Piet Fransen (5 July 1936 – 2 August 2015) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Nicknamed ''Mr. FC Groningen'', Fransen played the majority of his career for FC Groningen and its predecessor GVAV. He totalled 484 official matches for the club, scoring 82 goals.Piet Fransen (79) overleden: vanavond minuut stilte
- FC Groningen He started his career at Velocitas and was part of their first professional

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie ( en, Second Division) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and b ...

squad, when the third professional football league was introduced in the Netherlands in 1956. He also had a spell at

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), 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 bef ...

International career

He made his debut for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in an October 1964 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and has earned a total of 6 caps, scoring 1 goal.National team stats
- Voetbalstats He represented his country in 3 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. His final international was a March 1966

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first.''

Death and legacy

He died on 2 August 2015 in Groningen. A minute of silence was held ahead of the

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

match between Groningen and

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

later that day. In 2007 a street in Groningen at the former

Oosterpark Stadion Oosterpark Stadion () was the stadium of association football, football club FC Groningen until December 2005. The all-seater stadium in Groningen's Oosterpark neighbourhood was inaugurated on 30 September 1933 and renovated in 1960, 1984 and 19 ...

terrain was named after Fransen. In 2011, the east stand of 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 was named Piet Fransen Stand.Piet Fransen Tribune in Euroborg
- FC Groningen

References

External links

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- Feyenoord-Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Fransen, Piet 1936 births 2015 deaths Footballers from Groningen (city) Association football midfielders Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers FC Groningen players Feyenoord players