Rob Reekers

Robert " Rob" Reekers ( born May 7, 1966 in Enschede) is a Dutch football coach, who spent nine years as a defender for VfL Bochum active in the German Bundesliga. He played four times in the Dutch national team.

Club career

Youth in Twente

Rob Reekers grew up right on the German border in the village of Losser Twentsche; with eight years he was a member of the local football club KVV Losser, where he " shaped for my future football career " was. He benefited primarily on " that we are twelve years played there against older kids, so we had to always give one hundred percent. " Even when he was fifteen, leaving his coach accrues him in the first team of the KVV. After a few games in the amateur league but he broke his ankle and was only towards the end of the season 1981/82 returned to service. However, he was also appointed to a Twente Regional selection.

He received an offer from FC Twente to its second team he joined. Here he was the youngest player under coach Epi Drost. The team played in a league for reserve teams of Dutch professional clubs; within this system increased the Enscheder 1983 in the first class. The 17 -year-old Reekers was captain of this team and made first international experience in the youth national team.

Exchange across the border

After three years, where he waited in vain for a contract for the first team, he moved about the " green border" to the ASC Schöppingen in the Oberliga Westfalen. The successful 1985/86 season concluded the ASC from a master, but failed in the promotion round to the Second League. Reekers was voted the best player of the season and, like his Dutch teammate Bennie also Brinkman, appointed to the selection of Westphalia, which won the Country Cup DFB.

Bundesliga player in Bochum

VfL Bochum became aware of him and brought him into his Bundesliga squad. Even on the opening day of the 1986/87 season he was against 1 FC Köln his debut; in this game, on August 9, 1986, took the center-back - mostly as a man-marker - also equal to the first of a total of 35 yellow cards in German professional football ( twice he had with yellow / red, even prematurely with red in the cabin). His first Bundesliga for VfL he scored a year later; the 5-0 win against KSC, he contributed the third goal. This season 1987/88 Reekers could reach one of the greatest successes in club history with VfL: the DFB Cup final. On 28 May 1988 Bochum lost while in the Berlin Olympic Stadium by a late goal from Lajos Detari against Eintracht Frankfurt 0-1. For Reekers but it remains " one of the best experiences of my entire football career."

One of his few goals for VfL - there were eight in nine seasons - he scored in the derby of the 1989/90 season at Borussia Dortmund. His hit on Friday, October 13, decided the game - a goal to which to Reekers recalled in March 2008: "I came in the middle ... the ball, then I squat with wide start-up into the box and got the ball. geschlenzt with the left into the far corner "In the 1992/93 season also helped the hard boarding Reekers ' ( seven " Yellow " in 34 games ) nothing more; the " Unabsteigbaren " had in the second division after 22 years. According to the Direct resurgence Reekers was due to a back injury not play longer time; until 19 Matchday he returned to the place, but could not even prevent the second descent of the Bochum within two years. On the final day, he scored his last goal of the VfL ​​- shirt - but an own goal in a 2-2 draw in the Deer Park Stadium for Karlsruher SC. Overall Reekers made ​​219 Bundesliga and 25 second division games for VfL Bochum.

Career finale in Gütersloh

After the descent of the VfL ​​Bochum Reekers moved to third division FC Gütersloh, where he was for five years running. With the East Westphalia, he rose up in his first season in the Second Division, where the club saw in his second pro season a sensation and almost the entire season was placed among the top five. At the end of the season 1997/98 were missing only four points for promotion to the elite class. Three points were missing in the following season - but not to climb but to avoid relegation. Reekers and FC had back in the Regionalliga. Reekers acquired in his Gütersloher time the trainer's license and remained at the East Westphalia and in the third division, but was no longer active as a player but also as a manager and as an assistant coach by Gerhard Kleppinger. But even in the current season had to file for bankruptcy, FC; Kleppinger and Reekers were unemployed.

National

Reekers ' performances have not gone unnoticed in his home country; four had Bondscoach Thijs Libregts accumulate him in 1988 and 1989 in the national team. His first try at Oranje he was allowed to pass in Rome on 16 November 1988. Except Reekers debuted in this friendly match, which ended 1-0 for Italy, René Eijkelkamp, Pieter Huistra and Fred Rutten next to seasoned internationals such as Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, Frank Rijkaard or Marco van Basten. In two other games Reekers was substituted; in his last match for his country - a 0-1 defeat against Brazil on 20 December 1989 - he was allowed to stay again 90 minutes on the court. After this game Libregts was replaced as coach Bond; under Leo Beenhakker, who coached the team to the World Cup finals, Reekers was not appointed to the Oranje. He is now one of only six Dutch national team, who never played in the Eredivisie; the other five are Willi Lippens, Jordi Cruijff, Jeffrey Bruma, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Wim Hofkens.

Coach

Three months after the bankruptcy of the FC Gütersloh Gerd Kleppinger began as Coach for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen; as an assistant coach he brought Reekers to the Lower Rhine. While the head coach changed (on Kleppinger followed Dragoslav Stepanovic to " Stepi " followed Aleksandar Ristic ) remained Reekers three years assistant coach of the " Shamrocks ", but announced in 2003, to go as head coach to succeed his old club, FC Gütersloh 2000. For two years he coached the team in the Oberliga Westfalen, after his contract was not renewed. He went back to Enschede, where he coached the A2 ' youth team of FC Twente Game Community / Heracles Almelo and a football school built in the - after the model Wiel Coervers - young talents are trained. Since 2006 he was the coach of Pupils city wage, with which he took in the new league Westphalia 2008.

In September 2008 he gave up this position to go together with Hans -Jürgen Gede to Azerbaijan. As a co- coach of the first division Neftschi PFK from Baku, he received a two- year contract. In March 2009, Gede was - after just five wins in 15 games - laid off.

Reekers worked by the end of June 2009 to end of June 2012 as an assistant coach under Jos Luhukay at FC Augsburg. For the season 2012/13 he moved with him to Hertha BSC.