Robert Klaasen (born 6 September 1993) is a Dutch 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 plays as a

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 ...

for club

MVV MVV may refer to: Groups, organizations, companies *Malaysia Vision Valley (MVV), an economic corridor, see Malaysian National Projects * (MVV GmbH; ), German city works of Mannheim * Militaire Voetbal Vereniging (M. V. V.), a military soccer team ...

. He most notably played for

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

and

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

Career

Early years

Klaasen started his football career at the age of six at

Zeeburgia The Amsterdamse Voetbalvereniging Zeeburgia is a football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. It has been dubbed " royal supplier" as many Dutch professional footballers started at Zeeburgia youth teams. In 2024–25, their first team plays in the ...

. He left the club after a year for

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 ...

's youth academy. After playing 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 ...

for five years, he moved to the youth academy of

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� ...

. There he played one year in the academy before moving to

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 2006. He then joined AZ from Feyenoord's youth academy in 2007, and signed a two-year senior contract with the club on 19 May 2011. Coming through the AZ academy, Klaasen described himself as a "

holding midfielder 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. ...

, with a good shot and vision. I can be compared to

Stijn Schaars Stephanus Johannes "Stijn" Schaars (; born 11 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Vitesse Born in Gendt, Gelderland, Schaars was first discovered by Dutch coach Th ...

." Ahead of the 2012–13 season, some of the club's talents, including Klaasen, were given the chance to join the first team's pre-season friendlies. He would, however, play the season with the youth team. At the end of the season, Klaasen's contract was terminated.

Kortrijk

Prior to the start of the 2013–14 season, Klaassen trialled with

. He tested for around four weeks before it was announced that he became part of the team, signing a three-year contract on 20 July 2013. Klaasen made his professional debut on 27 July 2013, replacing Gertjan De Mets in the 78th minute of a 1–0 home win over

OH Leuven Oh, OH, or Oh! is an interjection, often proclaiming surprise (emotion), surprise. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * Oh! (Girls' Generation album), ''Oh!'' (Girls' Generation album), 2010 * Oh! (ScoLoHoFo album), ''Oh!'' (S ...

. On 7 December 2013, four months after his last appearance, he scored his first goal in professional football, the 1–1 equalizer in the 87th minute against

Sporting Charleroi Royal Charleroi Sporting Club, often simply known as Charleroi or Sporting Charleroi, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League. Their curr ...

. He made his first start on 22 February 2014, playing the full ninety minutes against

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

Sparta Rotterdam

On 8 January 2016, Klaasen moved to

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 ...

, where he signed a contract until the end of the season with an option to extend for two seasons. He made his debut for the club ten days later, on 18 January, replacing Ryan Sanusi in the 83rd minute of a 5–2 victory over

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

. His first start came in the 2–1 league win at

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 ...

on 31 January. On 12 February, Klaasen scored his first goal for Sparta in a 3–0 away win over

Achilles '29 Achilles '29 is a football club from Groesbeek, Netherlands, competing in the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse. The club is known for its successes in the Dutch domestic cup, having knocked FC Volendam, Heracles Almelo, RKC Waalwijk, Telstar and ...

. Sparta picked up the option in Klaasen's contract on 22 February, extending his contract until 2018. Klaasen made five appearances for Sparta that, scoring once, as the club won the Eerste Divisie and reached promotion to the

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 ...

De Graafschap

On 26 January 2017, Klaasen was sent on a six-month loan until the end of the season to

, competing in the Eerste Divisie. He made his debut for the club as a starter in a 3–2 league loss to

Jong FC Utrecht Jong FC Utrecht (U23) is a Dutch football team, based in Utrecht. It is the reserve team of FC Utrecht and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2016–17 Eerste Divisie season. Current squad Out on loan Techni ...

on 30 January 2017. He signed a permanent deal with the club on 2 May 2017, a one-year contract with an option for an additional season. On 11 May 2018, Klaasen extended his contract with De Graafschap until 2019. Upon signing, technical director

Peter Hofstede Peter Hofstede (born January 28, 1967, in Oosterbeek, Gelderland) is a retired football striker from the Netherlands, who made his professional debut in the 1990-1991 season for De Graafschap. Later on he played for Roda JC, FC Utrecht, Helmond ...

stated: "Robert has made strides this season. We think he can grow further and want to give him that chance here."

Roda JC

On 7 July 2019, Klaasen joined Eerste Divisie club

on a two-year contract. He made his debut for the club on the first matchday of the season as a starter in the 1–1 home draw against

Almere City Almere City Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Netherlands. Founded in 2001, the club currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, following relegation from the Eredivisie in 2024–25 Eredivisie, 20 ...

. Klaasen scored his first goal for Roda JC on 5 December 2020, opening the score from a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

in a 1–1 draw away against

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively fo ...

VVV-Venlo

Klaasen moved to

on 10 June 2022, signing a two-year contract. His club debut came on the first matchday of the 2022–23 season in a 3–0 home win over Almere City. On 11 December, he scored his first goal for the club, helping the club to a 2–1 victory against

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Canad ...

rivals

MVV Maastricht Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently ...

MVV

On 2 January 2025, Klaasen signed a contract with

club

until June 2025, ending six months as a free agent.

Personal life

Klaasen is the

son-in-law In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a result of someone's marriage. It is the relationship each party in the marriage has to the family of the other party in th ...

of , who became chairman of

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion ...

in 2017.

Career statistics

Honours

Sparta Rotterdam *

: 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klaasen, Robert Living people 1993 births Men's association football midfielders Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers K.V. Kortrijk players Sparta Rotterdam players De Graafschap players Roda JC Kerkrade players VVV-Venlo players MVV Maastricht players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Tweede Divisie players Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium 21st-century Dutch sportsmen