Willy van der Kuijlen
 |
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Wilhelmus Martinus Leonardus Johannes van der Kuijlen |
||
| Date of birth | December 6, 1946 | ||
| Place of birth | Helmond, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder / Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
PSV Eindhoven (scout) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1953–1964 | HVV Helmond | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1964–1981 | PSV | 528 | (308) |
| 1981–1982 | MVV | 17 | (3) |
| Total | 545 | (311) | |
| National team | |||
| 1966–1977 | Netherlands | 22 | (7) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
|||
Wilhelmus "Willy" Martinus Leonardus Johannes van der Kuijlen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈwili vɑn dɛr ˈkœy̯lə(n)]; born 6 December 1946) is a former Dutch football player and currently a scout for PSV Eindhoven.
Van der Kuijlen was born in Helmond and started his youth career at local club HVV. In 1964, he was signed by PSV. Van der Kuijlen ended up playing for the club 18 years, winning three Eredivisie titles, two domestic cups and the UEFA Cup in 1978. He was also crowned Eredivisie top scorer three times. After short periods with MVV Maastricht and Overpelt, he retired at age 37. After his playing career, Van der Kuijlen returned to PSV as assistant manager, first team coach, youth coach and scout. He also briefly served as assistant manager at Roda JC.
Van der Kuijlen played 528 league games and scored 308 times for PSV, both being all-time club records. With 311 career goals in total, Van der Kuijlen also holds the all-time Eredivisie goal record. He won 22 caps and scored seven goals for the Dutch national team in the 1960s and 1970s, but his international career was marred by frequent clashes with Johan Cruyff and his allies.
Van der Kuijlen was raised in Helmond and started playing football from an early age. At eight years old, he joined local club HVV Helmond, even though boys were not able to join until the age of nine. Van der Kuijlen became noteworthy because of his goalscoring abilities. He attended school to become a tiler, but quit in favour of becoming a football player. At the age of fifteen, Van der Kuijlen debuted in the HVV Helmond first team. In 1963, he attracted interest from PSV Eindhoven and played an test match for them against De Valk in May. The team offered him a contract, but Van der Kuijlen declined; he could only receive a youth contract and the offered wages were lower than his deal with HVV at the time. While playing for HVV Helmond, he managed to score 69 goals in 63 matches for the amateur side. In 1964, PSV and thirteen other clubs (including Belgian sides) were interested in signing the youngster. This time, Van der Kuijlen opted to play for PSV.
...
Wikipedia