Theo Janssen (born 27 July 1981) 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, rugb ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for various clubs in the Netherlands, including

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vi ...

Twente Twente ( nl, Twente , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Ge ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

, as well as on loan for Belgian club Genk. He spent 10 years with Vitesse before joining Twente in 2008, where he helped them win the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

and qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history. After being named

Dutch Footballer of the Year The title Dutch Footballer of the Year ( Dutch: ''Voetballer van het Jaar'') has been awarded in the Netherlands since 1984. The award is determined by a poll of Dutch professional footballers playing in the First ( Eredivisie) and Second ( Eerste D ...

in 2011, he played a season with Ajax, before returning to Vitesse in August 2012.

Club career

Vitesse

Janssen began his career at amateur club Vitesse Arnhem 1892 and played from 1995–1996 in the reserves of

SBV Vitesse SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally as well Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional football club located in the municipality of Arnhem. Established on 14 May 1892, V ...

. After breaking through in several youth teams Janssen made his professional debut on 9 December 1998 in the first team against

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Div ...

, which Vitesse won 2–0. Janssen came in as substitute in 90th minute to replace Marian Zeman. Janssen played 5 games that season for Vitesse. The next season Janssen made 17 appearances for Vitesse. In the 2000–2001 season Janssen became a starter for Vitesse and made 30 appearances, in which he scored once. In September Janssen broke his shin, he played 10 games total that season, and scored 1 goal.

Genk

For the 2003–2004 season Janssen was loaned to Genk in Belgium. He played 15 games for games and scored 2 goals before returning to Vitesse in January 2004.

Return to Vitesse

Janssen played another 16 games in 2004 in which he scored one goal. He played primarily on the wing in the following season. His leg operation was sometimes troubling him, nevertheless he made 28 appearances in which he scored 8 goals. In the 2005–2006 season he played 30 games for Vitesse and scored 7 goals. Janssen's good performance at Vitesse was not unseen, as he received an invitation for the Netherlands national football team for a friendly game against Ecuador on 1 March 2006. However, Janssen could not play, due to surgery on his tonsils. Janssen remained a regular starter for Vitesse in the following season, and was again selected to play for Oranje. This time he was able to play and made his debut for Oranje in a friendly against Ireland. He came in the 83rd minute for Stijn Schaars. On 2 September 2006, Janssen started for Oranje in a European Championship qualifier against Luxembourg. Janssen made only 22 appearances for Vitesse that season, due to injuries and suspensions. Vitesse trainer Aad de Mos told Janssen he could search for another club, despite an existing contract until 2009. During the 2007–2008 season, Janssen once again got injured, this time for several months. He returned playing in late 2007.

FC Twente

In mid-April 2008

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedes ...

announcing the signing Janssen for the upcoming season on a contract until 2012. The transfer fee was approximately worth €1.5 million. In November 2009 Janssen was suspended by Twente for two months, after a drunk-driving accident. One of his passengers, former professional goalkeeper Kevin Moeliker, ended up in hospital where he was kept in a coma for several days. He lost one of his ears in the accident. Janssen won the

that year with FC Twente. In July Janssen was invited by van Marwijk to play a friendly against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. In the 2010–11 season Janssen had his best season up to that point. He won the

Johan Cruijff Schaal The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national football ...

and the KNVB Cup with FC Twente. He scored 20 goals in 46 appearances, which made him club top scorer, among them some important goals for Twente like against Internazionale,

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

and PSV. He was also voted best player of the Eredivisie of the season 2010–11.

Ajax

On 23 May 2011, Ajax and Twente agreed on a transfer of Janssen to Ajax. The transfer fee was worth €3.2 million. Janssen signed a contract with Ajax for two years and was handed the number 16 shirt, previously worn by Luis Suárez. His first couple of matches for Ajax were not very successful, as coach Frank de Boer decided that Janssen had to play as a defensive midfielder, which was not Janssen's best position. After he was playing in a more attacking position, Janssen became very important in achieving the league victory in 2012.

Second return to Vitesse

Janssen wanted to leave Ajax, after he had heard from Frank de Boer that he would be playing less matches in the coming season. He refused to play a role as substitute. On 27 August 2012, Janssen returned to Vitesse for a fee of approximately 600,000 euro's.

End of active football career

After suffering from different injuries of which the latest involved a meniscus operation, Janssen on 4 March 2014 announced that he would immediately end his active football career and that he would pursue a career with Vitesse as a scout for youth players and specialist trainer.

International career

Janssen made his debut for the Neherlands national team against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

in August 2006.

Career statistics

Club performance

International performance

:''Statistics accurate as of matches played on 7 June 2013''.

Honours

Club

: 2009–10 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2010–11 *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: 2011–12

Individual

: 2011 *Gelders Sportsman of the Year: 2011

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Janssen, Theo 1981 births Living people Footballers from Arnhem Association football midfielders Dutch footballers Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands international footballers SBV Vitesse players K.R.C. Genk players FC Twente players AFC Ajax players Eredivisie players Belgian First Division A players Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium SBV Vitesse non-playing staff