Cor van der Hart (25 January 1928 – 12 December 2006) 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 ...

. He is known as one of the best defenders of the Netherlands national team in history, who was physically strong, who read the game very well and who had a quality kicking technique.Cor van der Hart overleden
, nos.nl

Playing career

Van der Hart was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and as a youngster he tried out for the famous youth academy of

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

. He attended a young talent day held at the club and out of 300 players only two were chosen to represent the club: Van der Hart and

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...

. He made his Ajax debut in 1947 and won 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 ...

title in the same year. After Faas Wilkes, Van der Hart was the third Dutch player to move abroad to become a professional footballer as more players decided it was time to leave the country and make a job out of their hobby.Cor van der Hart en de Watersnood
nu.nl Van der Hart moved to France to play for

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

. The

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...

(KNVB) suspended all players that left the country to play professionally abroad, including Van der Hart. Van der Hart was one of the players to play the ''Watersnoodwedstrijd'' of 12 March 1953, a match played in the

Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...

stadium in Paris to raise money for the victims of the North Sea flood of 1953.Een sentimenteel feest van herkenning
nos.nl In 2003, Van der Hart told Dutch public broadcaster NOS that players such as himself and

Bram Appel Abraham Leonardus Appel (30 November 1921 – 31 October 1997) was a Dutch footballer who played as a striker and later a manager. Playing career Club Born in Rotterdam but raised in The Hague,Theo Timmermans,

Bertus de Harder Johannes Lambertus (Bertus) de Harder (14 January 1920 – 7 December 1982) was a Dutch footballer who played as a striker. He scored 3 goals in 11 games for the Netherlands national team. He represented the Netherlands at the 1938 FIFA Worl ...

and

Kees Rijvers Cornelus Bernardus Rijvers (born 27 May 1926) is a Dutch former footballer who was active as a midfielder and later as coach for PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team. He was born in Breda. Playing career Rijvers made his debut at N ...

had heard of the flood over the radio and realised their country was in a state of panic. While the KNVB, which still did not want to be connected to the professionals in any way, forbade the match, it went ahead after a personal intervention from

Prince Bernhard , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

. 8,000 Dutch fans travelled to Paris to attend the fixture and saw their team beat a strong France national team 2–1. The match played a crucial role in introducing professional football in the Netherlands; In 90 minutes, the players showed the spectators how much further players could improve when they played the sport professionally. Only 17 months later, the first professional match in the Netherlands was played. When professional football started in the Netherlands, Van der Hart returned to his native country to play for Fortuna '54, which at the time was one of the dominant teams in the country. With Fortuna '54, Van der Hart won the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

in 1957. Fortuna '54 also finished second in the Eredivisie behind Ajax.Cor van der Hart overleden
nu.nl In 1955, Van der Hart made his debut for the Netherlands national team in a match versus

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He would go on to earn 44 caps for "Oranje", 26 of which as captain. He scored two international goals. One of the most memorable international matches Van der Hart was a part of was a 2–1 away win against world champions

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 ...

in 1956. He played his last international match in 1961.

Coaching career

After his playing career, Van der Hart became a football manager, starting at

Holland Sport Scheveningse Voetbal Vereniging Scheveningen is an association football club from Scheveningen, a district of The Hague, Netherlands. The club was founded 1 July 1919. It is currently playing in the Tweede Divisie, the third tier of football in ...

in 1966. He also managed AZ '67,

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

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 ...

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

FC Amsterdam FC Amsterdam was a Dutch football club which was founded on 20 June 1972, from the merger of the Amsterdam football clubs Blauw Wit and DWS. The club Volewijckers joined the side for the 1973–1974 season, in which season FC Amsterdam finished ...

MVV Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eers ...

FC Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

, FC Volendam,

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fi ...

Wydad AC Wydad Athletic Club ( ar, نادي الوداد الرياضي, ) commonly referred to as Wydad AC and known as Wydad, or simply as WAC, is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca. Wydad AC is best known for its professional football team that ...

, the Ajax youth academy (from 1985) and Sariyerspor. In 1973, he was added to the staff of the Netherlands national team as an assistant manager alongside Frantisek Fadrhonc. During the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

, he was the assistant of

as the Dutch national team lost the final to Germany. In 1978, he won the Dutch Cup (KNVB-Cup) with AZ '67, (a 1–0 victory over Ajax) while finishing third in the Dutch league. In 1980 he coached Fort Lauderdale to the NASL's American Conference title, and a runner-up finish in

Soccer Bowl '80 Soccer Bowl '80 was the championship final of the 1980 NASL season. The New York Cosmos took on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The match was played on September 21, 1980 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The Cosmos won, 3–0, to claim their fo ...

Later life

In 1999 Van der Hart wore the orange shirt one more time, when he was selected to the so-called "Oranje of the Century team". Van der Hart died on 12 December 2006 at the age of 78. Ajax played with black arm bands in Van der Hart's memory in their

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla won their second consecutive UEFA Cup, defeating Espanyol 3–1 on penalties after the match ...

tie against Zulte Waregem. Van der Hart's grandson

Mickey Mickey is a given name and nickname, almost always masculine and often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men * Mickey Andrews (bor ...

is a goalkeeper who attended the Ajax youth academy and plays for Polish

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

side

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Watersnoodwedstrijd report
by nos.nl (Video) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Cor van der 1928 births 2006 deaths Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers AFC Ajax players AZ Alkmaar managers Lille OSC players Fortuna Sittard players Ligue 1 players Eredivisie players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Dutch football managers Eredivisie managers AFC Ajax managers Standard Liège managers SC Telstar managers FC Volendam managers ADO Den Haag managers Footballers from Amsterdam North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches SVV Scheveningen managers Association football defenders Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) coaches Expatriate football managers in Morocco Wydad AC managers Expatriate football managers in Turkey Sarıyer S.K. managers Botola managers