Rob Groener (born 19 December 1945) is a former

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

football manager and player who is currently a players' agent. As a player, he played for

SC Heracles Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

competing in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

from 1962 to 1966. As a manager, he headed

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

, Suriname national team, the Netherlands Antilles national team,

Quick '20 Quick '20 (short for Katholieke Voetbal Vereniging Quick 1920 , Eng.: Catholic Football Club Quick 1920) is a football club from Oldenzaal, Netherlands. The club was founded in 1920 and is currently playing in the Derde Divisie The Derde Divi ...

, and

VfL Herzlake VfL Herzlake is a German association football club from the village of Herzlake, Lower Saxony. In addition to a football department the club has sections for handball, gymnastics, and volleyball. __TOC__ History The club was established in 192 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Career

Groener grew up in

Denekamp Denekamp () is a town in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is a part of the region of Twente and the municipality of Dinkelland, and lies about 9 km northeast of Oldenzaal. The town was first noted as early as the 10th century when it wa ...

, where he joined the local amateur club DOS '19. He was selected to play for the Netherlands amateur national football team, and was ultimately signed to nearby

from

Almelo Almelo () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle of ...

with whom he played in the

from 1962 to 1966. On 7 February 1971 his playing career was brought to a halt in a match against

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 Jul ...

, where Groener suffered a double leg break, ending his career as a player.

Managerial career

Following his injury, Groener took a position as a fitness coach for

. From 1974 to 1978 he was the manager of

. In 1978 Groener finished his studies to become a A-level certified football coach, taking the managerial position of the Suriname national team. He successfully lead the country to its first

CFU Championship The CFU Championship (sometimes referred to as the CFU Nations Cup) was a football tournament for teams in the area of Caribbean between the years 1978–1988. It was the precursor of the Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championshi ...

in 1978. In 1979, he returned to the Netherlands taking a job as manager of Quick '20 once more. In June 1981, Groener signed a 1-year contract with

as the successor of

Hennie Hollink Hendrikus ("Hennie") Hollink (1 October 1931 in Glanerbrug, Overijssel – 31 January 2018) was a football (soccer) player and manager from the Netherlands, who played for Roda JC, FC Twente and Heracles Almelo. He played professional football hi ...

. His contract was extended for one more year in February 1982. Groener finished the season in 12th place, and without showing any signs of improvement the following season, he was released in November 1982 with Spitz Kohn taking over as manager the team relegated the following season. From 1983 to 1985, Groener returned to the Caribbean as manager of the Netherlands Antilles. Upon his return to the Netherlands, he managed

once more, followed by a stint as manager of German team

competing in the Oberliga. In 1992, he became the director for Dutch club

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2021–22 Eerste Divisie title. Founded in 1925, the club entered the professional Eerste Divisie in 1985. ...

, followed by

SC Cambuur SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 ...

and finally

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

where he was fired in 1998.History of SC Cambuur-Leeurwarden 1994-1995
at cambuur.nl (Dutch) He later became active as a players' agent representing the likes of

Marko Arnautović Marko Arnautović (; born 19 April 1989) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Bologna and the Austria national team. Arnautović began his career in his native Austria playing in the youth teams for ...

Samuel Armenteros Kristiano Samuel Armenteros Nunez Mendoza (born 27 May 1990), known as Samuel Armenteros, is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Arabian club Al-Kholood. Club career Born in Masthugget, Gothenburg, Sweden, to a Cuban fathe ...

Peter Niemeyer Peter Niemeyer (born 22 November 1983) is a German football manager, executive, and former player. He serves as the sporting director of Preußen Münster. During his playing career, he mainly featured as a defensive midfielder, he also operate ...

Georgios Samaras Georgios Samaras ( el, Γεώργιος Σαμαράς, ; born 21 February 1985) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. Samaras started his career at OFI Crete, before moving on to Eredivisie side Heerenveen in 2001. ...

and manager

Jan de Jonge Jan de Jonge (born 8 May 1963 in Emmen, Drenthe) is a retired football striker and is currently working as the manager of De Treffers. As a player, he served three clubs in the Netherlands: FC Groningen, SC Heerenveen and FC Emmen. Managerial ...

amongst others.

Honours

International

;Suriname *

(1): 1978

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groener, Rob 1945 births Living people Dutch footballers Dutch football managers Suriname national football team managers FC Twente managers Netherlands Antilles national football team managers Heracles Almelo players Eredivisie players Dutch businesspeople Dutch expatriate football managers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Suriname Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate football managers in Suriname Expatriate football managers in Germany Footballers from Enschede Quick '20 players Association football defenders Dutch sports agents Association football agents