Rydell Romano Poepon (born 28 August 1987) 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 ...
Derde Klasse
The ('Third Class') is the eighth tier of football in the Netherlands
Football is the most popular sport in the Netherlands. Association football, Football was introduced to the Netherlands by Pim Mulier in the 19th century when in 1879, a ...
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 ...
, Poepon made his senior debut for Willem II in 2007. The following years brought him to several clubs in the lower table of 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 ...
, including
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 ...
,
ADO Den Haag
Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...
and
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 ...
. Apart from a six month stay at
Roda JC Kerkrade
Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the ...
, Poepon would spend the next years abroad in France, Azerbaijan and Turkey, experiencing his most successful period at second-tier
TFF First League
The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...
club
Boluspor
Boluspor, known as Geosis Boluspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Bolu. The clubs plays in red and white kits, and have done so since their formation in 1965.Netherlands U21 team in 2007.
Club career
Poepon played in the youth departments of AFC, ASV Fortius and
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 ...
until he was included in the youth academy of
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 ...
. He progressed through the youth ranks there, but never made an appearance for their senior team. He was sent on loan to Willem II in January 2006. After six months, Poepon returned to Ajax without having scored for the club in eight appearances. Willem II subsequently again showed interest in loaning him. Ajax agreed, after Poepon's contract was extended for four years. His first league goal came in November 2007, at home against
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
in a 1–4 defeat. He then scored a brace against
Excelsior
Excelsior may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry
* "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
* "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...
and scored a hat-trick at home against
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 ...
. At the end of the season, he had scored 10 goals in 32 league appearances in his first full season of his career.
Despite Willem II showing interest in taking over Poepon from Ajax on a permanent deal, he chose to sign for
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 ...
on a three-year contract in May 2008. In his first season, he scored nine goals in 31 games. The club nevertheless suffered relegation to the second-tier
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 ...
after two consecutive seasons in 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 ...
. In his last season in Rotterdam, Poepon scored ten goals in 33 games. After Sparta's relegation to the Eerste Divisie in 2010, he moved to
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 ...
on a three-year contract, after the club had recently achieved promotion to the top tier.
After suffering relegation with De Graafschap, Poepon signed a two-year contract with an option for an additional year with
ADO Den Haag
Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...
in June 2012. Poepon moved abroad for the first time in his career after signing with French
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...
club
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...
in August 2014. He made 35 appearances in the second tier in which he scored seven goals. After the season, his contract was terminated by mutual consent. In July 2015, Poepon signed a two-year deal with
Azerbaijan Premier League
The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...
club Qarabağ. After 15 league appearances in which he only scored one goal, his contract was dissolved in December 2015, after he found out through media reports that the club wanted to part ways with him.
Poepon signed a six-month contract with
Roda JC Kerkrade
Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the ...
in January 2016, with an option for another year. He made his debut against AZ in a 0–1 home loss and scored four goals in 17 league matches for the club. At the end of the season, Roda did not trigger the option in his contract, effectively making him a free agent. In June 2016, Poepon signed a two-year contract with Turkish second-tier
TFF First League
The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...
club
Boluspor
Boluspor, known as Geosis Boluspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Bolu. The clubs plays in red and white kits, and have done so since their formation in 1965.Mitchell te Vrede and Anco Jansen and was coached by
Fuat Çapa
Fuat Çapa (born 15 August 1968) is a Turkish football coach, and the director of football of Samsunspor.
Career
Çapa coached in Belgium before moving on to Turkey. His career in Belgium spanned four years as he held positions with K.V. Turnho ...
with a background in Dutch football. In June 2018, Poepon moved to Gazişehir Gaziantep, before returning to Boluspor one year later, in August 2019. In May 2021, his contract with the club was terminated by mutual consent.
On 31 August 2021, Poepon signed a one-year contract with
Tweede Divisie
Tweede Divisie (; ) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and between 1962 and 19 ...
club
IJsselmeervogels
IJsselmeervogels () is a Dutch amateur football club. With seven national amateur titles, IJsselmeervogels is one of the most successful amateur clubs in the Netherlands. VV Katwijk also has seven national amateur titles. The Reds, as they are n ...
.
International career
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 ...
Macedonia
Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...
.
Personal life
Born in the Netherlands, Poepon is of Surinamese descent.