Geert Meijer (born 15 March 1951) 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 and former professional player.

Playing career

Born in Sellingen, Meijer played as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, and began his professional career in 1972 with FC Amsterdam. After moving to city rivals

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), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

three years later, where he spent four seasons, Meijer spent a year in England with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

, making 15 appearances in the First Division. Upon his return to the Netherlands, Meijer played for

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 ...

, DS'79 and

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 ...

, before retiring in 1986.

Coaching career

While still a professional player, Meijer began his coaching career. He managed the amateur teams VV Strijen, DCV and Hermes DVS. After 3 consecutive league titles with VV Strijen, he became assistant coach at

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 ...

. Between 1990 and 1999 Meijer was the assistant of 7 different Feyenoord managers: Gunder Bengtsson,

Pim Verbeek Peter Tim Dirk "Pim" Verbeek (12 March 1956 – 28 November 2019) was a Dutch football manager who last coached the Oman national football team. Playing career As a player, Verbeek was a defender or a midfielder and spent his entire career at S ...

, Hans Dorjee,

Wim Jansen Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius "Wim" Jansen (; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional association football, football player and manager. As a midfielder or defender (association football), defender, he spent most of his caree ...

Willem van Hanegem Willem "Wim" van Hanegem (; born 20 February 1944) is a Dutch former Association football, football player and coach who played as a midfielder. In a playing career spanning over 20 years, he won several domestic honours in the Netherlands, as ...

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team of ...

and Leo Beenhakker. When Willem van Hanegem was sacked in 1995, Meijer was caretaker manager. In 1997, after Arie Haan was sacked, Meijer was also caretaker manager (together with John Metgod). Meijer would then work as a youth coach, for 4 years at Feyenoord and for 2 years in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. In 2005 he became Head Coach at FC Hämeenlinna, which played in the

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for 'Number One'; , previously I divisioona) is the third highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga and Ykkösliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. Until ...

, the second level in Finland. As the Finnish football season takes place between April and October, the team avoided relegation in autumn and in December Meijer became assistant of Henk Wisman in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, at both the National Team and FC Pyunik. In 2007,

's manager Gert Aandewie was sacked. Sparta's under−23 coach Adri van Tiggelen became caretaker manager in November and December 2007, while Meijer assisted him. This meant that Meijer took over Sparta's under−23 team from van Tiggelen for the next three and a half years. Meijer would stay a few more years at Sparta as a scout, and as assistant of Jos van Eck when he was Sparta's caretaker manager in the 2nd division. This was from February 2011 until the end of the season. Meijer always combined his work at Sparta with coaching amateur teams SV Bolnes and VV Strijen.). Meijer's last season at VV Strijen was 2021–22, when he finalised his third spell (each spell lasting seven years) years as head coach at VV Strijen.

References

;General
Voetbal International
;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Meijer, Geert 1951 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Eredivisie players English Football League players FC Amsterdam players AFC Ajax players Bristol City F.C. players Sparta Rotterdam players FC Dordrecht players NAC Breda players Feyenoord managers Dutch football managers Dutch expatriate football managers Hermes DVS managers People from Westerwolde (municipality) Expatriate men's footballers in England Men's association football wingers Feyenoord non-playing staff Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Finland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Armenia Expatriate football managers in Finland Sparta Rotterdam non-playing staff Footballers from Groningen (province) 20th-century Dutch sportsmen