Gijs Luirink

He began his career at FC Volendam, making 57 league appearances for the club. In 2004, the club was relegated to the Eerste Divisie, and Luirink moved to FC Groningen.

FC Groningen

At Groningen, he earned himself a place in the starting line-up as central defender, playing 20 games in Eredivisie, often partnering with Gibril Sankoh or Arnold Kruiswijk. In the season of 05/06, Luirink helped Groningen surprisingly achieve a fifth place and in the following play-offs UEFA cup football. Halfway through the season, Groningen left the Oosterpark Stadium for a new home, the Euroborg. This quickly got the nickname of "the green hell", because it was very difficult for other teams to win there. In the league competition Groningen were unbeaten at their new stadium, only PSV won there in a cup match.

AZ

As he made a good impression at Groningen and for the Dutch U-21, AZ acted quickly and signed him. He started as a regular, but he appeared in only 16 matches for AZ in the season 06/07 because he picked up some severe injuries that kept him out most of the season. Having not made any appearances in the season 07/08 due to injury, Luirink played during the preparation of the following season but lightning struck again for Luirink, and he suffered another heavy knee injury, and during recovery things got worse as he had several setbacks and suffered from thrombosis in his leg. Despite all that, he recovered and was ready to return in the squad halfway through the…

He was the captain of the Dutch squad that won the UEFA U-21 Championship in 2006. He made the preselection of the Dutch squad for a match with Ireland in August 2006.