Matheus Wilhelmus Theodorus "Theo" Laseroms (8 March 1940 – 25 April 1991) was a Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. A defender, he made a name for himself when he played for

Feijenoord Feijenoord () is a borough of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, south of the Nieuwe Maas. Feyenoord football club was formed there, but now play in the neighbouring township of IJsselmonde. It was a centre of shipbuilding in the nineteenth century, ...

. He gained six caps for the Netherlands national team.

Club career

Laseroms, nicknamed ''De

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

'' or ''Theo de Tank'', was famous for his

sliding tackle A sliding tackle, also called slide tackle, is a tackle in association football in which one leg extends to push the ball away from the opposing player. Sliding tackles can often be sources of controversy, particularly when players being tackled ...

. His career had started in 1956 at RBC, followed in 1958 by NAC. In 1963, he switched to

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, with whom he won 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 ...

in 1966. In 1967, Laseroms signed with the Pittsburgh Phantoms of the newly created National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) while still under contract with

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 ...

. Sparta sued Pittsburgh in both the United States and the Netherlands and received $50,000 from the Phantoms. In 1968 he moved to

where he would form the defensive core alongside

Rinus Israël Marinus "Rinus" David Israël (born 19 March 1942) is a Dutch former professional association football, football player and manager who is currently a scout. Nicknamed "Iron Rinus", he formed a solid defence line at Feyenoord with Theo Laserom ...

. He played four seasons for Feijenoord through late sixties and early seventies. Laseroms was part of the team that won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

in 1970 after a 2–1 final win over

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and in that same year the Intercontinental Cup against Argentinian club

Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its histo ...

. He also became champion twice with Feijenoord, in the seasons 1968–69 and 1970–71. In the seasons 1969–70 and 1971–72, Laseroms finished in second place with Feyenoord. The KNVB Cup was won in the 1968–69 season. He was part of the legendary team that included

Eddy Pieters Graafland Eduard Laurens Pieters Graafland (5 January 193428 April 2020) was a Dutch professional football player and coach. As a player, he was the goalkeeper of Ajax, Feyenoord and the Netherlands. In 1970, his last season as a professional, he won the ...

, Eddy Treijtel, Piet Romeijn,

Theo van Duivenbode Theo van Duivenbode (born 1 November 1943) is a Dutch former footballer who played for Ajax and Feyenoord and was part of their European and Intercontinental Cup victory in 1970. Club career Born in Amsterdam, van Duivenbode made his senior d ...

Franz Hasil Franz Hasil (born 28 July 1944 in Vienna) is a former Austrian footballer. Club career Born in Vienna, Hasil started his career at local giants Rapid Wien before moving abroad to play for Schalke 04. After one season in Germany, he moved to Fey ...

Wim Jansen Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius "Wim" Jansen (; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional association football, football player and manager. As a midfielder or defender (association football), defender, he spent most of his caree ...

Willem van Hanegem Willem "Wim" van Hanegem (; born 20 February 1944) is a Dutch former Association football, football player and coach who played as a midfielder. In a playing career spanning over 20 years, he won several domestic honours in the Netherlands, as ...

, Henk Wery,

Ove Kindvall Bengt Ove Kindvall (born 16 May 1943) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career at IFK Norrköping, where he played until he joined Feyenoord in 1966 and became professional. The same year, he ...

and

Coen Moulijn Coenraadt "Coen" Moulijn (15 February 1937 – 4 January 2011) was a Dutch professional footballer. He spent nearly his entire club career with Feyenoord, winning several trophies. He also played for the Netherlands national team. Club career C ...

. After leaving the club in 1972, he played for the Belgian club

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

for two more years.

International career

In 1965 he made his first international appearance 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 ...

against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Managerial career

Laseroms did an internship at

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 ...

in Amsterdam in the 1975–76 season before obtaining his training diploma; a team then consisting of players such as

Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the director of football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was sporting directo ...

Søren Lerby Søren Lerby (born 1 February 1958) is a Danish former football player, manager, and licensed agent. As a player, he spent most of his career in Dutch football, winning five Eredivisie championships with Ajax Amsterdam and two with PSV Eindho ...

Tscheu La Ling Tschen La Ling (; born 6 January 1956) is a Dutch former professional footballer who most notably played for Ajax as a right winger. His name has been spelled in various ways throughout his career, but usually as Tscheu La Ling; he was general ...

and

Ruud Geels Geertruida Maria "Ruud" Geels (; 28 July 1948 – 18 November 2023) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a striker. He obtained 20 caps for the Netherlands national team, scoring eleven goals, in the 1970s. A prolific goalscorer, ...

and was coached by

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch Association football, football player and coach. He list of one-club men in association football, played his entire career for AFC Ajax, Ajax, which he ...

in his second period. Laseroms then started a less successful coaching career with

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport () is a Dutch professional football club based in Helmond, North Brabant. Founded in 1967 following the acquisition of the professional license of , the club achieved promotion to the top-tier Eredivisie in 1982. After two seasons ...

, Vlaardingen '74,

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

and clubs from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, among others.

Death

Laseroms died of heart attack on 25 April 1991, aged only 51.

Honours

Player

Sparta *

: 1965–66 Feyenoord *

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 ...

: 1968–69, 1970–71 *

: 1968–69 *

: 1969–70 * Intercontinental Cup:

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

References

External links

*
Theo Laseroms
at nasljerseys.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Laseroms, Theo 1940 births 1991 deaths Footballers from Roosendaal Dutch men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Dutch football managers Dutch expatriate football managers Men's association football defenders Feyenoord players UEFA Champions League–winning players Sparta Rotterdam players RBC Roosendaal players NAC Breda players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players Pittsburgh Phantoms (NPSL) players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States PEC Zwolle managers Heracles Almelo managers Helmond Sport managers Eredivisie players Fortuna Vlaardingen managers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Oman Expatriate football managers in Bahrain Bahrain national football team managers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Oman Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey K.A.A. Gent players Belgian Pro League players Trabzonspor managers Al-Nahda Club (Oman) managers Al-Riffa SC managers 20th-century Dutch sportsmen