Willem Korsten (born 21 January 1975 in

Boxtel Boxtel () is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. The name derives from Buchestelle and is presumably a combination of 'stelle' (Dutch for stable, safe place) and (deer) buck.2019. Etymologiebank.Nl. Accessed April 27 2019 This i ...

) is a former Dutch 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 le ...

who played as a left winger.

Football career

Korsten played in 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 ...

for N.E.C. and

SBV Vitesse SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally as well Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, football club located in the municipality of Arnhem. Establish ...

before earning a loan move to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

in 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 ...

. In this short amount of time Korsten showed he had the pace, skill and strength to cope with English football, scoring twice in games against Everton and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

. Leeds decided to pursue a permanent transfer. However,

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

also made a bid in the region of £1.5 million for the player, which was accepted. Due to injury, Korsten did not make his debut for Tottenham until December 1999 and made only nine appearances in the

in the 1999–2000 season. The following season he made 14 league appearances, scoring his first Tottenham goal in a 3–1 defeat against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

in April 2001. On the final day of the season, he scored two spectacular goals in a 3–1 win over

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

. The match proved to be his last as a professional footballer. In October 2001, due to persistent hip injuries, he was forced to retire at the age of 26. Korsten returned to his former club, N.E.C., as a coach for its football academy. He played 5 games for Dutch lower amateur side SCV '58 from Velp in their 2002–03 campaign but injuries forced him to quit the team early in the season. In May 2011 Korsten returned to the game as player for

Topklasse The Derde Divisie (; en, Third Division), formerly known as Topklasse (; en, Top Class), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league ...

side

Achilles '29 Achilles '29 is a football club from Groesbeek, Netherlands, competing in the sixth-tier Eerste Klasse. The club is known for its successes in the Dutch domestic cup, having knocked FC Volendam, Heracles Almelo, RKC Waalwijk, Telstar and MV ...

. After winning the district cup east, Korsten scored the only goal in the final of the

KNVB Amateur Cup The KNVB Amateur Cup ( nl, KNVB Beker voor amateurs) was the cup competition for amateur football clubs in the Netherlands. The winner qualified until 2016 for the amateur super cup match against the national Hoofdklasse champion. The cup was conte ...

2011 on 18 June. He retired once again and joined the Achilles staff for the 2011/12 campaign as their assistant-manager. Korsten resigned at Achilles in March 2012 and joined N.E.C. as an assistant-manager for the 2012–13 season.Technische staf compleet met Robert Molenaar en Willem Korsten
NEC-Nijmegen.nl, 11 april 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Korsten, Willem 1975 births Living people Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch footballers Eredivisie players Expatriate footballers in England Leeds United F.C. players NEC Nijmegen players People from Boxtel Premier League players SBV Vitesse players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Association football wingers Footballers from North Brabant Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England NEC Nijmegen non-playing staff