2024–25 Willem II season

Willem II

2024–25 season
Chairman	Jan van der Laak
Manager	Peter Maes
Stadium	Koning Willem II Stadion
Eredivisie	Preseason
KNVB Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Kyan Vaesen (2) All: Kyan Vaesen (2)
Biggest win	1-0 v. Go Ahead Eagles
Home colours Away colours
← 2023–24 season 2025–26 →
All statistics correct as of 11 July 2024.

The 2024–25 season is Willem II's 129th season in existence and marks a return to the Eredivisie after relegation to the Eerste Divisie following the 2023–24. They will also compete in the KNVB Cup.

Off-Season personnel changes began shortly before the 2023–24 season ended, with the appointment of Merijn Goris as the new general manager of the club, taking over for Martin van Geel who announced in February 2024 that he would be leaving the position on 1 July 2024.^[1]

On 14 May Tom Caluwé was announced as the new technical director of the club, replacing Van Geel who was acting in the role following the resignation of Teun Jacobs in September 2023.^[2] Shortly after the Caluwé appointment, the team took care of its first offseason priority by signing Peter Maes, the trainer who led the team back into the Eredivisie, to a new contract that runs through the summer of 2026.^[3] The team further addressed to its technical staff by hiring Kristof Aelbrecht as assistant-trainer and Stefan Winters as performance coach.^[4] Aelbrecht replacing Peter van den Berg, who departed to become the head trainer of the Netherlands Under-17 national team,^[5] and Winters replacing departing performance coach, Nils Thörner.^[6] Golkeeper coach, Peter den Otter remained with the club, extending his contract by two years.^[7] The technical staff changes were completed with the hiring of Hessel Verhoven as video analyst for the club, replacing Rick Mennes who departed the club after seven years for a similar position with Feyenoord.^[8]

On the player side of the club, the departure of four players: Max Svensson, Matthias Verreth, Freek Heerkens, and Michael de Leeuw was announced, with Heerkens retiring and the other three moving on to new clubs. In late June, the club signed their first new player to the squad, acquiring Thomas Didillon-Hödl to a two-year contract. Four more players (Mickaël Tırpan, Cisse Sandra, Emilio Kehrer, and Kyan Vaesen) were later added from other Belgian clubs.

Willem II kicked off the season on 10 August 2024 with a 1-1 draw against 2023-24 KNVB Cup winners Feyenoord at De Kuip.

As of 8 August 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FRA Thomas Didillon-Hödl 21 GK  NED Joshua Smits 24 GK  NED Connor van den Berg 41 GK  NED Maarten Schut 4 DF  NED Erik Schouten (2nd captain) 5 DF  ISL Rúnar Þór Sigurgeirsson 20 DF  NED Valentino Vermeulen 22 DF  NED Rob Nizet 25 DF  BEL Mickaël Tırpan 30 DF  AUT Raffael Behounek 33 DF  NED Tommy St. Jago 44 DF  NED Niels van Berkel 48 DF  NED Jens Mathijsen

No. Pos. Nation Player 8 MF  NED Jesse Bosch 10 MF  NED Max de Waal 14 MF  NED Cisse Sandra (On loan from Club Brugge) 16 MF  NED Ringo Meerveld 27 MF  NED Dani Mathieu 34 MF  NED Amine Lachkar 7 FW  NED Nick Doodeman 9 FW  NED Kyan Vaesen 11 FW  GER Emilio Kehrer 17 FW  NED Patrick Joosten 18 FW  COD Jeremy Bokila 35 FW  NED Khaled Razak

Date	Position	No.	Player	From club	Notes	Ref.
26 June 2024	GK	1	Thomas Didillon-Hödl	Cercle Brugge	Free Transfer	[9]
26 June 2024	DF	25	Mickaël Tırpan	Lierse	Free Transfer	[10]
4 July 2024	MF	8	Cisse Sandra	Club Brugge	Loan	[11]
5 July 2024	FW	11	Emilio Kehrer	Cercle Brugge	Free Transfer	[12]
25 July 2024	FW	9	Kyan Vaesen	Westerlo	Loan	[13]

Date	Position	No.	Player	To club	Notes	Ref.
31 May 2024	FW	11	Max Svensson	Kalmar FF	Free Transfer	[14]
31 May 2024	MF	6	Matthias Verreth	Brescia	Free Transfer	[15]
31 May 2024	FW	3	Freek Heerkens	N/A	Retired	[15]
31 May 2024	FW	23	Michael de Leeuw	SC Cambuur	Free Transfer	[16]
1 July 2024	FW	23	Thijs Oosting	FC Groningen	Transfer	[17]
2 July 2024	FW	23	Jeredy Hilterman	Arminia Bielefeld	Loan ended	[18]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Void   Fixtures

RKDSV Diessen v Willem II

6 July 2023 Friendly	RKDSV Diessen	0-6	Willem II	Diessen
14:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Doodeman 7' Unknown 43' (own) Sandra 47', 66', 71' Mika de Jonge 90'			Stadium: Sportpark De Alsie

Willem II v Quick Boys

9 July 2024 Friendly	Willem II	Cancelled	Quick Boys	Oisterwijk
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Sportpark Den Donk

FC Dordrecht v Willem II

13 July 2024 Friendly	FC Dordrecht	4-4	Willem II	Dordrecht
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Van Vianen 88' Van der Sluijs 90', 105', 107'		St. Jago 33' De Waal 59' Kehrer 111', 116'	Stadium: Stadion Krommedijk

Willem II v Lommel S.K.

