Reinier Lambertus "René" van de Kerkhof (; born 16 September 1951) 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 lea ...
who played as a
right winger for
FC Twente
Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...
,
PSV Eindhoven
Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...
and the
Netherlands national team.
Career
Van de Kerkhof and his twin brother
Willy
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...
were squad members of the Dutch national team that made the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
final in
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 became key players in the team that made the
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 Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
final, losing to hosts West Germany and Argentina, respectively. He also played for the Netherlands at the
Euro 1976 and
Euro 1980. Overall, van de Kerkhof appeared 47 times for his country, scoring five goals.
He is well remembered due to the incident before the
1978 World Cup final, when the opponent
Argentina national team objected to the cast he wore on his injured forearm since it could have injured an Argentinian player. Despite the bandage having been passed by
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
and worn in previous matches, the referee, Italian
Sergio Gonella vacillated. The Dutch players threatened to walk off the field in protest, delaying the kickoff of the game. Finally an extra layer of padding was applied to the bandage as a solution, and the match could start.
1978 was his most successful year, besides becoming runners-up at the World Cup, he also won the
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
, the
Dutch championship and the
KNVB Beker with PSV that year: "we had won everything possible – the title, the Dutch Cup and the UEFA Cup, and we had five or six players who had been runners-up at the FIFA World Cup in Argentina with the Netherlands. It was a beautiful period under coach
Kees Rijvers", van de Kerkhof later would tell to Berend Scholten.
Van de Kerkhof was named by
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
as one of the
top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
Career statistics
Club
Honours
PSV Eindhoven
*
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
:
1974–75,
1975–76,
1977–78
*
KNVB Cup
The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...
:
1973–74,
1975–76
*
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
:
1977–78
Seiko
*
Hong Kong First Division:
1984–85
*
Hong Kong Senior Shield: 1984–85
Netherlands
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
runner-up:
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; ...
,
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 Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
*
UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
third place:
1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
*
Tournoi de Paris: 1978
Individual
*
FIFA 100
The FIFA 100 is a list compiled by Brazilian professional footballer Pelé featuring his choices of the "greatest living footballers" at the time of its release. The list was unveiled on 4 March 2004 during a gala ceremony at the Natural Histor ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerkhof, Rene
1951 births
Living people
Dutch men's footballers
FIFA 100
UEFA Europa League–winning players
Men's association football forwards
Netherlands men's international footballers
Eredivisie players
Eerste Divisie players
Super League Greece players
Hong Kong First Division League players
FC Twente players
PSV Eindhoven players
FC Eindhoven players
Helmond Sport players
Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players
Seiko SA players
1974 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1976 players
1978 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1980 players
Dutch beach soccer players
Dutch twins
Footballers from Helmond
Identical twins
Dutch expatriate men's footballers
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong
Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong
20th-century Dutch sportsmen