Hendrik Timmer (born 3 December 1971) is a Dutch former 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Timmer was born in

Hierden Hierden is a farming village in the centre-east of Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Harderwijk, Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the ...

Harderwijk Harderwijk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city of the Netherlands. It is served by the Harderwijk railway station. Its population centres are Harderwijk and Hierden. Harderwijk is on the western boundary of the Veluwe. The south ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. He spent his first 11 senior seasons in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, with

FC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a tot ...

– named PEC in his first year. In 2000, he moved to

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

, making his

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 ...

debut at almost 29 and also serving unassuming loans at

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

and

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

. He was part of the Feyenoord squad that won the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, and was an unused substitute in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. In 2003 Timmer returned to AZ for three more solid seasons, being essential as the club finished runner-up in the 2006 league and the following year's domestic cup. He made another return in the 2006 summer, now to Feyenoord, leaving Alkmaar after an alleged fall-out with manager

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...

. Timmer retired from the game at almost 38, after helping Feyenoord to the seventh place in 2008–09 campaign, having appeared in 513 matches as a professional – only in the league. However, in March 2010, as

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

had all three first-team goalkeepers on the injured list, he went on trial with the club and signed a contract until the end of the season, contributing with nine games to an eventual 11th place-finish, and retiring for good in June. In June 2012, Timmer was appointed as technical/commercial manager of second level club

AGOVV Apeldoorn AGOVV () is a Dutch association football club based in Apeldoorn. It was established on 25 February 1913. The club played in professional football from 1954 to 1971 and from 2003 to 2013. AGOVV's male first squad plays in 2022–23 in the Tweede ...

International career

Somewhat of a

late bloomer A late bloomer is a person whose talents or capabilities are not visible to others until later than usual. Late bloomer or Late bloomers may also refer to: * ''Late Bloomers'' (2006 film) (German: ''Die Herbstzeitlosen''), 2006 Swiss film direct ...

in the Dutch national side, Timmer did not get his first call-up until February 2005, being summoned by Marco van Basten for an exhibition game with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. His debut would only arrive on 12 November, in another friendly (1–3 home loss to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

). Timmer won seven caps for his country but never in official games, representing the nation at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

and

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

Personal life

Timmer is married to

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

Marianne Timmer, however they are separated. After retiring in 2009, he said Heerenveen would be the only club he would play for if he decided to return, as she had previously experienced success in Heerenveen's

Thialf Thialf is an ice arena in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Thialf consists of the Thialf-hal (a 12,500-capacity speed skating venue) and the Elfstedenhal (a 2,500-capacity ice hockey venue). Thialf is used for long track speed skating, short track spee ...

Career statistics

:Source:

Honours

Feyenoord * KNVB Cup: 2007–08 *

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 ...

: 2001–02

References

External links

Beijen profile

* *
Site of Henk and Marianne Timmer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timmer, Henk 1971 births Living people People from Harderwijk Footballers from Gelderland Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers Association football goalkeepers PEC Zwolle players AZ Alkmaar players Feyenoord players AFC Ajax players SC Heerenveen players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players