Alex Schoenmaker (born 23 August 1947) is a Dutch former professional

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 and manager. Nicknamed ''Sexy-Lexie'' due to his good looks, he had a career as a player and manager in the Netherlands, the United States and the Middle East, mostly remembered as an icon 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 ...

Playing career

Schoenmaker was born in

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 ...

. His first club was amateur club VDS in his hometown. He began his professional career with ADO in 1965 and in 1967 appeared for the exported ADO team in the United States called the

San Francisco Golden Gate Gales The San Francisco Golden Gate Gales were an American soccer team that played in the United Soccer Association (USA). The team was based in San Francisco, California and played their home games at the Candlestick Park. The team folded when the U ...

. He left for

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 ...

in the 1971–72 season, where he stayed for four years. For the

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 ...

-based club he scored 19 goals in European competitions – a record that still stands today. In 1974, Schoenmaker became European top goalscorer with 10 goals. After his tenure with Feyenoord, he retired from football as part of his first club ADO, which had meanwhile changed to FC Den Haag, and he played in the

Zuiderpark Zuiderparkstadion (, Dutch for ''Southern Park Stadium'') was an 11,000-seat stadium in The Hague, Netherlands. It was the home of football club ADO Den Haag. For many years after the club's inauguration in 1905, they played football in man ...

until 1982. In the 1975–76 season, he was the European top goalscorer for the second time in his career, this time with six goals, sharing the honour with

Aad Mansveld Adriaan Mansveld (14 July 1944 – 5 December 1991) was a Dutch footballer who played as a libero. Career Born in The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast fac ...

. Besides San Francisco Golden Gate Gales, Schoenmaker played in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and NASL leagues for the Edmonton Drillers and the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

Managerial career

After his playing career, he worked mostly as an assistant coach – among others with

AZ'67 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 host ...

Volendam Volendam () is a fishing town in the municipality of Edam-Volendam, province of North Holland, Netherlands. As of 1 January 2021, it has a population of 22,715. It is twinned with Coventry, England. History Originally, Volendam was the location o ...

and

. He was also head coach of

TOP Oss TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbreviati ...

, Saudi club Al Hilal and

Al Jazira Club Al Jazira Club is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that currently competes in the UAE Pro League. History Al-Jazira was established in 1974 as a merger between ''Khalidiyah'' and ''Al Bateen''. The club struggled to st ...

from

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

References

External links

* * 1947 births Living people Association football forwards Dutch footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch football managers ADO Den Haag players Edmonton Drillers (1979–1982) players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Feyenoord players FC Volendam managers ADO Den Haag managers FC Dordrecht managers TOP Oss managers Eredivisie players Eredivisie managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players San Francisco Golden Gate Gales players Footballers from The Hague United Soccer Association players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States UEFA Cup winning players Dutch expatriate football managers FC Volendam non-playing staff AZ Alkmaar non-playing staff Feyenoord non-playing staff {{Netherlands-footy-forward-stub