Timothy Derijck (born 25 May 1987) is a Belgian 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 ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

club

Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Zulte Waregem plays in the Belgian First Division A. Their highest finish ...

Club career

Early career

Derijck is a product of the

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as th ...

youth academy, but left the Brussels giants for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

before making it into the first team. He also wore the jerseys of

Dender The Dender ( Dutch, ) or Dendre (French, ) is a 65-kilometre (40 mi) long river in Belgium, the right tributary of the river Scheldt. The confluence of the two rivers is in the Belgian town of Dendermonde. The Western or Little Dender is 22 kilome ...

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 Eerste Divi ...

before joining

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 January 2009. It was where he developed himself into one of the most consistent defenders in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

PSV Eindhoven

On 15 August 2011,

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, wh ...

announced the signing of Derijck on a four-year contract from

for a fee of €750,000. He was given the number 18 shirt. He made his debut on 21 August 2011 in PSV's 3–0 win over his former club Den Haag. He scored his first competitive goal for PSV in a 3–2 win over Achilles '29 on 27 September in the 2012–13 KNVB Beker. His first Eredivise goal for PSV was an equalizer against PEC Zwolle on 28 October 2012. On 19 July 2013, it was announced that Derijck was sent on loan to

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merg ...

until the end of the season.

Return to ADO Den Haag

On 26 August 2014, Derijck returned to his former club

. He signed a two-year deal on a free transfer.

Zulte Waregem

In June 2016, Derijck joined Belgian side

Gent

In August 2018, Derijck joined

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, a ...

Return to Zulte Waregem

On 6 January 2022, Derijck returned to

on a one-year contract, with an option for a second year. He returned to the pitch as a starter for Waregem in a 0–0 home draw against Oostende on 9 February. Derijck was a starter for the club for the remainder of the 2021–22 season, but saw himself increasingly demoted to the bench after suffering some injuries early on in the 2022–23 season as

Modou Tambedou Modou is an African masculine given name that may refer to * Modou Bamba Gaye, Gambian politician * Modou Barrow (born 1992), Gambian football player * Kabba-Modou Cham (born 1992), Belgian-born Gambian football player *Modou Dia (born 1950), Sene ...

and Borja López were preferred at centre-back under new head coach Mbaye Leye. In October and November 2022, Lukas Willen also surpassed Derijck in the depth chart.

International career

On 5 September 2011, he received his first call up to the senior Belgium national team for the friendly match against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Coach

Georges Leekens Georges Leekens (born 18 May 1949) is a Belgian football manager and former player. During his managerial career, he was in charge of four national teams: the Belgian, Tunisian, Algerian and Hungarian national football teams. He also manage ...

called him to replace the injured

Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Anderlecht and the Belgium national team. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior car ...

. However, he was an unused substitute in a 1–1 draw.

Honours

Zulte Waregem *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2016–17 Belgian Cup, 2016–17 PSV Eindhoven *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. O ...

: 2011–12 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footba ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

Timothy Derijck verlaat ADO en zet carrière voort bij Zulte Waregem
omroepwest.nl, 9 June 2016

External links

Belgium Stats
at Belgian FA * {{DEFAULTSORT:Derijck, Timothy Living people 1987 births Men's association football central defenders Belgian footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Feyenoord players NAC Breda players F.C.V. Dender E.H. players ADO Den Haag players PSV Eindhoven players Jong PSV players FC Utrecht players S.V. Zulte Waregem players K.A.A. Gent players K.V. Kortrijk players Belgian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands