Jurjen Jacob (Jurrie) Koolhof (10 January 1960 – 28 January 2019) was a Dutch international

football striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. As a player, Koolhof had a long and productive career, with 190 league goals. He played for a number of clubs in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

including Vitesse Arnhem, F.C. Groningen,

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

and

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

. For the latter he scored a total of 69 goals in 106 appearances and had an effective partnership with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Hallvar Thoresen Hallvar Thoresen (born 12 April 1957) is a former Norwegian footballer who played most of his career in the Dutch Eredivisie. The son of former Norwegian international Gunnar Thoresen, Hallvar Thoresen was central in 1980s Norwegian football. ...

in the mid-1980s.

Club career

He began his career at the local pride

BV Veendam Sportclub Veendam () was a Dutch professional association football club based in Veendam, province of Groningen. Founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out, it became P.J. Veendam in 1909, Veendam in 1910, SC Veendam in 1974, BV Veendam in 1997 a ...

, breaking into the first-team squad in 1978. He began scoring prolifically in the late 1980s, thus attracting attention. He was transferred to Vitesse Arnhem in 1980, the same year they were relegated from 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 ...

(first) to the Erste (second) Divisie. In his second season in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

he managed to score 19 goals in 16 appearances, an exceptional average of 1.2 goals per match. During the 1981/82

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

he signed a contract at

, his first Eredivisie club. His first years in the ''lichtstad'' (city of light) were successful. He adapted quickly to the top-tier professional level and, over two and a half years, missed few matches. However, in 1984 he suffered an injury that left him unable to play for two full years. In the 1986/87 season he returned to the pitch, although he never fully recovered. He played professional football for another seven years, mainly in the Eerste Divisie. After continuing to play on

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

, Vitesse Arnhem and

he ended his career where it had once started, with BV Veendam.

National team career

He first played for the

on 14 August 1982 against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. After the 46 minute mark he replaced Piet Wildschut. At the time there were not any goals scored, but a goal by Edo Ophof in 54th minute would cause ''Oranje'' to win the game. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

only 5 times, scoring zero goals. As a result, he did not enjoy a long international career. He played his last international match on 16 February 1983, just over 9 months after his first international appearance. This last match was the Euro 1984 qualifier against Spain, resulting in a 1–0 loss.

Coaching career

After he quit playing

Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Low Saxon: ) is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) river in a part of the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek. The municipality had a population of in ...

became his new domicile. He acted alternately as head of the youth academy and manager of

from 1994 to 2002. He was Hennie Spijkerman's assistant for one season at FC Emmen. In the following years he was employed at

AGOVV Apeldoorn AGOVV () is a Dutch association football club based in Apeldoorn. It was established on 25 February 1913. The club played in professional football from 1954 to 1971 and from 2003 to 2013. AGOVV's male first squad plays in 2022–23 in the Tweede ...

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

and

MVV 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 Eers ...

as manager. Koolhof was fired from his job on 19 February 2007 due to disappointing results, strikingly on the same day

Cambuur Leeuwarden 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 ...

let go their trainer Roy Wesseling. On 15 March the 47-year-old Koolhof signed a two-year contract at SC Cambuur-Leeuwarden, taking effect 1 July 2007.

Gerrie Schouwenaar Gerrie may refer to: * Gerrie (given name), a unisex given name * Syd Gerrie (born 1927), Scottish footballer See also * Garrie (disambiguation) * Gerri (disambiguation) * Gerry (disambiguation) Gerry is both a surname and a given name. Gerry ...

, who acted as

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change with ...

, departed for

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. His spot was taken by Alfons Arts, who became Koolhof's assistant manager as well as a youth trainer. In his first year his team surprised everyone by defeating

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

in the Cup (1–0). After a few matches in the 2008–2009 season, Koolhof was sacked following a poor overall start to the season.

Personal life

Jurrie Koolhof was married and had two sons, football player

Dean Koolhof Dean Koolhof (born 15 December 1994) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. He formerly played for De Graafschap, MVV Maastricht and Helmond Sport. Personal Dean is the son of former football player and manager ...

and tennis pro

Wesley Koolhof Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 in doubles on 7 November 2022. He has won 14 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, mos ...

. He died after a long illness at 59 years.

Statistics

Player

Manager

Honours

With PSV *

(Dutch league) : 1985/1986, 1986/1987 With Vitesse Arnhem *

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 ...

(Dutch first division) : 1988/1989 With

(Dutch first division) : 1990/1991

References

External links

Video of Koolhof's most famous attempt on goal on YouTube 2006 Interview on the official MVV Maastricht website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koolhof, Jurrie 1960 births 2019 deaths Dutch footballers Association football forwards Netherlands international footballers Dutch football managers SC Veendam players SBV Vitesse players PSV Eindhoven players FC Groningen players De Graafschap players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players De Graafschap managers AGOVV Apeldoorn managers FC Dordrecht managers MVV Maastricht managers SC Cambuur managers People from Oldambt (municipality) Footballers from Groningen (province)