Antoine van der Linden (; born 17 March 1976) is a Dutch former

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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He amassed

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 ...

totals of 240 games and eight goals over the course of ten seasons, representing in the competition

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

and

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

Football career

Born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, van der Linden started his career in 1997 with local

, appearing in an average of 12

games during three seasons. In the 2000 summer he joined

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

in England,Swindon defender eyes derby clash

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

, 15 August 2000 featuring regularly for the

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club. After only one year, van der Linden returned to his country, signing with

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch professional football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 1925, the club ...

of the second division. In 2003, he returned to the top level, playing four solid years with

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...

and helping the side to the fifth position in the 2005–06 campaign, with the subsequent

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

to 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 ...

. In 2007, van der Linden moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

with

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M (), commonly known as Marítimo or Marítimo da Madeira, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in the city of Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Established in 1910, Marítimo is best known for its football team ...

: never an undisputed starter with the

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

ns, he did manage to appear regularly, but also experienced a brief spell with the reserves in his second and last year. In July 2009, 33-year-old van der Linden signed a one-year deal with

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

as a replacement for

Jan Wuytens Jan Wuytens (; born 9 June 1985) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Career Wuytens is a defender who was born in Hasselt and began his career with PSV Eindhoven in 1997. He left after seven years and joined H ...

who moved to

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

. He helped the team to the sixth place in the top flight, contributing with one goal in a 4–1 home win over bottom-placed

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

References

External links

* http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/Person.asp?PersonID=VANDERLA * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7399018.supporters-can-be-our-extra-man/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7381213.antoine-out/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7385776.we-must-do-it/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7382457.antoines-emergency-powers/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7390229.dutch-star-happy-with-a-new-role/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7386129.dont-panic/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7382943.man-of-the-match-antoine-van-der-linden/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7389894.any-role-will-do-for-the-dutchman/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7383497.antoine-so-gutted-at-his-late-miss/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7387717.we-can-beat-southend-where-is-it/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7381466.van-der-leaving/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7387872.what-price-antoine/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7389839.antoine-was-so-desperate-to-score/ * https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7388298.off-the-mark/
Stats at Voetbal International
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Linden, Antoine Van Der 1976 births Living people Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch men's footballers Men's association football defenders Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Derde Divisie players Sparta Rotterdam players FC Emmen players FC Groningen players Heracles Almelo players WKE '16 players English Football League players Swindon Town F.C. players Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players C.S. Marítimo players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Portugal