Theo Bos (5 October 1965 - 28 February 2013) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played for Vitesse Arnhem from 1983 to 1998. During his career at Vitesse, he amassed a total of 429 matches, a record for the club.

Playing career

Bos began his career at amateur club Sv Sempre Avanti and played from 1979 to 1983 in the academy of Vitesse. After breaking through in several youth teams Bos made his professional debut on 13 August 1983 in the first team against FC Wageningen, which Vitesse won 3–0. In the 1988–89 season Bos won the

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 ...

title. The following season saw further progress; a fourth-place finish in 1989–90 saw Vitesse qualify for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

for the first time in its history. The club also reached the final of the domestic cup. Bos spent his entire career for Vitesse, making a total of 429 appearances in 14 seasons with his club. He is therefore considered to be ''Mister Vitesse''.

Coaching career

Theo Bos served as manager of FC Den Bosch from 2005 to 2009. Later in 2009, it was confirmed he would make a comeback at Vitesse, this time as a head coach. He was removed from his managerial duties in October 2010 by new club owner,

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

businessman

Merab Jordania Merab Jordania ( ka, მერაბ ჟორდანია; born 3 September 1965), is a Georgian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the owner and chairman of Maltese football club Valletta FC. Club career Jor ...

. In January 2011 Bos was hired by

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

Polonia Warszawa Polonia Warsaw ( pl, Polonia Warszawa, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing Varsovian sports club, best known for its football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, swimming, chess, mountain biking, and contract ...

's boss Józef Wojciechowski as a first team manager. He was sacked in March 2011, after a 1–0 loss against Zaglebie Lubin. He served as head coach of Dutch

club FC Dordrecht in the 2011–12 season, replacing Henny Lee who opted to leave the club in order to join FC Utrecht in the

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 ...

league. In January 2012 he was forced to take indefinite leave of absence after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; his place as head coach was temporarily taken by assistant Virgil Breetveld on an interim basis. After the end of the season it seemed like Bos would return to being in charge of the team; however, on 14 July 2012, it was announced that he had been forced to take indefinite sick leave due to his health conditions.

Death

Bos died on 28 February 2013 of pancreatic cancer, aged 47. Following his death, a special remembrance to honour Theo Bos took place at

Gelredome The GelreDome () is a football stadium in the city of Arnhem, Netherlands. It is one of the largest and most modern stadiums in the country, built from 1996 to 1998 at a cost equivalent to €75 million, that opened on 25 March 1998. The stadium ...

with around 7,000 Vitesse supporters. Bos was survived by his wife Marieke and their daughter as well as two children from a previous marriage. Vitesse

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

his shirt number 4 from use in his honour.Nooit meer nummer 4 bij Vitesse
- Gelderlander

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bos, Theo 1965 births 2013 deaths Footballers from Nijmegen Association football defenders Dutch footballers SBV Vitesse players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Dutch football managers FC Den Bosch managers SBV Vitesse managers Polonia Warsaw managers FC Dordrecht managers Dutch expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Poland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Poland Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands