Jens Toornstra (born 4 April 1989) 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 for

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 ...

side

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

. He usually plays as an

attacking midfielder 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. ...

Club career

Early career

Toornstra was born in Ter Aar. In his youth, he played eight years for amateur football club Alphense Boys in the Tweede Klasse C. In his last year he scored 20 goals for the team. He impressed so much Kees Jansma recommended Toornstra to

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 ...

. Initially, the scouts of ADO Den Haag did not believe Toornstra would be as good but ADO Den Haag bought Toornstra for the reserve squad.

ADO Den Haag

In the summer of 2009 Toornstra came to

with a contract until July 2012. He made his debut in the 3–0 victory against Willem II. Soon, he became first team player for ADO and quickly gained interests from AZ,

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

and

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 ...

. Toornstra signed a new improved contract on 4 July that same year until the summer of 2013. In the 2010–11 season Toornstra received the jersey number 7, last worn by Karim Soltani who moved to Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. He scored his first goal for

in January against

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 ...

after missing not a single game. On 26 May 2011, He scored a hat-trick against

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 ...

in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final. His goals helped Den Haag to a 5–1 lead on aggregate.

Utrecht

At the end of the winter transfer window, Toornstra signed with

. He grew out to be one of the important players.

Feyenoord

On 25 August 2014, Toornstra made a transfer to

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 ...

for a fee of €3.5 million. He signed a four-year deal. On 22 April 2018, he scored as Feyenoord won the 2017–18

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 ...

final 3–0 against

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

Utrecht

On 23 August 2022, he returned to his old club FC Utrecht on a free transfer.

International

On 13 May 2010, Toornstra got his first election for the Netherlands under-21 national team for the games 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 ...

on 18 and 21 May. He instantly played his first match on 18 May. He scored his first goal for the U-21 team on 11 August 2010 against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. In May 2013 Toornstra was part of the Netherlands national team's tour of Asia, with friendly matches against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. He made his debut against Indonesia.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Feyenoord *

: 2016–17 *

: 2015–16, 2017–18 *

Johan Cruyff 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 footbal ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

runner-up: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Voetbal International profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toornstra, Jens 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Leiderdorp Dutch men's footballers Footballers from South Holland Men's association football midfielders Netherlands men's international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Eredivisie players Alphense Boys players ADO Den Haag players FC Utrecht players Feyenoord players