20 July 2024 Friendly	Willem II	5-0	Lommel S.K.	Loon op Zand
14:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Doodeman 2' Titi 47' (own) Meerveld 61' Van Loon 80' Joosten 90'			Stadium: Sportpark De Klokkenberg

Willem II v Sparta Rotterdam

27 July 2024 Friendly	Willem II	2-4	Sparta Rotterdam	Loon op Zand
13:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Kehrer 11' Sandra 70'		Clement 7', 38' Lauritsen 24' Van der Kust 40'	Stadium: Sportpark De Klokkenberg

Bristol City F.C. v Willem II

3 August 2024 Friendly	Bristol City F.C.	0-0	Willem II	Bristol
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Ashton Gate

The initial slate of league fixtures were unveiled on 19 June 2024.^[19] Matches through matchday 14 as well as the final two matchdays are definitively scheduled, while the remaining matches are tentatively

Appearances () numbers are for appearances in competitive games only, including sub appearances.
Red card numbers denote: numbers in parentheses represent red cards overturned for wrongful dismissal.
Source for all stats:^[20]

No.	Player	Pos.	Eredivisie				KNVB Cup				Total
1	Thomas Didillon-Hödl	GK	2								1
4	Erik Schouten	MF									1
5	Rúnar Sigurgeirsson	DF	2		1						1		1
7	Nick Doodeman	FW	2								1
8	Jesse Bosch	MF	2								1
9	Kyan Vaesen	FW	2	2	1						1	1	1
10	Max de Waal	MF
11	Emilio Kehrer	FW	1								1
14	Cisse Sandra	FW	2		1						1		1
16	Ringo Meerveld	MF	2	1							1
17	Patrick Joosten	DF
18	Jeremy Bokila	FW	2								1
20	Valentino Vermeulen	DF	2		1						1		1
21	Joshua Smits	GK
22	Rob Nizet	DF	1								1
24	Connor van den Berg	GK
25	Mickaël Tırpan	DF	2								1
27	Dani Mathieu	MF									1
30	Raffael Behounek	DF	2								1
33	Tommy St. Jago	DF	2								1
34	Amine Lachkar	MF	2		1						1		1
35	Khaled Razak	FW
41	Maarten Schut	GK
44	Niels van Berkel	DF
48	Jens Mathijsen	DF	2		1						1		1
Own goals
Totals				3	6	0		0	0	0		3	6	0

Rank	No.	Player	Pos	Eredivisie		KNVB Cup		Total
				Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists
1	9	Kyan Vaesen	FW	2				2
2	16	Ringo Meerveld	MF	1				1
3	14	Cisse Sandra	FW		1				1
	30	Raffael Behounek	DF		1				1
4	4	Erik Schouten	MF
	5	Rúnar Sigurgeirsson	DF
	7	Nick Doodeman	FW
	8	Jesse Bosch	MF
	10	Max de Waal	MF
	11	Emilio Kehrer	FW
	17	Patrick Joosten	DF
	18	Jeremy Bokila	FW
	20	Valentino Vermeulen	DF
	22	Rob Nizet	DF
	25	Mickaël Tırpan	DF
	27	Dani Mathieu	MF
	33	Tommy St. Jago	DF
	34	Amine Lachkar	MF
	35	Khaled Razak	FW
	44	Niels van Berkel	DF
	48	Jens Mathijsen	DF
	1	Thomas Didillon-Hödl	GK
	21	Joshua Smits	GK
	24	Connor van den Berg	GK
	41	Maarten Schut	GK
Totals				3	2	0	0	3	2

Rank	No.	Player	Pos	Eredivisie			KNVB Cup			Total
1	5	Rúnar Sigurgeirsson	DF	1						1
	9	Kyan Vaesen	FW	1						1
	14	Cisse Sandra	MF	1						1
	20	Valentino Vermeulen	DF	1						1
	34	Amine Lachkar	MF	1						1
	48	Jens Mathijsen	DF	1						1
2	4	Erik Schouten	MF
	7	Nick Doodeman	FW
	8	Jesse Bosch	MF
	10	Max de Waal	MF
	11	Emilio Kehrer	FW
	16	Ringo Meerveld	MF
	17	Patrick Joosten	DF
	18	Jeremy Bokila	FW
	22	Rob Nizet	DF
	25	Mickaël Tırpan	DF
	27	Dani Mathieu	MF
	30	Raffael Behounek	DF
	33	Tommy St. Jago	DF
	35	Khaled Razak	FW
	44	Niels van Berkel	DF
	1	Thomas Didillon-Hödl	GK
	21	Joshua Smits	GK
	24	Connor van den Berg	GK
	41	Maarten Schut	GK
Totals				6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0

The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play.

Goalkeepers					Clean sheets
Rank	No.	Player	Apps	Goals conceded	Eredivisie	KNVB Cup	Total
1	1	Thomas Didillon-Hödl	2	1	1	0	1
2	21	Joshua Smits	0	0	0	0	0
	24	Connor van den Berg	0	0	0	0	0
	41	Maarten Schut	0	0	0	0	0
Totals			2	1	1	0	1

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