Wim van der Gaag (born 14 July 1936) is a retired professional footballer in the Netherlands and in Australia, known for his frequent change of teams. Van der Gaag's position was

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. Later, he became a manager of amateur clubs and a football reporter for various radio stations.

Playing career

Born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, Wim van der Gaag played in his youth in the now-defunct RFC Rotterdam. In 1954 he turned professional in the short-lived NBVB league, scoring the second goal of BVC Rotterdam on 7 November 1954, in a game that ended in a 3–2 loss against

BVC 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 f ...

. In 1954–55 Van der Gaag played for

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 ...

, scoring two goals that season. In 1955–56, at

SC Emma Sportclub Emma is an association football club from Dordrecht, Netherlands. Its first squad plays in the Derde Klasse since 2019. Its colors are red and blue. History 1910s–1930s: Foundation and the early years SC Emma was founded on 1 May ...

, he was the top scorer with

Janus van der Gijp Jurianus "Janus" van de Gijp (1921–1988) was a professional footballer from Dordrecht for SC Emma. He played on the team alongside his brothers Cor, Wim, and Freek, and their cousin Jur. Janus played in the position of right-winger. Playin ...

, both scoring seven goals. In 1957?–59?, Van der Gaag played at BVV in the

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 ...

. Late August 1959, Van der Gaag scored the first two goals in BVV's 4–0 victory over

SBV Excelsior Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste D ...

. He continued to the Australian sides Sydney Austral,

Sydney FC Prague The Sydney Football Club Prague, commonly known as ''Sydney Prague'' or just ''Prague'', was a former association football club formed in 1951 by predominantly Czech Australians, which participated in the NSW State League from its foundation in ...

, Pan Hellenic Sydney, South Coast United (1961–62), and

Ringwood Wilhelmina Ringwood City Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club from Ringwood, a suburb of Melbourne. The club was formed in 1953 as Wilhelmina by Dutch Australians. The club currently competes in Victorian State League Division 4 East, where it has ...

. Back in the Netherlands, at

AGOVV Apeldoorn AGOVV () is a Dutch association football club based in Apeldoorn. It was established on 25 February 1913. The club played in professional football from 1954 to 1971 and from 2003 to 2013. AGOVV's men's first squad plays in 2024–25 in the Derde ...

(1966–67), Van der Gaag was instrumental in its 2–0 victory against

Excelsior Rotterdam Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024– ...

on 14 August 1966, this time scoring only one of two goals. At PEC Zwolle (1967–68), he scored both goals in its 2–1 national cup victory against

Zwolsche Boys Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

on 31 December 1967. The victory was especially sweet as it was against PEC's urban rival.

Managerial career

Van der Gaag managed CDN Driebergen, Amsvoorde Amersfoort, VV Lunteren, WVC Winterswijk, AD Aalten, SV Steenderen and SDOUC Ulft.

Personal life

Wim is the father of football player and manager

Mitchell van der Gaag Mitchell van der Gaag (born 22 October 1971) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current head coach of Swiss Super League side FC Zürich. He made 208 Eredivisie appearances, scoring ...

(born 1971) and the grandfather of footballers Jordan van der Gaag (1999) and

Luca van der Gaag Luca or LUCA may refer to: People * Luca (masculine given name), including a list of people * Luca (feminine given name), including a list of people * Luca (surname), including a list of people Places * The ancient name of Lucca, an Etruscan c ...

(2001).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaag, Wim Van Der Living people 1936 births Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Rotterdam Men's association football forwards SC Emma players FC Den Bosch players AGOVV players PEC Zwolle players SBV Vitesse players Safeway United players Ringwood City SC players Sydney FC Prague players Sydney Olympic FC players Dutch football managers Dutch sports announcers 20th-century Dutch sportsmen