Simon Janssen (born 25 September 2000) 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

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 ...

club

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

Janssen progressed through the

youth academy after arriving there from the SV Blerick in 2010. He made his professional debut for the club on his 18th birthday on 25 September 2018 in a 3–0 away win in the

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 ...

over Westlandia, replacing Tino-Sven Sušić in the 73rd minute. He made his

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 ...

debut three months later in a 4–1 loss 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 ...

on 6 December 2018, coming off the bench for Evert Linthorst. On 18 April 2019, Janssen signed a two-year contract with VVV, with an option for an additional year. Three months later he received the , the yearly award for VVV's best academy player. VVV exercised the option in Janssen's contract in March 2021, keeping him in Venlo until 2022. On 7 December 2021, he signed a two-year contract extension until 2024, with a unilateral option to extend for a further year. At that point Janssen, originally 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 ...

, was converted to play

by head coach

Jos Luhukay Jos Luhukay (born 13 June 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former player, who was most recently head coach of VVV-Venlo. Playing career He began his career at the age of 15 at his hometown club FC VVV and he made his league debut in Janua ...

. On 17 February 2023, Janssen scored his first professional goal, securing VVV's 2–1 away win against

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

in injury time. This came after Dordrecht had earlier equalised during injury time.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Janssen, Simon Living people 2000 births Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Venlo VVV-Venlo players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Men's association football fullbacks 21st-century Dutch sportsmen