Dorus De Vries
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Dorus de Vries (born 29 December 1980) 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
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 ...
. De Vries began his professional career in his native the Netherlands with
Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...
, before spending three seasons with
ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...
. He moved to Britain in 2006, when he spent a season at Scottish club
Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...
. before moving to
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...
where he spent four seasons, culminating in promotion to the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
in 2011. He rejected a new deal with Swansea to instead join
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
, with whom he spent two seasons largely as back-up. De Vries then signed for
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
in July 2013. He retired from football in 2019, after three seasons with
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
.


Club career


Early career in Netherlands

De Vries began his professional career at
Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...
, making his first team debut during the 1999–2000 season. He remained with the club in the second tier of Dutch football until 2003, when he signed for
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 ...
side
ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...
. After mostly serving as back-up to Roland Jansen, he took over as number one during the 2004–05 campaign. However, this status proved short lived as the
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 ...
capture of
Jaroslav Drobný Jaroslav Drobný (; 12 October 1921 – 13 September 2001) was a world No. 1 amateur tennis and ice hockey champion. He left Czechoslovakia in 1949 and travelled as an Egyptian citizen before becoming a citizen of the United Kingdom in 1959, w ...
during 2006 pushed De Vries aside, and he was told that he would not be offered a new contract.


Dunfermline Athletic

In the summer of 2006, following a successful trial, he signed a contract with
Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
club
Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...
. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw with Ayr United in the second round of the
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
, saving a penalty to take the match to extra time before going on to win in a penalty shoot-out. On 11 May 2007, he palmed a tame free kick into his own net against
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...
to end Dunfermline's seven-year stay in the Scottish Premier League. However, following the match, Dunfermline manager Stephen Kenny refused to blame De Vries for his team's relegation, stating: "We can attach absolutely no blame to him because he has been out of this world this season." His final match for the club came in the 2007 Scottish Cup Final defeat to
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
.


Swansea City

After becoming a free agent at the end of his contract, De Vries signed a two-year deal at
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...
on 6 July 2007. In his first season with the Welsh side he helped the club to the League One title, as the club's first choice goalkeeper. In the 2009–10 season, De Vries surpassed Roger Freestone's club record of 22 clean sheets in a single season with a shut-out against
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...
on 5 April 2010. He would go on to finish the season with 25 clean sheets, winning the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
's Golden Glove award for the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
in the process. The following season, he was part of the team that won the Championship Play-off Final, against
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
, to reach the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
. Initially, De Vries stated that he wanted to stay with the club for their first Premier League season. However, he rejected their contract offer shortly after and was subsequently signed by
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
.


Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 22 June 2011, it was confirmed that free agent De Vries had joined Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, signing a three-year contract. At Wolves, De Vries primarily served as back-up to Wayne Hennessey and initially only gained playing time in cup competitions. He made his club debut on 23 August 2011 in a 4–0 League Cup win at
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...
. When first choice goalkeeper Hennessey suffered a torn cruciate knee ligament in April 2012, De Vries made his first-ever Premier League appearance. However, by this stage Wolves had become rooted in the relegation zone and the 0–2 defeat against eventual champions
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
on De Vries' league debut confirmed their relegation back to the Championship. De Vries remained in the Wolves' goal for their remaining fixtures, including a trip to his former club Swansea, before which he said that he has no regrets about his decision to leave Swansea and join Wolves; he received mixed reception from Swansea fans and went on to concede four times in a 4–4 draw. Following relegation, De Vries was a target for
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
following their appointment of former Swansea manager
Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...
as manager, but their bid of a reported £500,000 was not accepted. With the new season beginning with Wayne Hennessey still sidelined through injury, new Wolves manager
Ståle Solbakken Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the Norway national team. During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, an ...
opted to instead start with Carl Ikeme in goal. His only start under Solbakken came in a League Cup loss at Chelsea, during which the goalkeeper conceded six times. In late October Solbakken admitted that he and De Vries had had an angry confrontation regarding his lack of opportunities. For a second consecutive season his chance to play league football only arrived through injury, when Ikeme suffered a self-inflicted broken hand in March 2013. He played in all of Wolves' remaining fixtures as the team again struggled unsuccessfully to avoid relegation under another manager,
Dean Saunders Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and ...
. Following relegation to League One, Saunders was fired and replaced by
Kenny Jackett Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is an English football manager and former player who played for Watford. He was most recently director of football at club Gillingham. A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midf ...
, who has stated that De Vries was free to leave on a free transfer as he sought to slim down the squad.


