Eddy Achterberg
Encyclopedia
Eddy Achterberg is a retired Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...

 football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 player and coach. As of February 2009, he is a scout with FC Schalke 04
FC Schalke 04
Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, commonly known as simply FC Schalke 04 or Schalke , is a German, association-football club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Schalke has long been one of the most popular football teams in Germany, even though major...

.

Career

A professional for fifteen years prior to signing for Dutch side DOS (the predecessor to FC Utrecht), Eddy Achterberg transferred to FC Twente
FC Twente
FC Twente is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Eredivisie Champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys...

 in 1967, playing 246 games for the Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....

 club, scoring 26 goals. The midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 played in 27 UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 matches for Twente; reaching the semi-final in the 1972/3 season and the final during the 1973/4 season, where the club lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach is a German association football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. The team plays in the Bundesliga and is one of the country's most well-known, well-supported, and successful teams. Borussia Mönchengladbach has over 40,000 members and is the sixth...

. After breaking his leg in 1974, he never returned to his previous form, and transferred to FC Groningen in 1977, retiring in 1978.

Following the end of his playing career, he became the representative of a German sportswear manufacturer, and innkeeper. In 1988 he became youth and second team coach, and later co-manager at former club FC Twente. In 1994 he moved to Roda Kerkrade, where he co-managed alongside Huub Stevens
Huub Stevens
Hubertus "Huub" Jozef Margaretha Stevens is a Dutch football manager and former defender.- Playing career :...

. After Stevens moved to FC Schalke 04
FC Schalke 04
Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, commonly known as simply FC Schalke 04 or Schalke , is a German, association-football club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Schalke has long been one of the most popular football teams in Germany, even though major...

, Achterberg was briefly promoted to head coach, before following his colleague to the Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

 club, with whom he won the UEFA Cup in 1997. Achterberg returned to FC Twente
FC Twente
FC Twente is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Eredivisie Champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys...

 in 2000, becoming co-manager alongside Fred Rutten, winning the KNVB Cup
KNVB Cup
The KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...

 the same season. After a spell as coach of the Twente second team, Achterberg spent a second spell in Gelsenkirchen from 2003 until 2005. Following the dismissal of Jupp Heynckes
Jupp Heynckes
Josef "Jupp" Heynckes is a German football coach and former player. As player he belonged to the core of the team of Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and 1970s where he won many national championships and the Cup as well as the UEFA Cup...

 on 15 September until the appointment of Ralf Rangnick on 28 September 2004, he briefly served as caretaker-manager of the club.

During his time in Enschede
Enschede
Enschede , also known as Eanske in the local dialect of Twents, is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region...

, Achterberg's nickname was De Keu, which goes back to "het keutje", as he was called in Utrecht. In the local dialect, this is another name for "Pig." According to Achterberg: "The name didn't fit me at all, which was the very reason I was given it. My friends would always say to me: Here comes 'de Keu,' the fat pig with the crooked legs."

Achterberg, along with other players and fans of FC Twente, released a song entitled "Eenmaal zullen wij de kampioenen zijn" (Once we will be the Champions) in the successful 1973/4 season, which became the unofficial club song.

External links

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