Edwin de Graaf (; born 30 April 1980) is a Dutch
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
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 ...
and former player.
Career
Club career
De Graaf is a midfielder who was born in
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
and made his debut in professional football, being part of the
RBC Roosendaal
RBC, previously known as RBC Roosendaal, is a football club based in Roosendaal, Netherlands. RBC currently plays in the fifth-tier Vierde Divisie after bankruptcy in 2011, restarting the club in the tenth tier Vijfde Klasse.
History 1912– ...
squad in the 2001–02 season. He also played for
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
and
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 ...
before joining
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 Eredivisi ...
.
On 15 June 2010, he signed a two-year deal 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
Hibernian
Hibernian may refer to:
* Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence
** Irish (disambiguation)
Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to:
Sports clubs
* Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875
* Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...
.
De Graaf made an "impressive" performance in his home debut for Hibs, scoring two goals in a 3–2 defeat by
NK Maribor
Nogometni klub Maribor () is a Slovenian professional Association football, football club based in Maribor, Slovenia. It competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of the Football in Slovenia#League system, Slovenian football league system ...
. His later performances were not as productive, however, as he missed clear goalscoring chances in games against
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 ...
,
Inverness
Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
and
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 ...
.
De Graaf struggled to hold down a place under Hughes' successor,
Colin Calderwood
Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player.
As a player, he was a centre-back who played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa and in the Football League for Mansfi ...
, and was loaned to
Excelsior
Excelsior may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry
* "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
* "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...
for the remainder of the 2010–11 season. Calderwood stated in April 2011 that he had received good reports about De Graaf's performances for Excelsior and confirmed that he would return to
Easter Road
Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-largest ...
for the 2011–12 season. His contract with Hibernian was terminated and he signed for
Excelsior
Excelsior may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry
* "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
* "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...
on 1 September 2011.
International career
De Graaf has represented the
Netherlands B national football team
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
five times.
Coaching career
Feyenoord
Retiring in the summer 2013, De Graaf was hired as head coach of
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
's U14s.
Drunk driving
In March 2015, De Graaf was arrested after he was
driving under the influence
Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...
of alcohol, causing an accident on the highway half past three in the night. De Graaf drove into his predecessor on the highway near
Zoetermeer
Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2023 this had grown to 126.998 ...
with his
Opel
Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...
. The victim's car would be a total loss. De Graaf decided not to stop, but shortly afterwards he was put aside by the police. An investigation by Feyenoord later showed that De Graaf had 'slightly exceeded the maximum permitted alcohol level at the time of the incident. For that reason, he only received a 'strong warning' from the club and was not fired. He continued in his position as head coach of the club's U16s. However, shortly before the start of the 2017–18 season, De Graaf decided to leave the club to seek for a new challenge.
ADO Den Haag
A few hours after leaving Feyenoord, it was confirmed that de Graaf had been appointed assistant manager to
Alfons Groenendijk
Alfons Groenendijk (; born 17 May 1964) Dutch professional football manager and former player who has been the head coach of club Jong PSV since 2024.
Club career
During his career, Groenendijk played for ADO Den Haag, Roda JC, Ajax, Mancheste ...
at
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 ...
. In December 2019, an heated conflict took place between ADO-player,
Donny Gorter
Donny Gorter (born 15 June 1988) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left back for amateur side RKSV Halsteren. He formerly played for NAC Breda, AZ, AaB, Viborg FF and ADO Den Haag. He is the son of former footballer Edwin Gor ...
, and de Graaf. A brawl allegedly started, after which technical manager Jeffrey van As decided to send De Graaf home. On 9 January 2020, the club confirmed that de Graaf's contract had been terminated.
Roda
On 24 January 2023, de Graaf was hired by
Roda JC
Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...
in
Eerste Divisie
The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...
until the end of the 2022–23 season. In April 2023, it was announced that his contract would not be extended, and that he would leave at the end of the season.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graaf, Edwin De
1980 births
Living people
Dutch men's footballers
Dutch expatriate men's footballers
Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland
Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland
Eredivisie players
Eerste Divisie players
Derde Divisie players
Scottish Premier League players
RBC Roosendaal players
Feyenoord players
ADO Den Haag players
NAC Breda players
Hibernian F.C. players
Footballers from The Hague
Excelsior Rotterdam players
FC Lisse players
Men's association football midfielders
Dutch football managers
NAC Breda managers
Eerste Divisie managers
Roda JC Kerkrade managers