Niels Kokmeijer

Niels Kokmeijer
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-12-30) 30 December 1977 (age 46)
Place of birth Uitgeest, Netherlands
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2001 Volendam 56 (19)
2001–2003 Heerenveen 0 (0)
2003–2004 Haarlem 27 (4)
2004 Go Ahead Eagles 14 (4)
Total 97 (27)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Niels Kokmeijer (born 30 December 1977) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a forward. He later managed the Netherlands national beach soccer team.

Career

Kokmeijer, born in Uitgeest, North Holland, played as a forward, making his professional debut as part of the FC Volendam squad in the 1998–99 season. He also played for SC Heerenveen and HFC Haarlem before joining Go Ahead Eagles in 2004–05, playing in the Eerste Divisie.[1]

Injury

In his first and only season at Go Ahead, Kokmeijer was seriously injured by opponent Rachid Bouaouzan playing for Sparta Rotterdam on 17 December 2004. Kokmeijer's leg was broken so badly that he had to retire from professional football. Sparta Rotterdam suspended Bouaouzan for the rest of the season, which was more than the ten-match ban the KNVB awarded him. He was also prosecuted by the Dutch government and Kokmeijer for battery, unique in Dutch football history. Bouaouzan received a suspended six-month jail sentence.[2]

Later career

From 2007 to 2014 Kokmeijer was manager of the Netherlands national beach soccer team, who became silver medalists in the 2008 Euro Beach Soccer League. He later did a number of projects for the Johan Cruyff Foundation and the Johan Cruyff Institute.[3]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[4]
Club Season League
Division Apps Goals
FC Volendam 1998–99 Eerste Divisie 4 2
1999–2000 Eerste Divisie 30 7
2000–01 Eerste Divisie 22 10
Total 56 19
SC Heerenveen 2001–02 Eredivisie 0 0
2002–03 Eredivisie 0 0
Total 0 0
HFC Haarlem 2003–04 Eerste Divisie 27 4
Go Ahead Eagles 2004–05 Eerste Divisie 14 4
Career total 97 27

References

  1. ^ "Niels Kokmeijer" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Hutchings to land controversial Morroccan winger". ESPN Soccernet. 30 August 2007. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011.
  3. ^ "Hoe is het met... Niels Kokmeijer". nhnieuws.nl (in Dutch). 20 December 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Niels Kokmeijer » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 March 2021.