Willem Frederik Hesselink (8 February 1878 – 1 December 1973) was a Dutch football player and one of the founders of local club Vitesse Arnhem in 1892. He was known for his blue woolen cap, which he seemed to wear day and night, and was nicknamed ''the Cannon'', although he was also referred to as ''the Doctor'' because of his doctorate in chemistry.

Career

In 1890, Hesselink had been part of an attempt to get a cricket club off the ground in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

and two years later he was one of the founders of Vitesse Arnhem. Cricket was the initial activity of choice but football took over quickly and Hesselink was soon the star of the team. Hesselink also excelled in athletics, holding several national records including the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

. A team made up of him and his brothers became national champions in

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

. In 1899, he made the move to HVV and won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

twice. In 1900, Hesselink was a member of the HVV side that participated in the first edition of the

Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz The Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz, also known as Coupe Ponthoz, was an international competition for football clubs from Europe that ran from 1900 to 1909. It was one of the first European club football tournaments and is considered a predecesso ...

, regarded by many as the first-ever European club trophy. In the tournament, he scored one goal in the first round in an 8–1 trashing of hosts

Léopold FC Royal Léopold FC is a Belgian football club from the city of Brussels. It was founded in as ''Léopold Football Club'' and over the years, numerous name changes in its history and mergers have happened with neighboring clubs who also struggled to ...

. He also featured in the final which ended in a 1–2 loss to

RAP Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. In 1903, Hesselink moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

to study Philosophy and Chemistry and joined FC Bayern Munich. Hesselink became Bayern's first international star. In three years he would grow out to be their star player, manager and chairman. Despite playing for FC Bayern Munich, during the years 1902-1905, he would still regularly play games for Vitesse Arnhem. In January 1906 Hesselink left Munich, leaving a club that had grown considerably in his time at the helm in the hands of Kurt Müller, and returned to the Netherlands. Hesselink continued his footballing career, rejoining Vitesse Arnhem and later becoming treasurer and president.

International career

In 1905 he started in the first-ever home match of the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal ...

, a 4-0 victory against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Some historians attribute one of the goals scored to him.

Personal life

Over the years he built up a colourful curriculum vitae including doctorates in chemistry and philosophy, becoming director of the Keuringsdienst van Waren, being

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in several murder trials, founding a laboratory, and writing several health books. His thesis on the secrets of

Port wine Port wine (also known as vinho do Porto, , or simply port) is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often ...

made on the banks of the

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

has proved to stand the tests of time and is still quoted regularly. He died in December 1973 aged 95.

Honours

Club

; HVV * Dutch championship: **Champions (2): 1899–1900 and 1900–01 *

: **Runner-up (1):

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

References

1878 births 1973 deaths Dutch footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch football chairmen and investors Netherlands international footballers FC Bayern Munich board members FC Bayern Munich managers FC Bayern Munich footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany SBV Vitesse players Footballers from Arnhem Dutch expatriate football managers Dutch football managers Expatriate football managers in Germany Association football forwards {{Netherlands-footy-bio-stub