Erik Pieters (; born 7 August 1988) is a Dutch professional

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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

and

centre-back 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 ...

for club

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 ...

. Pieters began his career with

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

and made his professional debut in August 2006. He impressed enough at the

Stadion Galgenwaard Stadion Galgenwaard () is a football stadium in Utrecht, Netherlands. It has been the home of the FC Utrecht since 1970. The stadium, which underwent a renovation starting at the beginning of the 21st century, has a capacity of 23,750 spectators ...

to earn a move to

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

in July 2008 for €2.5 million. At PSV, he won the

Johan Cruijff Shield 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 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and the

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

in 2011–12 and also became a regular member of the Dutch national team. Injuries hampered his progress in

2012–13 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 ...

before he moved to English side

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

in June 2013 for €3.6 million. Pieters spent six years with Stoke and made 206 appearances before joining

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

in July 2019. He signed for

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 ...

club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in September 2022 for a further two seasons. He had a short term spell at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

without making a first-team appearance prior to moving to Championship side

in late March 2025 in a deal until the end of the season.

Career

Early career

Born in

Tiel Tiel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal (river), Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the Eas ...

, Pieters grew up in Enspijk and started as a central midfielder in the juvenile ranks of VV Rhelico in Rumpt. There he was scouted by

and, after a trial period, he joined the Utrecht youth academy.

Utrecht

Pieters made his

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 ...

debut for Utrecht in a 2–1 defeat against Willem II and went on to make 29 appearances in his maiden season as Utrecht finished the 2006–07 season in ninth place and they went on to win in the Intertoto Cup playoffs. In the 2007–08 season, Pieters made his European debut in July in the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

. He made 35 appearances and scored twice against Willem II and

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 ...

as Utrecht finished in tenth place. His solid performances attracted the interest of PSV Eindhoven.

PSV Eindhoven

On 9 July 2008, it was confirmed that Eredivisie champions

had signed the left-back for reportedly €2.5 million. Pieters was given the number 14 shirt, which was previously worn by

Slobodan Rajković Slobodan Rajković ( sr-cyr, Слободан Рајковић, ; born 3 February 1989) is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a centre back. Club career Born in Belgrade, Rajković started his career with OFK Beograd. He was included i ...

. He made his PSV debut in the league against his former club in a 5–1 win. His

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 ...

debut came in September against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. After a bright start to his PSV career, he was benched after some indifferent performances. In 2008–09 Pieters played 23 times for PSV as they finished in 4th position, winning the 2008 Johan Cruijff Schaal by beating

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 ...

2–0. The following season, Pieters regained his place in the starting eleven and played his part as PSV went on an unbeaten run for the last two months leading up to the winter break. His season was interrupted by a knee injury sustained while on international duty and he returned to within two weeks. The 2009–10 campaign saw PSV finish in 3rd position and reach the round of 32 in the

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 ...

. Pieters played 48 times in

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 ...

as PSV came close to reclaiming the Dutch title, finishing third four points off champions Ajax and he also helped PSV beat Feynoord 10–0. The 2011–12 season saw Pieters struggle with a fractured metatarsal and played 25 times before deciding to undergo foot surgery. He made his return from injury in a league match against

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

on 18 January 2013 after a nine-month layoff, and with PSV losing 3–1 Pieters was sent-off for a foul on Fred Benson. Such was Pieters' anger that he ran down the players entrance and punched a window, badly cutting his arm and was ruled out for a further three months. He returned in the top-of the table clash with Ajax towards the end of the

season, replacing

Jetro Willems Jetro Danovich Sexer Willems (born 30 March 1994) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left wing-back or left-back. Willems represented the Netherlands national team at UEFA Euro 2012; he played in the Netherlands' opening match o ...

after 73 minutes. A mix up with Pieters and PSV goalkeeper

Boy Waterman Boy Waterman (born 24 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was part of the Netherlands under-21 national team which won the 2007 Under-21 European Football Championship. Club career Waterman ...

allowed Derk Boerrigter to scoring the winning goal and Ajax went on to win the Eredivise.

Stoke City

Pieters signed for English club

on 28 June 2013 on a four-year contract for a fee of €3.6 million (£3 million). After agreeing to join Stoke, Pieters revealed that his main ambition was to play in England. – "Of course, I've always wanted to play in the Premier League. It's one of the hardest competitions to play in with some great players and teams and I'm really excited about it. I'm really looking forward to playing for this Club. It's important for me that the first impression is good and I've got a great feeling about Stoke City." He made his debut for Stoke on 17 August 2013 in a 1–0 defeat against

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 ...

. Pieters scored his first goal for Stoke on 12 April 2014 in a 1–0 win over

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 ...

after his intended cross beat

Tim Krul Timothy Michael Krul (; born 3 April 1988) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Luton Town. Krul's career began at youth clubs RAS and ADO Den Haag before moving to Newcastle United in 2005. At Newcastle, he m ...

