Roy Johannes Henricus Beerens (born 22 December 1987) 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 right winger. Known for his quick dribbling and fast sprints, Beerens emerged as a talent from the PSV youth academy, but made his breakthrough as part of the

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

team between 2007 and 2011. After a four-year spell with AZ, he moved abroad and represented German club

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

and English club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, before returning to the Netherlands where he ended his career as part of Vitesse. Beerens was part of the Netherlands U21 team winning the

2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 to 23 June 2007. It was the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. Summary For the first time, a host nation was chosen ahead of the competition – the Netherlands, w ...

at home. He made his senior debut for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on 11 August 2010 in a friendly against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Club career

PSV

Born in

Bladel Bladel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, Southern Netherlands. In 2019, it had a population of 20,175. Population centres Topography ''Dutch Topogr ...

, Netherlands, Beerens progressed through the PSV youth academy. He promoted to the second team,

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 ...

, for the 2005–06 season and regularly practiced with the first team. He was also allowed to join training camp for the Peace Cup tournament in South Korea, as part of the pre-season. In the match against Colombian club

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club plays its home games at Estadio Palogrande. The club wa ...

, Beerens made his first ever senior start. On 25 March 2006, he made his official debut for PSV in a 3–0 win over Willem II, where he came in for Arouna Koné. Beerens' first official goal for PSV's first team came on 15 October 2006 in the home match against

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 ...

NEC (loan)

On 30 December 2006, PSV and

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

agreed on a six-month loan. At NEC, he scored in the derby against Vitesse, among others. He also made his debut for the Netherlands U21 team during this period.

Heerenveen

At the end of the 2006–07 season, PSV wanted to extend Beerens' contract, which ran for one more year. In July 2007, however, Beerens decided to sign a three-year contract with

. In May 2009, Beerens signed a contract extension with Heerenveen until the summer of 2013. At Heerenveen, he grew into a fan favourite, playing almost every match under head coach

Gertjan Verbeek Gertjan Verbeek (; born 1 August 1962) is a Dutch former professional footballer who last managed Eerste Divisie side Almere City. Coaching career Netherlands After retiring from his playing career in 1994, Verbeek stayed with SC Heerenveen as ...

. Although he appeared in almost every game in his final seasons, his playing minutes became less and less, as he had lost his starting place to Luciano Narsingh. This caused Beerens to hand in a transfer request; something Heerenveen was willing to cooperate on, due to his proven for the club.

AZ

In August 2011, Beerens moved from Heerenveen to

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

on a four-year contract, reuniting him with former coach

Hertha BSC

On 11 July 2014, it was announced by German club

that they had signed Roy Beerens on a 3-year deal. He scored his first goal in a 4–2 win against

FC Viktoria Köln FC Viktoria Köln 1904 e. V., commonly known as Viktoria Köln () or Viktoria Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based on the right bank of the river Rhine in the Kalk, Cologne# ...

on 16 August 2014.

Reading

On 16 July 2016, Beerens signed a three-year contract with

for an undisclosed fee. There, he played under head coach

Jaap Stam Jakob "Jaap" Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of all-time. Stam was part of the Manchester United team that w ...

, a fellow Dutchman. He scored his first goal for Reading in a 2–0

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

win against Plymouth Argyle on 9 August 2016.

Vitesse

On 31 January 2018, Beerens returned 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 ...

, signing a three-and-a-half-year deal. After a strong start in 2018, under head coach Henk Fraser, a conflict with his successor, Russian coach Leonid Slutsky followed. Beerens was benched afterwards. On 24 December 2020, he announced his retirement from football.

International career

In 2007, Beerens was called up by Netherlands U21 coach

Foppe de Haan Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch football coach. He is known for his long association with Frisian club Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national team during 2011 and then rejoined Heerenveen's youth prog ...

to be part of his squad for the

held in the Netherlands. Beerens participated in their second first round group match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

(2–1 win) to secure a semi final spot and to qualify for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. In the semi-finals against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(1–1, 13–12 after 32 penalty kicks) Beerens came on as a substitute and scored both penalties he had to take in the series. The Dutch went on to retain their 2006 title by beating

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

4–1 in the final. Beerens also played for the Netherlands at the

. He was first called up for the senior team for a friendly match against

in August 2010.

Style of play

Beerens has been described as a versatile winger that can play on either the left or right flank. Furthermore, he was technically gifted. During his career, he was renowned for his quick pace, and his ability to score goals and create chances for others.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

PSV *

: 2005–06 Heerenveen *

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 ...

: 2008–09 AZ *

: 2012–13

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beerens, Roy 1987 births Living people Dutch men's footballers People from Bladel Footballers from North Brabant Men's association football wingers PSV Eindhoven players NEC Nijmegen players SC Heerenveen players AZ Alkmaar players Hertha BSC players Reading F.C. players SBV Vitesse players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Eredivisie players Bundesliga players English Football League players Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Olympic footballers for the Netherlands Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics