Wout Holverda (22 April 1958 – 3 December 2021) was a Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

striker who played most of his career for

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 ...

Club career

A speedy and stocky forward, Holverda started his professional football career at Sparta and played seven seasons for them, ending up as their top goalscorer in the 1983–84 season. That earned him a move to

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

, where he played alongside British striker

John Linford John Russell Linford (born 6 December 1957) is an English former footballer who played in England for Gorleston, Ipswich Town, Colchester United, Southend United and Birmingham City, in the Netherlands for Fortuna Sittard, NAC Breda, FC Utrecht ...

, but a niggling groin injury did not make him a success at Fortuna and he spent his last seasons at

HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982 ...

before retiring. He scored 61 goals in over 150 games in all competitions for Sparta and 14 in 70 games for Fortuna. With Sparta as well as with Fortuna he played European Cup matches, 11 games in total (4 goals).

International career

Holverda played once for ''Jong Oranje'', coming on as a substitute for

Ron Jans Ron Jans (, born 29 September 1958) is a Dutch football coach and former player, he currently is the head coach of Twente. Coaching career FC Groningen Born in Zwolle, Overijssel, Ron Jans joined FC Groningen on 2002, and was the longest-serv ...

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 populous ...

in May 1979. He received a call-up for the senior side who were playing Denmark in 1984, but did not play.

Personal life

Alzheimer's disease

Holverda was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease that prevented him from visiting Sparta matches. In September 2013, a group of supporters decided to help him and drive Holverda to Sparta matches for the remainder of the season.

Death

He died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 3 December 2021, at the age of 63.Wout Holverda (63) overleden: ‘Een Sparta-knuffelbeer met de eeuwige glimlach op zijn gezicht’
- AD

External links

*

- Voetbal International
Player bio
- Sparta fanzine In The Winning Mood

- Fortuna

References

1958 births 2021 deaths People with Alzheimer's disease Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Leiden Men's association football forwards Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Eredivisie players Sparta Rotterdam players Fortuna Sittard players HFC Haarlem players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands {{Netherlands-footy-forward-stub