Teunis Pieter van Leeuwen (21 March 1943 – 15 June 1971) was a Dutch footballer who played as a goalkeeper for GVAV Groningen and

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

. He made two appearances for the Netherlands national team in 1967.

Club career

Early life and Sparta Rotterdam

Van Leeuwen was born in Gouda, South Holland, the son of a furniture maker, and grew up in the working class neighbourhood of . He played for local clubs Jodan Boys and before signing for

. At Sparta Rotterdam, van Leeuwen was brought in as an understudy to . Due to van Dijk's injuries he got more playing time than planned and made his senior debut on 1 May 1960 against DWS at the age of 17, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw. Following an injury, van Leeuwen lost his place as number 1 goalkeeper to

Pim Doesburg Willem Doesburg (; 28 October 1943 – 18 November 2020) was a football goalkeeper who obtained eight caps for the Netherlands national football team in 1967–1981. Doesburg is the Eredivisie record holder in matches played, with 687 in total ...

and wanted to leave the club.

GVAV Groningen

In 1963 van Leeuwen joined GVAV Groningen as a replacement for . Groningen paid a transfer fee of 87,500 guilders to Sparta Rotterdam. In the 1969–70 season, he suffered relegation from the Eredivisie with Groningen. Despite offers from other clubs such as Belgian side

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, he remained at Groningen. In the 1970–71 season he conceded just seven goals – record low number of goals conceded in a season of any major European division –, keeping 23 clean sheets while Groningen achieved promotion back to the Eredivisie. His performances earned him the 1971 Goalkeeper of the Year award.

International career

Van Leeuwen was first called up to the Netherlands national team in 1964. A long suspension he received for striking an opponent delayed his debut. He made his debut on 5 April 1967, in a match against East Germany. The Netherlands lost 4–3 after leading 2–0 with van Leeuwen being criticised for not dealing well with high balls played into the penalty area. He made his second appearance against Hungary, asking to be substituted at halftime with The Netherlands losing 2–0. Van Leeuwen claimed he had sustained an injury to his shoulder but it later transpired that he was nervous.

Style of play

Van Leeuwen was known for his exceptional reflexes, his control of the penalty area and his charisma.

Legacy

Van Leeuwen is considered a cultural icon of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. A grandstand, a train and a street were named after him and a statue of him stands in front of

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

's Euroborg stadium.

Personal life and death

Van Leeuwen had two children, Harold and Irma, with his wife Gerie. In the 1990s it was revealed that he had had a third child, Richard Vennema, with another woman called Karla Vennema. Richard also played football as a goalkeeper. A semi-professional footballer, van Leeuwen worked as a representative at sporting goods manufacturer Quick. He died at the age of 28 after crashing his car head-on into a truck loaded with concrete pipes on the wrong side of the road in the early morning of 15 June 1971. He was on his way home from the ceremony where he received the 1971 Goalkeeper of the Year award. His wife survived the crash.

Career statistics

References

External links

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Netherlands national team profile

Netherlands U19 national team profile
1943 births 1971 deaths Footballers from Gouda, South Holland Dutch men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Netherlands men's international footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Sparta Rotterdam players FC Groningen players {{Netherlands-footy-bio-stub