Rogier Marinus Molhoek (born 22 July 1981) 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

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 currently works as a youth coach at

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

Club career

Molhoek previously played several years for

Dordrecht '90 Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

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 ...

, AZ, Vitesse 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 ...

. He had emerged as a talented

defensive 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. ...

at RKC, and was signed by AZ in January 2006 on a four-and-a-half-year contract in a move, which saw Danny Mathijssen move the other way on loan. His time in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

was, however, marked by injuries and he struggled to establish himself in the starting lineup. After loans at NAC Breda and Vitesse, he signed a permanent two-and-a-half-year deal with the latter on 14 January 2009 with

Julian Jenner Julian Christopher Jenner (born 28 February 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. Known for his fast step over move, Jenner began his professional career with NAC Breda, and grew into one of the most promising ...

making the same move. Molhoek signed his last professional contract with

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

in July 2012. On 8 April 2013, Molhoek announced his retirement from professional football, returning to his youth club SHO in his hometown

Oud-Beijerland Oud-Beijerland () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, now a part of the Hoeksche Waard municipality. With a population of 24,575 in 2020, it is the most populous town of the Hoeksche Waard ...

, after the season. Due to a lingering ankle injury, Molhoek was no longer able to continue playing professionally. He would also join the coaching staff of the youth department of Dordrecht. He retired from SHO in early 2015 due to injuries.

International career

Molhoek gained three caps for the Netherlands under-21 team, making his debut on 6 September 2002 in the 0–1 loss to

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. He also appeared as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

of the U21s.

Coaching career

In February 2015, he became assistant coach of the Dordrecht first team. In March 2017, he became a part of the

youth department, initially coaching the U17 team. He was promoted to assistant coach of the NAC first team in January 2020 under head coach

Peter Hyballa Peter Hyballa (born 5 December 1975) is a German professional football manager who most recently was the manager of South African Premiership club Sekhukhune United. He also served as manager at clubs in Germany, Namibia, Austria, the Netherland ...

, before stepping down from the position on his own initiative on 10 February, instead choosing to coach the U17 team again. From the 2020–21 season, Molhoek formed a coaching duo together with Michael Dingsdag of the U18 team, after the U19 team of NAC was dissolved.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Molhoek, Rogier 1981 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Eredivisie players RKC Waalwijk players AZ Alkmaar players FC Dordrecht players NAC Breda players SBV Vitesse players VVV-Venlo players Eerste Divisie players People from Oud-Beijerland Men's association football midfielders Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Dutch football managers NAC Breda non-playing staff Footballers from South Holland 21st-century Dutch sportsmen