Freek Heerkens (born 13 September 1989) is a Dutch former 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 played as a

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 ...

Career

Early years

After progressing through PSV' youth teams, Heerkens moved to

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

in 2010. He made his professional debut for their first team on 16 August 2010, starting in a home match against

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

. Just a few months later, on 1 October of the same year, he notched his first goal in professional football during an impressive 8–0 victory against

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

Go Ahead Eagles

Following three successful seasons with the club from

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

, Heerkens joined Willem II, signing a two-year contract on 13 June 2013. He made his debut for the ''Tricolores'' in a home match against

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

on 4 August 2013, starting in a 2–2 draw. Throughout the 2013–14 season, he made 28 league appearances as the club clinched the

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 ...

title and secured promotion to the

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 ...

. Heerkens grew into

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

of Willem II, replacing

Pol Llonch Pol Llonch Puyaltó (born 7 October 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primera Federación club Intercity. Club career Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Llonch finished his youth career with CE L'Hospitalet af ...

and

Jordens Peters Jordens Peters (born 3 May 1987) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of Roda JC Kerkrade. During his playing career he played as a centre-back and represented Willem II and FC Den Bo ...

in that position. In September 2018, he extended his contract with Willem II until 2021. In June 2021, he signed a one-year extension, keeping him in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

until 2022. On 7 May 2022, Heerkens celebrated his 200th appearance for Willem II in a 2–0 victory against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

. However, the season concluded with the club facing their relegation to the Eerste Divisie after Heerkens led the club to promotion eight years prior. Despite relegation, he signed another one-year deal, extending his expiring contract until 2023. In June 2023, he signed a third consecutive one-year contract extension, keeping him part of Willem II for his eleventh season.

Honours

Willem II *

: 2013–14

References

External links

*
Career stats & Profile
- Voetbal International {{DEFAULTSORT:Heerkens, Freek 1989 births Living people People from Bernheze Men's association football central defenders Dutch men's footballers Go Ahead Eagles players Willem II Tilburg players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Footballers from North Brabant