Johan Derksen

Johannes Gerrit "Johan" Derksen (born 31 January 1949) is a Dutch sports journalist and former football player. He played professional football between 1966 and 1978 for six clubs: Go Ahead Eagles, Cambuur, Veendam, HFC Haarlem, SV Meppen and MVV Maastricht. During and after his footballing career, he became a sports journalist, specialising in football. He was the editor-in-chief of ''Voetbal International'', the Netherlands' most prominent football magazine, from 2000 until his retirement in 2013. Derksen was while working at Voetbal International and after his retirement a television football pundit on RTL7's ''Voetbal International'' and ''Veronica Inside'' on Veronica TV. His current TV talkshow is ''Vandaag Inside'' on SBS6.

Early life

Derksen was born as an only child in Heteren, Gelderland into a Protestant family. He described his father as being a very strict policeman, both professionally and at home. Derksen stated that his father wanted him to become a professional football player instead of a drummer; Derksen was already a member of local football team SDOO Heteren.

When he was a teenager, his family moved to Drenthe, where he later played for amateur football clubs Nieuw-Buinen and Rolder Boys. Derksen then moved to Deventer to join the youth academy of professional football club Go Ahead Eagles.(Dutch)

Club career

Go Ahead Eagles (1966–1968)

Go Ahead Eagles were known for having one of the Netherlands' most successful youth academies. Derksen was one of the six players in the club's boarding school, together with Oeki Hoekema, André van der Leij, Ger Veerman, Herman Tieselink and Tiny Broers. In 1968, the 19-year-old left-back signed a one-year-contract with Cambuur.

Cambuur (1968–1972)

He made his debut on 1 August 1968 in a friendly against PEC Zwolle, and quickly developed into a reliable defender notorious for his rough playing style. His contract was later extended by another year.

In a game against Vitesse, he injured his knee and was forced to decline an invitation from the Dutch military football team. He did not return before the start of the next season. After fulfilling his military service, he was employed as a textile salesman, as Cambuur was a semi-professional club. In the summer of 1972, Derksen was transferred to Veendam.

Veendam (1972–1975)

In 1973, in Veendam's away match against Cambuur, Derksen received a yellow card from referee Gerard Jonker. Derksen later made a harsh foul by charging Cambuur's centre-back Sietse Visser in a scrimmage, leaving Visser severely injured; Jonker did not send Derksen off. Cambuur's chanted insults at Derksen, who gave the finger to the crowd. The police later closed the gates to ensure Veendam would be granted a safe passage home. Cambuur won the game 3–1.

According to some bystanders Derksen had threatened the Cambuur players that they "would indeed get a good licking". Derksen's charge fueled the debate on the ever more violent behaviour shown on the pitch. Derksen received a monetary fine (150 fl.) and was suspended for four games. His colleagues Dick Nanninga (3 matches, 100 fl. fine) and Jan Bont (1 match, 100 fl.) were also punished by the Arbitration committee.

A week later, Veendam put Johan Derksen on the transfer list. Veendam stated his behaviour in the match against Cambuur was "the last straw".

Despite rumours of a fl. 15.000 transfer agreement with FC VVV, no deal was concluded and Derksen stayed in Groningen for another season. A year later, he was released by Veendam. He stated in the press that only five players (including himself) were good enough to play in the Eerste Divisie.

In the January transfer window of 1975, Haarlem signed Derksen on a half-year deal.

Haarlem (1975–1976)

Derksen immediately made an impression; he formed the link Haarlem's defence had missed, and his contract was extended by a year. Haarlem, with Derksen, took the 1975–76 Eerste Divisie title and won promotion back to the Eredivisie.

SV Meppen (1976–1977)

In 1976, he signed for West German team SV Meppen, who were playing in the Oberliga Nord, the third tier of German football. Derksen, who lived in Emmen, wanted to play for a more local club; Meppen is situated across the German-Dutch border, while Haarlem is located in western Netherlands.

In November 1976, Derksen made a TV appearance in the "Mini-voetbalshow" (English: mini football show), a futsal tournament and an initiative of VI and NCRV, representing the Northern Netherlands football team. In 1977, Derksen was named the coach of the Northern Netherlands team.

He did not play professional football for eight months. In the spring of 1977, he signed a contract with MVV Maastricht. The 28-year-old defender signed a provisional contract valid until the end of the season. He was signed to replace John Webb, who departed for the United States to serve out his outstanding contract with Chicago Sting.

MVV Maastricht (1977)

Although Derksen did not play football for a long time, he did very well in his first games. His manager George Knobel stated: "I am very happy with Johan Derksen. He has the experience to deal with this kind of thing." In an article published in ''Voetbal International'', Derksen asked "what the world had come to when creative players in the Eerste Divisie cannot freely practice their job", after which he was widely criticised. Derksen was noted as one of the most aggressive players in the Eerste Divisie.

Career statistics

Source:

Journalistic career

After his professional footballing career, he focused mainly on his journalistic career. Derksen started writing in the regional daily '' Dagblad De Noord-Ooster'', later becoming an editor for the '' Winschoter Courant'' and ''Nieuwsblad van het Noorden''. Starting on 1 February 1977, he was employed by weekly magazine ''Voetbal International'' (VI). Since 2000 he was the magazine's editor-in-chief. He confessed to have written for VI before as a side job, using the pseudonyms "Gerrit Westers" and "Freek Zoontjes", without his employer's permission.

Cambuur incident

Johan Derksen claimed in VI that Cambuur had paid a large sum of money to keep Oeki Hoekema from being suspended. According to Derksen, Vlaardingen player Herman den Haag had received a few banknotes from a Cambuur official whilst on the toilet. ''De Volkskrant'' called KNVB official Van Zon, who stated he had laughed very hard when he heard the claims: "Money handed out on the toilet? How did he come up with that? I have seen it with my own eyes: the Cambuur representative gave the cash to the witnesses. No, not on the toilet but in public in the bar of our restaurant. It wasn't much money either, If I recall correctly it was fl. 50. Those few ten-guilder notes aren't even enough to cover the witnesses' expenses, since all the witnesses had to travel from Rotterdam to here. The KNVB pays fl. 0.35 per kilometre." "Quite a crappy story indeed, Derksen wrote, but then again, that's what we're accustomed to. You wanna know who were present in court at the time? Me, another journalist and a man with a tape recorder. Derksen wasn't there. Probably on the toilet."

Becoming CEO of BV Veendam

In the spring of 2002, Derksen agreed to become the new CEO of Veendam. He would lead the club together with manager Jan Korte and quit his job as editor-in-chief of ''Voetbal International'' immediately, where he had worked for almost 25 years. Two days after he was presented as successor of Henk Nienhuis

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