Jan van Roessel

A big forward and fierce header of the ball, Van Roessel was picked up at LONGA by local rivals Willem II in Tilburg in 1951, and won the 1952 Dutch (then still amateur) league title and in 1955 the first professional Eredivisie championship. He formed a potent strike force with Toon Becx and Piet de Jong and was reportedly linked to neighbours PSV Eindhoven and some Italian clubs, most notably Sampdoria and Torino, but Czech coach František Fadrhonc convinced him to stay in Tilburg. Van Roessel was named Player of the Century of Willem II.

Van Roessel made his debut for the Netherlands in a June 1949 friendly match against Finland and had earned a total of six caps, scoring five goals. He represented his country at the 1952 Summer Olympics, where he scored against Brazil. His final international was a May 1955 friendly match against Switzerland.

Scores and results list Holland's goal tally first.

Van Roessel married Louisa van Laarhoven in 1956 and the couple had one daughter, who died of leukemia in 1988. In his later years, he suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Van Roessel died on 3 June 2011 of a lung disease at the age of 86.