Willy van der Kuijlen

Wilhelmus Martinus Leonardus Johannes "Willy" van der Kuijlen (; 6 December 1946 – 19 April 2021) was a Dutch football player and a scout for PSV Eindhoven.

Van der Kuijlen was born in Helmond and started his youth career at local club HVV. In 1964, he was signed by PSV Eindhoven. Van der Kuijlen ended up playing for the club 18 years, winning three Eredivisie titles, two domestic cups and the UEFA Cup in 1978. He was also crowned Eredivisie top scorer three times. After short periods with MVV Maastricht and Overpelt, he retired at age 37. After his playing career, Van der Kuijlen returned to PSV as assistant manager, first team coach, youth coach and scout. He also briefly served as assistant manager at Roda JC.

Van der Kuijlen played 528 league games and scored 308 times for PSV, both being all-time club records. With 311 career goals in total, Van der Kuijlen also holds the all-time Eredivisie goal record. He won 22 caps and scored seven goals for the Netherlands national team in the 1960s and 1970s, but his international career was marred by frequent clashes with Johan Cruyff and his allies.

Early years Van der Kuijlen was raised in Helmond and started playing football from an early age. At eight years old, he joined local club HVV Helmond, even though boys were not able to join until the age of nine. Van der Kuijlen became noteworthy because of his goalscoring abilities. He attended school to become a tiler, but quit in favour of becoming a football player. At the age of fifteen, Van der Kuijlen debuted in the HVV Helmond first team. In 1963, he attracted interest from PSV Eindhoven and played a test match for them against De Valk in May. The team offered him a contract, but Van der Kuijlen declined; he could only receive a youth contract and the offered wages were lower than his deal with HVV at the time. While playing for HVV Helmond, he managed to score 69 goals in 63 matches for the amateur side. In 1964, PSV and thirteen other clubs (including Belgian sides) were interested in signing the youngster. This time, Van der Kuijlen opted to play for PSV. In the 1965–66 season, Van der Kuijlen, who just turned 20, became league topscorer with 23 goals. In the final league round, PSV managed to beat FC Twente 7–1 in Enschede; Van der Kuijlen scored four times in that match. The season finale was the KNVB beker final against NAC, which PSV won 6–0. Van der Kuijlen scored a hat-trick in that match. In November of that season, a peculiar moment occurred for Van der Kuijlen when he shot a free kick at goal in a match against FC Wageningen. The ball entered the goal, but ended up outside the goal because of a hole in the netting. After long deliberation, the referee acknowledged the goal.

In the following year, PSV won the league and the domestic cup, and reached the semifinals of the European Cup. Although he was not keen on becoming captain (declaring that he was "too busy with his own game"), Van der Kuijlen was appointed the team skipper before the 1977–78 season.

Later years After the UEFA Cup victory, the squad slowly disintegrated. In the 1978-79 season, PSV ended third in the league. Van der Kuijlen scored four times in a 1978 European Cup match against Fenerbahçe (6-1). In the league, he scored 14 goals. In the 1979-80 season, PSV finished third again, with Van der Kuijlen's goal tally decreasing to 12 goals. His 311 Eredivisie goals remain a Dutch record.

International career While playing for HVV Helmond, Van der Kuijlen played for the Dutch under-19 national squad. After a call-up from coach George Kessler, Van der Kuijlen made his debut for the Dutch senior national team on 23 March 1966 in a match against West Germany, aged 19. His international career started encouragingly: in his first five caps, he scored four times. Subsequently, Van der Kuijlen received intermittent call-ups until 1970. Because he was occupied with his military draft, he could not play for the national squad very often. Meanwhile, his playmaker position in the Dutch team was slowly taken over by Johan Cruyff. From 1970, he had to wait four years before appearing for the Dutch squad again. The Netherlands were scheduled to play the 1974 FIFA World Cup, but Van der Kuijlen (who almost certainly would be benched in favour of Cruyff) declined to appear at the tournament. The feud between PSV players on one side and the Ajax and Feyenoord players on the other originated in the sixties, when Van Beveren criticised Cruyff's will to play for the Dutch team. In return, Van der Kuijlen and Van Beveren's reluctance to adapt to Cruyff's ways had led to harassment from the Ajax and Feyenoord players. One way was to keep passing the ball only between Ajax players in Dutch matches, leaving Van der Kuijlen out of the game. In 1975, the Dutch team was in training to prepare for a match against Poland. After Cruyff and his FC Barcelona-team member Johan Neeskens took the liberty to arrive a few days late for a Dutch team training camp, coach George Knobel paused the training just to welcome the two. Van der Kuijlen responded to this with: “Here come the kings of Spain”. Angered, Cruyff approached Knobel, forcing him to choose between him and Van der Kuijlen. Knobel sided with Cruyff, resulting in Van der Kuijlen and Van Beveren leaving the team. Van der Kuijlen was also selected by Cruyff for the Dutch squad of the 20th century and they both participated in the Match of the Century, a testimonial against a squad of best foreign players that played in the Eredivisie, on 21 December 1999. Although Van der Kuijlen was right-footed at first, he trained to become a two-footed player. He was famed for his shot power and technical abilities; his powerful shot earned him the nickname ‘Skiete Willy’ (‘Shoot, Willy’ in regional, eastern North Brabant vernacular). After Ralf Edström joined PSV in 1974, he and Van der Kuijlen formed an effective duo. The partnership's trademark was Edström receiving a long ball with his head and delivering it to Van der Kuijlen, who would stand just outside the penalty box for an attempt at goal. Later in his career, he would form a new partnership with Harry Lubse.

Post-career

After Van der Kuijlen retired, he served as attacking coach and assistant manager for PSV Eindhoven. In 1988, he became assistant manager at Roda JC after Jan Reker was signed as head coach. Later, he returned to PSV as a youth coach. Since 2004, Van der Kuijlen served as a scout for the club. Besides that position, Van der Kuijlen also participated in representative and ceremonial tasks for the club. In 2012, Van der Kuijlen signed a two-year extension of his contract with PSV. Directors Tiny Sanders and Marcel Brands also announced that as long as they are in charge, Van der Kuijlen can always remain at the club.

Van der Kuijlen received recognition for his playing career by PSV and their fans. He was an honorary member of PSV, and in the Philips Stadion one of the reception halls is named after him. In October 2004, a statue of Van der Kuijlen was erected outside of the Philips Stadion. On 10 December 2011, Van der Kuijlen's 65th birthday was celebrated in the Philips Stadion during the Eredivisie match PSV-NAC Breda. He was joined by the 1978 PSV team that won the UEFA Cup.

Death and legacy Van der Kuijlen later suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He died on 19 April 2021 at the age of 74.

As of the 2020-21 season, the top goal scorer of the season in the Dutch Eredivisie receives the Willy van der Kuijlen Trofee (Willy van der Kuijlen Trophy).

Career statistics

Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

1964–65

1965–66

1966–67

1967–68

1968–69

1969–70

1970–71

1971–72

1972–73

1973–74

1974–75

1975–76

1976–77

1977–78

1978–79

1979–80

1980–81

1981–82

Total 528!!308!!!!57!!58!!29 MVV Maastricht 1981–82 17 : 1965–66 (shared with Piet Kruiver), 1969–70, 1973–74