Roel Wiersma
Roel Wiersma was a Dutch footballer, who most notably played for PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team.
Wiersma was born in Hilversum and played for amateur side Donar until 1954, when he was signed by PSV Eindhoven. He played at the club for ten seasons, making 316 league appearances. Wiersma served as captain for many years; most notably in 1963 when his team won the Eredivisie title. Between 1954 and 1962, he also played 53 caps for the Netherlands national team. In fifteen of his appearances, Wiersma served as captain of the Dutch squad. After a short period at EVV, he retired and committed himself to coaching and policy positions.
Early life
Wiersma was born in Hilversum in 1932, after his parents had decided to move there from Amsterdam five years earlier. Wiersma is a Frisian name; his paternal grandfather was born in Harlingen. At age 8, he joined the sports club Donar in his home town. Besides football, Wiersma played a range of different sports at Donar, including baseball, basketball and table tennis.Club career
In 1949, Wiersma debuted for the Donar first team, which played in the Dutch Fourth Division at the time. In his first season, the club was immediately promoted to the Third Division. Wiersma played for Donar until the 1954-55 season, when the team again won promotion; this time to the Second Division. His games at Donar were combined with his performances on the national Air Force football team. For Wiersma’s military service, he was stationed in Eindhoven as a sports instructor sergeant. He arranged a match for the Air Force team against an English military team. After Heerenveen’s Imke de Jong was outplayed by his English counterpart, Wiersma decided to substitute De Jong and bring himself onto the field. During his service, Wiersma trained several times at PSV Eindhoven and his performances at Donar and the Air Force football team meant that PSV decided to sign him in 1954.From the 1950s onwards, PSV conducted a shift in player’s heritage; the team went from mostly Brabantian men to players nationwide. Part of this policy was Wiersma’s transfer, who moved for a fee of 3000 Guilders. Every player who signed for PSV, would also work for Philips, as was customary at the time. His father and siblings already worked for the Nederlandsche Seintoestellen Fabriek, which was partially owned by Philips. Consequently, Wiersma started to work at the NSF as well. Throughout his career, Wiersma faced a few problems with PSV: the club promised to financially support his engineering education, but failed to do so until he threatened to move to Feyenoord. And when Wiersma left PSV, he did not receive the conventional 3000 Guilders bonus that every player got. Still, Wiersma remained at PSV for ten years and was captain of the 1963 squad that won the Eredivisie, his first and only trophy. He was present at PSV's first match in the European Cup in September 1955, when they faced Rapid Wien. More successful was PSV's 1963-64 European Cup campaign, when they reached the quarterfinals. Wiersma played in all six matches that season.
After PSV appointed Bram Appel as the new coach, he announced a new focus on younger players and notified Wiersma that he was not needed anymore. Disappointed, Wiersma left for rivals EVV in 1965 on a free transfer. In total, he played 316 league matches and scored twice for PSV. Wiersma also appeared in 14 cup matches and eight European matches. His career at EVV was cut short through injury: in a game against Budel, he broke his tibia, forcing him to end his career.