Nico-Jos Theodoor Vaesen (born 28 September 1969) is a Belgian 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 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 ...

. He retired from football shortly after joining

Lierse Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six Be ...

, but returned to the game in 2008 with

K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel was a Belgian association football club from the city of Geel in Antwerp (province). History The club was born in 1921 as a merger of Flandria and Geel Sport, becoming Flandria Geel Sport, and registered in 1924 to the ...

for one season where his contract wasn't renewed.

Career

Born in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

, Belgium, Vaesen spent his first professional season at Belgian sides

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

and

K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst, East Flanders. History During World War I, citizens from Aalst played football matches to raise money for prisoners of war. In 1919 Sport-Club Eendracht Aalst became an official f ...

, and on 21 May 1998 moved to English side

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

. He was sent off on his debut, but went on to play 135 league games. During his first season for the club, he won the club's Supporters' Player of the Year. After three years at Huddersfield, on 18 June 2001, he signed for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. He was given the first-choice goalkeeper role at Birmingham, helping the club win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

via the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

in 2002. A memorable moment in the promotion season was saving a Gary Holt penalty in a 1–0 over

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. Birmingham would go on to meet Norwich again in the play-off final and this time Vaesen saved from

Philip Mulryne Philip Patrick Stephen Mulryne, Order of Preachers, OP (born 1 January 1978) is a Northern Irish Dominican friar and priest in the Catholic Church, and retired professional association football, footballer. Born in Belfast, he started his career ...

in the shootout. However a cruciate knee injury in March 2003 put him out of the game for nine months. During this time

Maik Taylor Maik Stefan Taylor (born 4 September 1971) is a former Northern Ireland international football goalkeeper and, since July 2022, goalkeeping coach at Birmingham City. At club level, Taylor played non-League football for Petersfield Town, Basings ...

was brought in and established himself as first-choice goalkeeper. On Christmas Eve 2003, he was loaned to Gillingham for one and a half months, during which time he participated in five games. Spells at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

, with whom he took part in another play-off final victory, followed in 2004. At the end of that season he signed a new two-year contract with Birmingham, intending to compete for a first-team place. He finally dislodged Taylor in late 2005, but a 4–1 defeat at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, in which he conceded a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

and was later sent off, proved to be his last first-team appearance before he was released at the end of the 2005–06 season due to Birmingham's relegation. He then moved to Belgian side

, but has since retired. In January 2008, he changed his mind and made a contract with

References

External links

*
Player profile at World Soccer StatsPlayer profile at BBC SportProfile at Crystal Palace supporters website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaesen, Nico 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Hasselt Footballers from Limburg (Belgium) Belgian footballers Association football goalkeepers K.S.K. Tongeren players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players S.C. Eendracht Aalst players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Lierse S.K. players K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players English Football League players Premier League players Belgian expatriate footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England