Football Season Guide

Relegated from the Eredivisie in the 2024/2025 season, Willem II returned to the top flight of the Dutch football at the first time of asking. Their start to the past campaign was far from promising, though, as they lost the initial two games, badly. Then, they straightened the ship and, despite facing occasional blackouts, steadily set their feet on the top 10 of the league. From mid-March onwards, they became almost perfect, as they closed the regular season clinching the third period and winning 7 out of the last 8 games, reaching the third rung of the ladder. Their march continued also in the playoffs as they eventually sealed promotion thanks to a dramatic penalty shootout success against Volendam in a dramatic final. While they were not very prolific in the attack, they only scored 59 goals, 31 less than ADO Den Haag, Willem II were very solid defensively, as they conceded only 42 goals, 5 more than – guess who – ADO again. They lost too many games, though, 10, and had troubles scoring when their stars up-front were either missing or well limited. Coach John Stegeman was confirmed at the helm of the team also in the new season. He will not have an easy life since Willem II lost some of the protagonists of their past campaign. Firstly, Key winger Doodeman, their most creative man, with 7 goals and 22 assists overall, left for Volendam. Slory, on loan from AZ, is set to replace him but will need time after a forgettable season at Go Ahead Eagles while Gurbuz is just a bench-warmer. Starting centre-back Behounek was the leader of the defence and he also went for pastures new. Stam should replace him with Lemmens as a back-up. They lost 2 more starters in the midfield with Besselink and Twigt both returning to their parent clubs. Loanee Boogaard is thus going to become a protagonist in the new season.