Nottingham Forest

On 3 July 2013, De Vries signed a two-year deal with Championship club
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
. Upon joining the club, De Vries stated the move wouldn't be easy for him over a first choice goalkeeper. De Vries was given the number 29 shirt. In his first season at Nottingham Forest, De Vries was primarily second choice goalkeeper behind Karl Darlow throughout the season, making his debut for the club on 21 April 2014 in a 2–1 win over
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
, and remained in goal for the remainder of the season with Darlow injured. De Vries was again second choice in 2014–2015, eventually displacing Darlow for a spell including the 2–1
derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
win over
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...
, but Darlow was re-instated by
Dougie Freedman Douglas Alan Freedman (born 25 May 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is currently the sporting director of Al-Diriyah, where he has been since 2025. Freedman played as a striker, primarily for Crystal Pal ...
, immediately on replacing
Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...
as manager. Following Darlow's move to
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
, De Vries was promoted to first-choice goalkeeper for the 2015–16 season and took the number one shirt. He played in all but one of Forest's league matches, missing the away fixture against
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
with a back injury. On 1 May 2016 De Vries was voted Player of the Season for 2015–16 by Forest's supporters after a consistent year in goal, which included a hat-trick of Player of the Month awards for August, February and March. He also saved all three of the penalties he faced during the season. De Vries made one appearance for Forest in the 2016–17 season: on opening day in a 4–3 victory over Burton Albion. He suffered a knee injury and was replaced by new signing Stephen Henderson.


Celtic

On 13 August 2016, De Vries signed a two-year deal with
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
. He made his debut on 27 August, playing the full match in Celtic's 4–1 win over
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
at
Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...
. He played in his first
Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...
match on 10 September, in only his second appearance, as Celtic beat
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
5–1. Three days later he made his European debut, in a 7–0 defeat to
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
at
Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...
in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
. After playing the full ninety minutes of the 2–2 draw away at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, de Vries was substituted at half-time against
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
on 24 September, replaced by Craig Gordon; this was his last appearance of the 2016–17 season. De Vries made only one appearance in the entire 2017 calendar year: a 1–0 win over
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
on 14 October. On 27 January 2018, De Vries replaced Gordon at half-time shortly after the latter suffered a knee injury in the 1–0 win over Hibernian. This gave De Vries an extended run in the side, taking in
Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
clashes with
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
, Hearts, Kilmarnock, and St Johnstone,
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
and then
Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...
, and De Vries'
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
début, which came against
Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Pr ...
. Celtic exited the Europa League after a 3–1 aggregate defeat to Zenit; the Russians' second goal, described by De Vries as a "
knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch (baseball), pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from Laminar flow, lamin ...
", deceived him, and it is his belief that his side never recovered from that concession. De Vries was injured in training on 9 March and replaced by
Scott Bain Scott Bain (born 22 November 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Falkirk. Bain is an Aberdeen youth product, although never played in a competitive first team Aberdeen game. After playing on loan at E ...
in the match with Rangers two days later, and made no further appearances in the 2017–18 season, finishing with 10 appearances: two in the Scottish Cup, two in the Europa League, and six in the League. De Vries left Celtic at the end of the 2018–19 season, and then announced his retirement from football.


Career statistics


Honours


Club

Swansea City *
Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...
:
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
*
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 ...
: 2007–08 Celtic *
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
: 2016–17, 2017–18 *