Martinus Cornelis Koeman (26 July 1938 – 18 December 2013) was 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 ...

who played as a

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 ...

Biography

Koeman played professional football with KFC of

Koog aan de Zaan Koog aan de Zaan () is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 11 km northwest of Amsterdam. History Koog aan de Zaan developed in the 16th century on the western bank of ...

from 1955 to 1960,

Blauw-Wit Amsterdam FC Blauw-Wit Amsterdam ( en, Blue-White) was a Dutch football club from Amsterdam. The name referred to the colours of their uniform, blue and white. History Founded on 10 May 1902 as a local club in the Kinkerbuurt area of Amsterdam, from 1928 i ...

from 1960 to 1963, GVAV/Groningen from 1963 to 1973 and

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

until his retirement. He was selected regularly for the Netherlands national team but only played one match, against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on 12 April 1964. Despite his respectable career, he is best known for being the father of

Erwin Erwin may refer to: People Given name * Erwin Chargaff (1905–2002), Austrian biochemist * Erwin Dold (1919–2012), German concentration camp commandant in World War 2 * Erwin Hauer (1926–2017), Austrian-born American sculptor * Egon Erwin Kisc ...

and

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

, who followed in their father's footsteps as footballers, with both of his sons playing for Groningen and the Dutch national team. One of the stands in the

Euroborg The Euroborg () is the stadium in Groningen, Netherlands. It is the home of football club FC Groningen, with a capacity of 22,525 seats. The stadium site houses a casino, movie theater, school, supermarket, and a fitness centre. A temporary r ...

stadium of Groningen has been named Koeman Stand after Martin and his two sons. On 16 June 2021

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 ...

, Erwin, and Ronald unveiled a statue of Koeman next to the statue of his friend

Tonny van Leeuwen Teunis Pieter van Leeuwen (21 March 1943 – 15 June 1971) was a Dutch association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for GVAV Groningen and Sparta Rotterdam. He made two appearances for the Ne ...

on the 50th anniversary of the club. On 18 December 2013, at the age 75, Martin Koeman died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

after falling ill a few days earlier.

References

External links

Stats as a player at FC Groningen
* 1938 births 2013 deaths People from Purmerend Association football defenders Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers FC Groningen players SC Heerenveen players FC Groningen managers Blauw-Wit Amsterdam players Eredivisie players Dutch football managers Footballers from North Holland Koeman family {{Netherlands-footy-defender-stub