Menno Willems (born 10 March 1977) is a Dutch former 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 played as a defender and

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He notably played for Vitesse,

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 ...

and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. He also played for

FC Den Bosch FC Den Bosch () is a professional football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie. They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadiu ...

HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982� ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

before being forced to retirement at the age of 30.

Career

Born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Willems was scouted by Dutch club

and he signed to the Amsterdam-based club when he was a youngster and took the step up to the first team in 1996. After one season of limited chances or football action, Willems left Ajax bound for fellow

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

Vitesse Arnhem SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

where he would remain until 1999. He then spent a season playing with

before returning to Vitesse a year later. In November 2001, Menno signed a three-month loan deal with English club

as Mariners boss

Lennie Lawrence Robin Michael Lawrence, commonly known as Lennie Lawrence, (born 12 December 1947) is an English football manager. He is assistant manager and non-executive director at National League side Hartlepool United. Lawrence was a semi-professional a ...

brought in a wave of foreign talent following the dismissal of

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, ...

. Willems along with

David Nielsen David Jean Nielsen (born 1 December 1976) is a Danish professional football manager, and former player. He played for a number of Danish clubs, as well as Fortuna Düsseldorf in Germany and English clubs Grimsby Town, Wimbledon and Norwich City ...

, Knut Anders Fostervold and Zhang Enhua linked up with the club on loan. After the end of his three-month loan deal Grimsby paid Vitesse £160,000 for Menno, and made him one of the most highly paid players at the club. He played out the final few months of the 2000–01 season and was the only foreign loan star too sign a permanent deal. In the new season, slight injury problems coupled with performances of other players saw Willems fall out of favour at the club under new manager Paul Groves. In May 2002, Willems left the club on a free transfer. He soon returned to the Netherlands, playing for

for two seasons, before playing out the next two seasons with

and

. Willems called time on his professional football career at the end of the 2005–06 season. Because of wear and tear to the cartilage in his knee, he was advised to end his football career.

Personal life

Willems is related to fellow footballer and former

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

midfielder

Ron Willems Ron Willems (born 20 September 1966 in Vaassen, Gelderland) is a former Dutch footballer. During his career he played for PEC Zwolle, FC Twente, AFC Ajax, Grasshopper Club Zürich, and Derby County F.C., where he made 26 appearances and scor ...

. In 2012 Willems was sent to prison in Belgium for fraud following the collapse of his

flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

business.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willems, Menno 1977 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players English Football League players AFC Ajax players SBV Vitesse players FC Den Bosch players Grimsby Town F.C. players HFC Haarlem players Sparta Rotterdam players Go Ahead Eagles players Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England