Meindert Dijkstra (born 28 February 1967) is a Dutch former

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 primarily at

right 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 ...

. He spent a majority of his career playing in the Dutch leagues, only spending two seasons abroad when he played in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. He is the father of

Caitlin Dijkstra Caitlin Johanna Philomena Dijkstra (born 30 January 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as defender for Eredivisie club Twente and the Netherlands national team. Club career Dijkstra's father Meindert was a professional footbal ...

, who is also a professional footballer.

Club career

Dijkstra began his career in 1985 with

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

, before moving to local rivals Willem II two years later, where he spent five seasons. Following this he moved abroad and joined Notts County, before returning to Holland 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 ...

for the 1994/95 season, finally finishing his career at

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 ...

. After retiring as a player, Dijkstra has been involved in academy football at several amateur sides in the North Brabant province.Meindert Dijkstra nieuwe Trainer B1 seizoen 2016/2017
- Achilles Veen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dijkstra, Meindert 1967 births Living people Footballers from Breda Men's association football fullbacks Dutch men's footballers NAC Breda players Willem II (football club) players Notts County F.C. players RBC Roosendaal players TOP Oss players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players English Football League players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England