Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius Jansen (; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or defender, he spent most of his career at

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional 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 before settling on being called after i ...

, winning honours including the European Cup in 1970. He earned 65 international caps with the Dutch national team and played in the teams that reached the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

finals. Jansen served in several roles at Feyenoord, including winning 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 consecutive seasons as manager in the early 1990s. He also won the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

in 1997–98.

Club career

He spent most of his playing career with his hometown team,

, between 1965 and 1980. At Feyenoord, Jansen won four League Championships, one

Dutch 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 ...

, one

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 ...

, and the European Cup in 1970 when Feyenoord defeated

2–1 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. He was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of their 1974 team which defeated

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 ...

4–2 on aggregate. After a brief spell in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...

with the Washington Diplomats, he moved to Feyenoord's

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

Ajax, where he won a league title in 1981–82. His debut for Ajax was against his former club in De Kuip in December 1980; a fan of Feyenoord threw an icy snowball at Jansen's eye during warming-up which finally resulted in Jansen being substituted within 20 minutes into the game. Dutch teammate

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a p ...

considered Jansen to be one of only four men worth paying attention to when they spoke about football.

International career

Jansen earned his first of 65 caps for 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 ...

on 4 October 1967, in a 2–1 loss away to Denmark in UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying. He scored his only international goal in his eighth game on 4 September 1968, a 2–0 win over

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in his hometown for

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to 21 June in Mexico, it was the first World Cup tournament held outside ...

qualification. Jansen played all seven games as the Dutch finished runners-up to hosts

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 ...

at 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 ...

, and repeated the feat in

as they lost to hosts

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. He committed the foul on Bernd Hölzenbein in 1974 which allowed Paul Breitner to equalise with a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...

as the Germans came from behind to beat the Dutch. He also played both games of their bronze-medal finish at UEFA Euro 1976 in Yugoslavia.

Managerial career

Jansen began his managerial career at his old club Feyenoord, where he worked as a coach, and then as assistant manager, between 1983 and 1987. He also had a season as manager of Belgian club SC Lokeren. In 1991, he returned to Feyenoord as manager, winning the

in 1991. The result was a surprise as the club had been near bankruptcy in the preceding years. The team also won the cup in 1992 and reached the semi-finals of the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

in 1991–92. He became Technical Director in 1992, and his old teammate, Willem van Hanegem coached the team to the league in 1993 and the Dutch Cup again the following season. Jansen disagreed with van Hanegem's physical tactics, and argued with chairman Jorien van den Herik when the coach was given a contract extension. He left to work as assistant manager of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

alongside compatriot Leo Beenhakker, and also managed Japanese side

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the c ...

, where he struggled with the language. On 3 July 1997, Wim Jansen was appointed

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

, replacing the sacked Tommy Burns. He was their first manager from outside Great Britain and Ireland, and only the second to have never played for the club. He went on to guide them to their first

Scottish league championship The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...

in ten years, ending the hopes of rival Rangers to win a tenth consecutive championship. Despite winning the league and the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

during his only season in charge, Jansen left the club less than 48 hours after the title was secured as he was unable to work with general manager Jock Brown. His most notable transfer was the signing of Henrik Larsson from Feyenoord. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Jansen took up the position of assistant to the head coach of the Feyenoord first team, Gertjan Verbeek. He resigned in solidarity when the coach was fired in 2009.

Personal life and death

Jansen and his family were not religious, and he would practice kicking a ball at a pole on Sundays while all his neighbours were at church. As a child, he lived on the same street (''Bloklandstraat'') as Feyenoord teammate Coen Moulijn. Jansen lived in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht from the 1970s. In late 2021, he released the biography ''Meesterbrein'' ("Mastermind"), written alongside Yoeri van den Busken. Jansen died of complications from

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

on 25 January 2022 at the age of 75.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Player

Feyenoord *

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 ...

: 1964–65, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1973–74 *

: 1968–69 * European Cup: 1969–70 * Intercontinental Cup: 1970 *

: 1973–74 Ajax * Eredivisie: 1981–82 Netherlands *

runner-up:

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

third place: 1976

Manager

Feyenoord *

: 1990–91, 1991–92 Celtic *

: 1997–98 *

: 1997–98

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen, Wim 1946 births 2022 deaths Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Feyenoord players Feyenoord managers AFC Ajax players Dutch football managers Celtic F.C. managers 1974 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1976 players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht Footballers from Rotterdam Eredivisie players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players J1 League managers Sanfrecce Hiroshima managers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Dutch expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Japan Expatriate football managers in Scotland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Japan Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States Scottish Football League managers Association football midfielders UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Cup winning players Deaths from dementia in the Netherlands