Willem Korsten (born 21 January 1975 in

Boxtel Boxtel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. The name derives from Buchestelle and is presumably a combination of 'stelle' (Dutch for stable, safe place) and (deer) deer, buck.2019. Etymolog ...

) is a former 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 played as a left winger.

Football career

Korsten played in 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 ...

for N.E.C. and

SBV Vitesse SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

before earning a loan move to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. In this short amount of time Korsten showed he had the pace, skill and strength to cope with English football, scoring twice in games against Everton and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. Leeds decided to pursue a permanent transfer. However,

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

also made a bid in the region of £1.5 million for the player, which was accepted. Due to injury, Korsten did not make his debut for Tottenham until December 1999 and made only nine appearances in the

in the 1999–2000 season. The following season he made 14 league appearances, scoring his first Tottenham goal in a 3–1 defeat against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

in April 2001. On the final day of the season, he scored two spectacular goals in a 3–1 win over

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

. The match proved to be his last as a professional footballer. In October 2001, due to persistent hip injuries, he was forced to retire at the age of 26. Korsten returned to his former club, N.E.C., as a coach for its football academy. He played 5 games for Dutch lower amateur side SCV '58 from Velp in their 2002–03 campaign but injuries forced him to quit the team early in the season. In May 2011 Korsten returned to the game as player for

Topklasse The Derde Divisie (; ), formerly known as Topklasse (; ), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league is placed between the Tweede Div ...

side

Achilles '29 Achilles '29 is a football club from Groesbeek, Netherlands, competing in the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse. The club is known for its successes in the Dutch domestic cup, having knocked FC Volendam, Heracles Almelo, RKC Waalwijk, Telstar and ...

. After winning the district cup east, Korsten scored the only goal in the final of the

KNVB Amateur Cup The KNVB Amateur Cup () was the cup competition for amateur football clubs in the Netherlands. The winner qualified until 2016 for the amateur super cup match against the national Hoofdklasse champion. The cup was contested by the winners of the ...

2011 on 18 June. He retired once again and joined the Achilles staff for the 2011/12 campaign as their assistant-manager. Korsten resigned at Achilles in March 2012 and joined N.E.C. as an assistant-manager for the 2012–13 season.Technische staf compleet met Robert Molenaar en Willem Korsten
NEC-Nijmegen.nl, 11 april 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Korsten, Willem 1975 births Living people Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch men's footballers Eredivisie players Expatriate men's footballers in England Leeds United F.C. players NEC Nijmegen players Sportspeople from Boxtel Premier League players SBV Vitesse players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Men's association football wingers Footballers from North Brabant Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England NEC Nijmegen non-playing staff