Dino Ben Visser (born 10 July 1989) is a South African

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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club Leek Town. Visser began his career with

Platinum Stars Platinum Stars was a South African football club based in Phokeng near Rustenburg, North West Province that played in the Premier Soccer League. The club was nicknamed ''Dikwena'', the Tswana name for ''Crocodiles''. The team's best finish in ...

in his native country, South Africa, making his

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

debut in March 2011. Visser was touted as one of the most exciting young prospects from South Africa for some time. Visser played for

Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African soccer club based in Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein Celtic had a large fan base in the Free State and competed in the Premiership before selling their status to Royal ...

Black Leopards Black Leopards FC is a South African professional association football, football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe, Vhembe Region, Limpopo, that plays in the National First Division. History The club was founded in 1983 by business people in ...

and

Polokwane City Polokwane City Football Club is a South African professional football club based in the city of Polokwane in the Limpopo province that currently plays in the first tier South African Premiership. The team plays its home matches at the Peter Mok ...

and picked up a winners medal when Bloemfontein Celtic won the

2012 Telkom Knockout The 2012 Telkom Knockout is a football (soccer) knockout competition which comprised the 16 teams in the South African Premier Soccer League. It was the 21st tournament, and the 7th under the Telkom Knockout name. The tournament is effectively S ...

. He was the regular first-team goalkeeper at

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

during the 2016–17 season. Despite this, the club were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

out of the

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

. He returned to the top flight with former club Platinum Stars the next season as the regular first-choice goalkeeper. He remained as such when Platinum Stars was sold and renamed to Cape Umoya United. In June 2019, Visser decided to move to England and eventually signed a short-term deal at

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. After the expiration of his deal, he left the club to instead sign a short-term deal with

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

in March 2020. He signed a deal with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

five months later but left the club after spending the second half of the 2020–21 season out injured. He signed with

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

in September 2022 and was released at the end of the 2022–23 season before joining Leek Town in November 2023. He helped the club to win the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Division One West title in the 2023–24 campaign.

Career

South Africa

Visser began his career with

, where

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Steve Komphela Steve Komphela (born 1 July 1967) is a South African football coach and a former player who is the manager of South African Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. Early life Steve was born in Golden Valley farm, 20 km outside K ...

described him and fellow youngster Allan Thomas as "good, up-and-coming young goalkeepers". In 2010, Visser featured for Platinum Stars in a friendly against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, as part of their preparations for the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. Visser made his first-team debut under the stewardship of Owen Da Gama on 5 March 2011, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

and the earning

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award in a 0–0 draw with

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional association football, football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the South African Premier Di ...

at the

Royal Bafokeng Stadium The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace is a football, rugby and athletics stadium in Phokeng near Rustenburg, South Africa. It was built and is managed by the Royal Bafokeng Nation. It was used as the home stadium for Premier Soccer League club P ...

in the

, with regular custodian Tapuwa Kapini suspended. This would prove to be his only appearance for the "Dikwena" however, as he refused to sign a new three-year deal with the club and instead chose to become a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in the summer. He moved on to

and was an unused substitute in the

final, as Celtic beat

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

3–0 at the

Moses Mabhida Stadium The Moses Mabhida Stadium is a association football, soccer stadium in Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, named after Moses Mabhida, a former general secretary of the South African Communist Party. A multi-use stadium, it bec ...

. He was

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

ed out to

side

for the 2013–14 season. He played 16 games to help

Kosta Papić Kosta Papić ( sr-Cyrl, Коста Папић; born 17 July 1960) is a Serbian football coach who has managed a number of great African clubs in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania. Coaching career Previous clubs: Kaizer Chiefs, Maritzb ...

's "Lidoda Duvha" to record a second-place finish. However, they missed out on

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

as they went on to lose to

in the play-offs; Visser entered the game as a 31st-minute replacement for Jacob Mokhasi, with the Leopards already two goals down, and his outstanding saves were too late to sway the game. Visser then signed with Polokwane City and started as the first choice in head coach Boebie Solomons' plans for the 2014–15 season as

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

international Modiri Marumo was waiting on a work permit. He only played 11 games for the club after falling out with the club ownership structure, who came out to deny rumours that he had been released midway through the 2015–16 season. Visser joined

in August 2016. He played 24 games during the 2016–17 season, though the "People's Team" would be

down to the

SAFA Second Division The SAFA Second Division (known as the ABC Motsepe League for sponsorship reasons, and previously the Vodacom League between 1998 and 2012, was founded in 1998 as the overall third tier of South African association football, football. The compet ...

in last place. He rejoined Platinum Stars in August 2017, signing a two-year deal, to compete with Mwenya Chibwe, Steven Hoffman and Mbongeni Mzimela for a place in Peter Butler's starting eleven. Stars finished second-bottom of the South African Premier Division and were relegated; Visser featured a total of 21 times, including playing in all the play-off matches. The Platinum Stars entity was sold and renamed Cape Umoya United, who were aiming for promotion under head coach

Roger De Sá Rogério Paulo Cesar de Sá (born 1 October 1964) is a South African soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He has been a coach for the Qatari national team since 2023. De Sá is also one of the handful of South Africans ...

. He featured 24 times in the 2018–19 campaign. However, the "Spirited Ones" could only manage a tenth-place finish.

England

Following the expiration of his Cape Umoya United

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

at the end of the

2018–19 National First Division The 2018–19 National First Division was the season from August 2018 to May 2019 of South Africa's second tier of professional soccer, the National First Division. Stellenbosch FC were crowned champions on the final day, following a 0–0 draw ...

season, Visser moved to England. He went on trial with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in July 2019, but ultimately the "Addicks" instead opted to sign

Ben Amos Benjamin Paul Amos (born 10 April 1990) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club Port Vale F.C., Port Vale. He was capped by England up to England nationa ...

. In October, he joined

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

club

on a short-term deal, who were missing Lewis Ward with a broken arm. Visser made his debut for the club in a 3–1 victory over West Ham United U21 at

St James Park St James Park and variants may refer to: Football stadiums * St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, ground of Newcastle United F.C. * St James Park (Exeter), England, ground of Exeter City F.C. * St James Park, ground of Brackley Town F.C., ...

in the group stage of the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

. In the following round, Visser kept a clean sheet against

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

promotion contenders

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

, incredibly saving all three of Oxford's penalties in the ensuing

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

– a performance which earned him the tournament's 'Player of the Round' award. Following on from the expiration of Visser's short-term contract and a second injury to

Jonny Maxted Jonathan James Maxted (born 26 October 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Brackley Town. Early and personal life Born in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, Maxted grew up in Boston Spa. His uncle, Paul Maxt ...

, Visser was offered the chance to return to the "Grecians" in February; however, he rejected this, and the following month joined

rivals

and promotion favourites on a short-term deal to the end of the 2019–20 season. He signed for League Two club

on 27 August 2020 after impressing

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

John Askey John Colin Askey (born 4 November 1964) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Truro City. Able to play as a winger or as a striker, Askey had pace and intelligence. A former youth team play ...

on trial, who hoped he would challenge established number one

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State *Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, born ...

for a first-team place. He made his debut against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

on 8 September, keeping a clean sheet and then saving three penalties in the shoot-out to secure two points for the "Valiants" in the group stages of the

. However, he was deregistered at the end of the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

after he was sidelined with a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury. Both Brown and Visser were released at the end of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season by new manager

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...

. On 23 September 2022, Visser signed for

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

club

following an injury to on-loan goalkeeper Harvey Wiles-Richards. He became the club's first-choice goalkeeper after Christmas. He made 22 appearances in all competitions before being released by new manager

Paul Caddis Paul McLean Caddis (born 19 April 1988) is a Scottish Football coach (association football), football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is manager of National League North side Hereford F.C., Hereford. Caddis pla ...

at the end of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. On 16 November 2023, after almost seven months without a club, Visser joined

Division One West club Leek Town. Town set a club record 798 minutes without conceding a goal, with Visser playing 708 of those minutes. Leek were crowned Northern Premier League Division One West champions at the end of the 2023–24 season. He made 24 appearances games during the campaign, including an appearance in the

Staffordshire Senior Cup The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78 (then under Sheffield Rules. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed ...

final where Leek lost 1–0 to Rushall Olympic. He played 41 games of the 2024–25 campaign.

Career statistics

Honours

Bloemfontein Celtic *

Telkom Knockout The Carling Knockout Cup is a South African professional soccer knockout competition which comprises the 16 teams in the South African Premiership. The Carling Knockout Cup is the third of the three main cups administered by the PSL along with ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Leek Town *

Division One West: 2023–24 *

runner-up: 2024

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visser, Dino 1989 births Living people Soccer players from Polokwane South African men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Platinum Stars F.C. players Bloemfontein Celtic F.C. players Black Leopards F.C. players Polokwane City F.C. players Santos F.C. (South Africa) players Cape Umoya United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Leek Town F.C. players South African Premier Division players National First Division players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players South African expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in England South African expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century South African sportsmen