Sherida Spitse (; born 29 May 1990) is a Dutch

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

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 ...

and the Netherlands national team.

Club career

Spitse started her career at VV Sneek before joining

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

when the

Eredivisie Vrouwen The Vrouwen Eredivisie (; Dutch for "Honour Division"; ''Eredivisie Vrouwen'' before 2020), also known as the Eurojackpot Vrouwen Eredivisie due to a sponsorship contract, is the highest women's association football, women's football league in th ...

, the Dutch women's professional league, was established in 2007. In five seasons at Heerenveen, she played in 100 matches and scored 13 goals. In 2012, as the Dutch and Belgian leagues merged to form the

BeNe League The BeNe League was the highest women's football league in Belgium and the Netherlands. To increase competitiveness in their national leagues, the BeNe League was a joint cooperation between the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Royal D ...

, Spitse moved to

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

in May 2012. At Twente, she won the BeNe League titles in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

and 2013–14. She was also the club top scorer in 2012–13 with 16 goals. In December 2013, it was announced that Spitse would

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

to Norwegian

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in ...

club

LSK Kvinner FK LSK Kvinner Fotballklubb is a Norway, Norwegian women's football (soccer), women's football club from Lillestrøm. They currently play in Toppserien, the top division of Norwegian football. The club was founded as Setskog/Høland Fotballklubb on ...

from January 2014. This was the first paid transfer for a Dutch women's football player. With LSK Kvinner, Spitse became a Norwegian League and

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

champion at the end of the 2014 season. She was also voted on to Norway's Team of the Year at the annual

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awards ceremony in Oslo. She remained in the club for the next two seasons, through 2016, winning the league and cup in both seasons. On 19 December 2016, during the

2015–16 Eredivisie The 2015–16 Eredivisie season was the 60th season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. Defending champions PSV retained their title. Teams A total of 18 teams took part in the league: the top 15 teams from the 2014–15 seaso ...

winter break, she moved back to the Netherlands, agreeing to a contract with FC Twente for the second half of the season. On 16 June 2017, she extended her contract with FC Twente for one season. During the

2017–18 Eredivisie The 2017–18 Eredivisie was the 62nd season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 11 August 2017 and concluded on 6 May 2018; the Europa League and relegation play-offs took place later that month. Feyenoord we ...

winter break, on 27 December 2017, she signed a two-year contract with

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

, returning to the Norwegian league. On 20 November 2020, it was announced that Spitse had returned to the Eredivisie, joining

in January 2021. Spitse was voted player of the year in 2023 and 2024 by Ajax supporters and technical staff.

International career

Spitse made her 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 ...

under coach

Vera Pauw Vera Pauw (; born 18 January 1963) is a Dutch Women's association football, football coach and former player who is the manager of the United Arab Emirates women's national football team, United Arab Emirates women's national team. She has manage ...

on 31 August 2006, in a 4–0 World Cup qualifying defeat to

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 ...

. At the time, she was 16 years old and still playing with the VV Sneek boys team. At the

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

, she was a member of the Dutch squad that reached the semifinals. In June 2013, national team coach

Roger Reijners Roger Reijners (born 10 February 1964) is a Dutch football coach and former player. Playing career Reijners turned professional with Fortuna Sittard and played in the 1–0 KNVB Cup Final defeat to Feyenoord in his first season, 1983–84. He al ...

selected Spitse for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

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. On 7 February 2015, she earned her 100th

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for the Dutch in a match against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Spitse helped the Netherlands qualify for the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

and was selected for the final squad. She played all four of Netherlands' matches in the tournament. Sherida SpitseDSC08589

In January 2017, she played her 125th match for the national team against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Spitse was part of the Dutch championship team in the

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship organised by UEFA for the ...

, playing in all matches and being selected for the Team of the Tournament. After the tournament, the team was honoured by

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

and

minister of sport A ministry of sports or ministry of youth and sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. It is led by the minister of s ...

Edith Schippers Edith Ingeborg Schippers (born 25 August 1964) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businesswoman who served as President of DSM Netherlands between 2019 and 2023. Schippers, a political consultant by ...

and made

Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

. In the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

, she reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

with the Netherlands, losing 2–0 to the

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. In 2019, she became the all-time leader in caps for the Netherlands, passing

Annemieke Kiesel Annemieke Kiesel (née Griffioen; born 30 November 1979) is a Dutch former football player and coach. She played for clubs in the Netherlands, United States, England and Germany, winning titles with Dutch and German clubs. She also played for th ...

. Spitse suffered a knee injury in July 2021, forcing her to miss the rescheduled

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. In June 2022, Spitse earned her 200th cap with the Netherlands. On 31 May 2023, she was named to the Netherlands provisional squad for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

. Spitse was the captain of the Dutch team and appeared in all five of her team's matches.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Spitse goal.''

Personal life

Spitse married Jolien van der Tuin in 2018. The two met in Emmen when van der Tuin played for . van der Tuin gave birth to the couple's two children, Jens, born in 2017, and Mila, born in 2020. Spitse and van der Tuin divorced in 2024.

Honours

FC Twente *

, 2013–14 *

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 ...

*, 2013–14* *During the BeNe League period (2012 to 2015), the highest placed Dutch team is considered as national champion by the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues ( Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and w ...

. Ajax *

KNVB Women's Cup The KNVB Women's Cup () is the cup competition for women's football in the Netherlands. The competition was established in 1980, along with the KNVB Amateur Cup. It is organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (K''oninklijke Nederlandse ...

: 2021–22 *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

LSK Kvinner *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Norwegian Women's Cup The Norwegian Women's Cup () is a single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Norwegian women's association football, football. It has been organised annually since 1978. The final is usually played on a Saturday, the day before the ...

: 2014, 2015, 2016 Vålerenga * Toppserien:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

* Norwegian Women's Cup: 2020 Netherlands *

UEFA European Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau: 2017

References

External links

Profile
at Onsoranje.nl
Profile
at onsoranje.nl * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spitse, Sherida 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Sneek Dutch women's footballers Netherlands women's youth international footballers Netherlands women's international footballers Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Norway Eredivisie (women) players Toppserien players SC Heerenveen (women) players FC Twente (women) players LSK Kvinner FK players Vålerenga Fotball Damer players Women's association football midfielders Dutch LGBTQ footballers Dutch lesbian sportswomen FIFA Women's Century Club 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players UEFA Women's Championship–winning players Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Dutch expatriate women's footballers VV Sneek Wit Zwart players AFC Ajax (women) players UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Footballers from Friesland UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players Association football people awarded knighthoods 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players 21st-century Dutch sportswomen