Gerardus Henricus "Puck" van Heel (21 January 1904 – 19 December 1984) was a Dutch

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 ...

. He earned 64 caps for the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNV ...

, and played in the

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the 3rd edition of the FIFA World Cup, World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy national ...

s. He also represented the Netherlands at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

. During his club career, he played for his home town club of

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 ...

. Normally an

inside left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

or left

wing half 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. ...

, Van Heel was a slow player but possessed considerable vision and technical ability and was particularly good passer. He held the Dutch

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

record from 4 April 1937 (when he equaled the total of

Harry Dénis Henri ("Harry") Léonard Barthélémi Dénis (28 August 1896 – 13 July 1971) was a Association football, football Defender (association football), defender from the Netherlands, who represented his home country at three consecutive S ...

) until 22 May 1979 (when his total was surpassed by Ruud Krol). Van Heel was born on the southside of Rotterdam, the fourth of eleven children, into a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family. His father worked in the shipyards of Rotterdam. He joined the amateur club Sportclub Feyenoord, a youth academy for Feyenoord Rotterdam, and made his amateur debut in the red and white on 12 October 1919.

Playing career

Van Heel was a cornerstone of the

success preceding

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 ...

, winning five national titles and two

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 ...

s. During his time there, he became the team captain and a figurehead for the club. He was also one of the 11 Feyenoord players, ( Adri van Male, Pleun de Groot, Joop van der Heide, Bas Paauwe, Gerard Kuppen, van Heel, Jan Linssen, Piet Smits, Manus Vrauwdeunt, Leen Vente, Piet Kantebeen) chosen to play at the inauguration of their new stadium on 27 March 1937. The stadium was christened

Feijenoord Stadion Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

but would become known as "De Kuip". The game was against Belgian side Beerschot and watched by 37,825 spectators. Feyenoord were runaway victors with a final scoreline of 5–2. Van Heel earned his first international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

at 21 years of age, on 19 April 1925. He would be part of the Dutch team for the next 13 years, until his retirement from international duty on 23 October 1938. His final game, a 2–2 draw with

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, would be his 64th cap for the Dutch national side. He equaled

's record of 56 caps on 4 April 1937 and would earn his 57th on 2 May 1937, both of these games were against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He would remain the most capped Dutch player until 1979 when Ruud Krol would exceed his total. Van Heel played at the

and

s under English manager Bob Glendenning.

Career honours

Club

Feyenoord *

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 ...

: 1923–24, 1927–28, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1939–40; runner-up: 1930-31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1936–37 *

: 1930, 1935; runner-up: 1934

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heel, Puck Van 1904 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholics Men's association football midfielders Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Olympic footballers for the Netherlands Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics 1934 FIFA World Cup players 1938 FIFA World Cup players Feyenoord players Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch Roman Catholics 20th-century Dutch sportsmen