Alex Schoenmaker (born 23 August 1947) is a Dutch former 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 manager. Nicknamed ''Sexy-Lexie'' due to his good looks, he had a career as a player and manager in the Netherlands, the United States and the Middle East, mostly remembered as an icon of

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 ...

Playing career

Schoenmaker was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. His first club was amateur club VDS in his hometown. He began his professional career with ADO in 1965 and in 1967 appeared for the exported ADO team in the United States called the San Francisco Golden Gate Gales. He left for

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 ...

in the 1971–72 season, where he stayed for four years. For the

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 ...

-based club he scored 19 goals in European competitions – a record that still stands today. In 1974, Schoenmaker became European top goalscorer with 10 goals. After his tenure with Feyenoord, he retired from football as part of his first club ADO, which had meanwhile changed to FC Den Haag, and he played in the Zuiderpark until 1982. In the 1975–76 season, he was the European top goalscorer for the second time in his career, this time with six goals, sharing the honour with Aad Mansveld. Besides San Francisco Golden Gate Gales, Schoenmaker played in the USA and NASL leagues for the Edmonton Drillers and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

Managerial career

After his playing career, he worked mostly as an assistant coach – among others with AZ'67,

Volendam Volendam () is a tourist town in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Edam-Volendam, Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, known for its streets, old fishing boats and the traditional clothing wor ...

and

. He was also head coach of

TOP Oss TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbrevia ...

, Saudi club Al Hilal and

Al Jazira Club Al Jazira Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that currently competes in the UAE Pro League. History Al-Jazira was established in 1974 as a merger between ''Khalidiyah'' and ''Al Bateen''. The club struggled ...

from

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 ...

References

External links

* * 1947 births Living people Men's association football forwards Dutch men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch football managers ADO Den Haag players Edmonton Drillers (1979–1982) players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Feyenoord players FC Volendam managers ADO Den Haag managers FC Dordrecht managers TOP Oss managers Eredivisie players Eredivisie managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players San Francisco Golden Gate Gales players Footballers from The Hague United Soccer Association players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States UEFA Europa League–winning players Dutch expatriate football managers FC Volendam non-playing staff AZ Alkmaar non-playing staff Feyenoord non-playing staff 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-footy-forward-stub