Maikel Aerts (; born 26 June 1976) is a Dutch former professional

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 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 ...

. After his career, he became goalkeeping coach.

Career

Aerts started his career at

FC Den Bosch FC Den Bosch () is a football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadium is called 'De Vliert', an 8,500 all-seater. R ...

. In his third season at Den Bosch, where he was the backup goalkeeper, he was suspended for 12 months by the

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 ...

after testing positive for

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

– the first player to face a ban for substance abuse in the Dutch competitions. He ended up making 107 appearances for the club (1994–2001). A subsequent transfer to English club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

failed to go through due to Aerts refusing to take a drug test. Instead, he moved to Belgian side

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

in 2001, where he only made nine appearances due to an injury. During this period, Aerts' friend was murdered and his fiancé suffered a

whiplash Whiplash may refer to: * The long flexible part of a whip * Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury ** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles Film and television * ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer * ''Whiplas ...

after a car accident. After a horrible year professionally and personally, he returned to the Netherlands, signing with

RBC Roosendaal RBC, commonly known under its previous official name RBC Roosendaal, is a football club based in Roosendaal, Netherlands. RBC currently plays in the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse after a bankruptcy in 2011, restarting the club in tenth tier Vijfde Kl ...

in 2002. There, he established himself as one of the better goalkeepers in the Eredivisie despite suffering a shoulder injury, which kept him sidelined for six months. As a result of his strong displays,

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 ...

signed him on 4 July 2004, who loaned directly back to RBC for another season before joining Feyenoord's first team set-up. After some serious mistakes during the 2005–06 season, including a direct pass to opposing

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

striker

Blaise Nkufo Isetsima Blaise Nkufo (born 25 May 1975) is a Swiss former international footballer who played as a striker and current coach of Rino's Tigers in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League. He was born in Zaire and raised in Switzerland from the age o ...

, Aerts benched by head coach

Erwin Koeman Erwin Koeman (born 20 September 1961) is a Dutch retired professional football player and retired football manager. Personal life He is the son of Dutch international footballer Martin Koeman, and, alongside his younger brother Ronald, has also ...

and in July 2006 he was demoted to the club's reserve team. After being transfer listed by Feyenoord and having trialled at Vitesse and English club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, Aerts eventually decided to sign a two-year contract with Willem II on 18 June 2007; a club he had been loaned out to the six months before. He had made his first appearance on loan for Willem II on 3 February 2007, an Eredivisie 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 ...

. On 3 June 2010, at age 36, Aerts left the Netherlands and signed a two-year contract with German 2. Bundesliga club

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. After two seasons he was released. He made 24 league appearances for the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

-based club and was a part of the team reaching promotion to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

in the 2010–11 season. He retired after leaving Hertha BSC.

Coaching career

On 6 July 2017, he was hired as a goalkeeper coach at

FC Eindhoven FC Eindhoven is a Dutch football club based in Eindhoven, North Brabant. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie (second tier of Dutch football), and are one of two professional clubs which are based in the city of Eindhoven, the other one bei ...

. He left the position in 2021.

Personal life

Aerts is the nephew of three time

K-1 World Grand Prix K-1 World Grand Prix, also known as the K-1 World GP, is an elimination kickboxing tournament that has been held annually since 1993 by the K-1 organization. Each year, K-1 holds various 16-men, 8-match grand prix style tournaments throughout the ...

Champion

Peter Aerts Peter Aerts (born 25 October 1970) is a Dutch semi-retired kickboxer. Known for his devastating high kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack", he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aerts, Maikel 1976 births Living people Footballers from Eindhoven Men's association football goalkeepers Dutch men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers FC Den Bosch players Beerschot A.C. players RBC Roosendaal players Feyenoord players Willem II (football club) players Hertha BSC players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players 2. Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Association football goalkeeping coaches