereniging Scheveningen is an association football club from Scheveningen, a district of The Hague, Netherlands. The club was founded 1 July 1919. It is currently playing in the Tweede Divisie, the third tier of football i ...

, after which Tillema would also play for SV Spakenburg and

Rijnsburgse Boys Rijnsburgse Boys is a football club from Rijnsburg in the Netherlands. The club was established on 24 March 1930. They currently play in the Tweede Divisie. The club won the Saturday Hoofdklasse A title in the 2005–06, 2006–07 and 2008– ...

. In December 2019, it was announced that Tillema would join AFC for the 2020–21 season.

References

External links

Player profile at Voetbal International
1989 births Footballers from The Hague Living people Dutch men's footballers ADO Den Haag players SVV Scheveningen players SV Spakenburg players Rijnsburgse Boys players Eredivisie players Tweede Divisie players Derde Divisie players VV Haaglandia players AFC Ajax players Amsterdamsche FC players Men's association football midfielders {{Netherlands-footy-midfielder-stub