Jan Bens (15 April 1921 – 12 May 2012) was a Dutch professional

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 ...

player and coach; he was also an amateur boxer and trainer.

Football career

Playing career

Born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, Bens joined hometown club

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 ...

at the age of 12 and made his senior debut at the age of 17. In a match against

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 ...

on 6 December 1942, Bens became the first player ever to be sent off in

De Klassieker De Klassieker (''The Classic'') is the main football rivalry of the Netherlands, between AFC Ajax, Ajax (of Amsterdam) and Feyenoord (of Rotterdam). The record attendance was on 9 January 1966, when 65,562 watched in Rotterdam. History The ri ...

, after punching Ajax goalkeeper Gerrit Keizer. A winger, scored 25 goals in 76 first team games for Feyenoord. In 2007, he was the last surviving Feyenoord player from before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He left Feyenoord for EBOH in 1947.

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Bens became a manager and coach, working in both the Netherlands and Australia with

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 ...

, EBOH, DFC,

SC Cambuur SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

, Ringwood City Wilhelmina and SVV.

Boxing career

Bens had a career as an amateur boxer, alongside his football career. He also trained professional boxer Lolle van Houten.

Later life and death

Bens died on 12 May 2012, at the age of 91.

References

1921 births 2012 deaths Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch men's footballers Men's association football wingers Feyenoord players EBOH players Dutch football managers FC Dordrecht managers SC Cambuur managers SV SVV managers Dutch male boxers 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-footy-midfielder-stub