Niels Overweg (born 15 May 1948) 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 ...

, who played as a defender for DWS, Go Ahead Eagles,

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 ...

and DS'79. He was capped four times for the Netherlands national team. After retiring from play, he was also active as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Club career

At the age of nineteen, in the 1967–68 season, Overweg became part of the first team of

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club DWS. In his first year with the Amsterdam-based club, the defender made fifteen appearances, but was not yet a regular in the squad. In the following year, Overweg made his breakthrough and from then on always played more than 31 league games per season. During this time, the defender also gained his first international experience by taking part in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. In 1972, after DWS merged with Blauw-Wit to form

FC Amsterdam FC Amsterdam was a Dutch football club which was founded on 20 June 1972, from the merger of the Amsterdam football clubs Blauw Wit and DWS. The club Volewijckers joined the side for the 1973–1974 season, in which season FC Amsterdam finished ...

, Overweg moved to fellow league side Go Ahead Eagles. Although he was always a regular for the club, there were no successes under either

Barry Hughes Barry Hughes (31 December 1937 – 2 June 2019) was a Welsh professional football player and manager, active primarily in the Netherlands. He played as a defender. Early and personal life Hughes was born in Caernarfon. He attended Glyndwr Se ...

(1972–73 season) or

Jan Notermans Willem II may refer to: People *William II, Prince of Orange (1626–1650), stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands *William II of the Netherlands (1792–1849), King of the Netherlands Other uses *Willem II (football club) Wille ...

(1973–74 season). With the change to

in 1974, Overweg made an important step in his career. Although good competition meant he had to fight for his starting place there, he played most of the matches. In his seven years in Enschede, FC Twente reached fourth place in the Eredivisie three times. In the 1976–77 season, they won the KNVB Cup by defeating

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

3–0 in the final. Two years earlier, Overweg had also reached the final with FC Twente, but lost 1–0 against

FC 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 ...

. In the same season, they also reached the final of the

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, played against the German team Borussia Mönchengladbach. After a 0–0 away game, FC Twente lost 5–1 on home soil. Overweg was on the field for both matches. In the summer of 1981, Overweg moved to

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as t ...

side DS'79. After two seasons, he ended his active career.

International career

In 1975, Overweg was called up to the Netherlands national team by head coach

George Knobel George Knobel (10 December 1922 – 5 May 2012) was a Dutch football manager. Knobel was born and died in Roosendaal. He was the coach of the Netherlands national football team for 15 matches (9 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses) from 1974 to 1976. Durin ...

. He made his debut on 17 May 1975 against

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, as a substitute at halftime for

Frans Thijssen Frans Thijssen (born 23 January 1952) is a Dutch former footballer. He started his professional career in 1970 with NEC Nijmegen. In 1973, he moved to FC Twente, where the midfielder played for nearly six seasons. Thijssen won fourteen caps fo ...

. The match ended in 1–1.Germany - Netherlands 1: 1 (1: 0)
of 17 May 1975 dfb.de For his performance in his fourth international match, a 4–1 defeat against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, Overweg was strongly criticized, and he subsequently received no further call-ups.

Managerial career

After his playing career, Overweg went into coaching. In 1987, he managed Vitesse; earlier he had been assistant to

Hans Dorjee Hans Dorjee (26 July 1941 – 25 July 2002) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. Playing career Dorjee came through the youth system of hometown club DHC to make his senior debut for the club aged only 17.Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fi ...

from

Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known a ...

. In the summer of 1993, he was replaced by Simon Kistemaker. In the 1994–95 season, Overweg was appointed as

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

manager of

Cambuur SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch Association football, football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league sy ...

after the departure of

Fritz Korbach Fritz Korbach (18 July 1945 – 14 August 2011) was a German professional football player and manager. He was particularly well known in the Netherlands, where he served eleven different teams, including FC Wageningen, FC Zwolle, FC Volendam, ...

. Soon after, he was replaced by

Han Berger Johan Antonius "Han" Berger (born 17 June 1950) is a Dutch association football coach and former player. Managerial career FC Utrecht Berger is the youngest head coach ever in the history of professional football in the Netherlands. After suffer ...

. Later, he was also active as youth coach for Cambuur. In 2006, Overweg managed the amateur team of SC Franeker.

Honours

FC Twente * KNVB Cup: 1976–77; runner-up 1974–75 *

runner-up: 1974–75 DS'79 *

: 1982–83

References

External links

* *
profile on twentefiles.nl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overweg, Niels 1948 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Amsterdam Men's association football defenders Netherlands men's international footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players AFC DWS players Go Ahead Eagles players FC Twente players FC Dordrecht players Dutch football managers Eerste Divisie managers SBV Vitesse managers SC Telstar managers SC Cambuur managers