Willy van der Kuijlen

Early career

Van der Kuijlen started out with a semi-professional contract; signing a contract with PSV Eindhoven meant that he could also work at Philips. On weekdays, he would work as a warehouse worker. Van der Kuijlen debuted in a friendly match on 7 August 1964 against SVV, scoring five goals in a 6–1 victory. His Eredivisie debut was on 23 August 1964 in a match against Fortuna ’54. Van der Kuijlen scored the only goal in a 2–1 loss. In the second league match, he managed to score three goals in PSV's 3–1 victory over SC Enschede. In his first season at PSV (as the youngest player in the league), the team finished second in the league and Van der Kuijlen also finished second in the Eredivisie top scorer ranking with twenty goals. 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. In the following years, Van der Kuijlen faced a few struggles in his career. His Philips job and a call up for the military draft proved difficult to combine with his football. In both the 1966–67 and the 1967–68 season, Van der Kuijlen still produced 21 league goals but a lack of chemistry between him and PSV coach Milan Nikolić also made his performances suffer. In 1968, PSV was struggling in the league and battling relegation. As a result, Nikolić was sacked and in the wake of his departure, Van der Kuijlen…

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. Other reasons why Van der Kuijlen's international career never took off were frequent clashes between Van der Kuijlen, his PSV teammate Jan van Beveren and Cruyff. 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.…

Van der Kuijlen usually played in the playmaker or second striker position. He would often drop into the midfield in an attempt to control the game from there. 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. Van der Kuijlen rarely headed a ball or tackled a player. As a consequence, Van der Kuijlen only received one yellow card in his entire career. Van der Kuijlen acknowledged his lack of defensive skills, but mentioned that "Rijvers took care of that by letting other team members compensate that". It enabled him to excel in the attacking part.

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. In November 2011, his biography Onze Willy ('Our Willy') was published, written by journalist Frans van den Nieuwenhof. The first edition was presented to Van der Kuijlen by Bert van Marwijk, who was then manager of the Dutch national team. Together with the release of the book, he received an honorary Helmond city badge from mayor Fons Jacobs. 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…