. Pieters played 39 times for Stoke in 2013–14 as they finished in ninth position in the Premier League. Pieters retained his place at left-back under

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

in 2014–15, playing in 32 matches as Stoke finished in ninth position. Stoke suffered a number of defensive injuries during the season with Pieters suffering from a groin injury. Stoke ended the campaign with a 6–1 victory against Liverpool. Pieters signed a contract extension in December 2015, keeping him contracted at the club until 2020. Pieters played 41 times for Stoke in 2015–16 as the Potters again finished ninth. At the end of the season

Opta Sports Opta Sports, formerly Opta Sportsdata and more commonly known as Opta, is a British sports analytics company. Opta provides data for more than 30 sports in over 70 countries, with clients ranging from leagues and federations to broadcasters and ...

revealed that Pieters made more tackles than any other defender in the Premier League during the campaign. Pieters again remained Hughes' first choice left-back in 2016–17, making 38 appearances as Stoke finished in 13th position. Pieters was criticised at times during the campaign by supporters due to some poor performances and assistant manager Mark Bowen admitted that Pieters "has come off his standards". Pieters was fined £70,000 by manager

Paul Lambert Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Ipswich Town. Lambert played as a midfielder and won the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-o ...

in March 2018 after attending a late night party just hours before a league fixture against Everton. Pieters played 32 times in 2017–18 as Stoke suffered relegation to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

. Pieters began the 2018–19 season with two rare goals against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

and

. On 31 January 2019, Pieters joined French club

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2018–19 season. Pieters played 15 times for Amiens, helping them to avoid relegation.

Burnley

On 8 July 2019, Pieters signed for

for an undisclosed fee. On 10 June 2022, Burnley announced Pieters would leave the club at the end of June when his contract expired.

West Bromwich Albion

On 13 September 2022, Pieters joined

club

on a free transfer, signing a deal until the end of the season. He made his Albion debut the following day, coming on as a substitute in a home defeat to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. On 22 May 2024, the club announced he would be leaving in the summer when his contract expired.

Luton Town

On 19 December 2024, Pieters joined Championship side

on a short-term deal. He left the club on 19 January 2025, without making an appearance. On 7 March 2025, it was reported Pieters was training with Championship club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

; however, the club opted not to sign him.

Derby County

On 28 March 2025, Pieters signed a contract with

of the Championship on a short-term deal until the end of the 2024–25 season. Pieters spent the majority of his time at Derby as an unused substitute, making his debut for the club as a 89th minute substitute for Craig Forsyth in Derby's last game of the season on 3 May 2025, against former club

. On 16 May 2025; it was announced by Derby County that Pieters would leave Derby County upon the expiry of his contract in June 2025.

International career

Pieters played five matches for the Netherlands at the

2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eleventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Iquitos in Peru from 16 September to 2 October 2005. Players born after 1 January 1988 could participate i ...

where they reached the semi-finals. In 2007 Pieters was called up by Netherlands U-21 coach

Foppe de Haan Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch football coach. He is known for his long association with Frisian club Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national team during 2011 and then rejoined Heerenveen's youth prog ...

to be part of his squad for the

2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 to 23 June 2007. It was the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. Summary For the first time, a host nation was chosen ahead of the competition – the Netherlands, w ...

held in the Netherlands. Pieters did not play in their first round group match against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

(1–0 win), but did come on as a substitute in the second match against

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 ...

(2–1 win) to secure a semi-final spot and to qualify for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. In the semi-finals 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 ...

(1–1, 13–12 after 32 penalty kicks), Pieters played in the starting eleven, but was later substituted by Tim Janssen to improve the attack as well as due to a small injury. Pieters returned on the pitch and the Dutch went on to retain their 2006 title by beating

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

4–1 in the final. On 7 May 2012, Pieters was named in the provisional list of 36 players for the

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

tournament, but he did not recover in time for the competition due to a foot injury. PSV team member

replaced him in the

squad.

Style of play

Pieters' natural position is at

and describes himself as an attacking full-back and is also capable of playing as a centre-back if required. "My first job is to defend but I always want to attack and contribute as much as I can for the team. I've played a couple of times in the centre of defence as well but left-back is my position."

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

PSV Eindhoven *

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

: 2011–12 *

Netherlands U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

Third place:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Netherlands U21 *

UEFA U-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pieters, Erik 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Tiel Men's association football defenders Dutch men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers FC Utrecht players PSV Eindhoven players Stoke City F.C. players Amiens SC players Burnley F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for the Netherlands Eredivisie players Premier League players English Football League players Ligue 1 players Netherlands men's youth international footballers 21st-century Dutch sportsmen Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Footballers from Gelderland