Eddy Achterberg

Infobox Football biography
playername = Eddy Achterberg


fullname =
dateofbirth = 21 February 1947
cityofbirth = Utrecht
countryofbirth = Netherlands
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
position = Midfielder
currentclub =
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = ????-1967
1967-1977
1977-1978
clubs = FC Utrecht
FC Twente
FC Groningen
caps(goals) =
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1996
2004

managerclubs = Roda Kerkrade
FC Schalke 04
FC Twente
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Eddy Achterberg (Born 21 February 1947 in Utrecht) is a retired Dutch football player and coach.

Career

A professional for fifteen years until he signed for Dutch side "DOS" (the predecessor to FC Utrecht), Eddy Achterberg transferred to FC Twente in 1967, playing 246 games for the Eredivisie club, scoring 26 goals. The midfielder played in 27 UEFA Cup 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. 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. After Stevens moved to FC Schalke 04, Achterberg was briefly promoted to head coach, before following his colleague to the Bundesliga club, with whom he won the UEFA Cup in 1997. Achterberg returned to FC Twente in 2000, becoming co-manager alongside Fred Rutten, winning the KNVB 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 Juup Heynckes 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, 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." [ [http://www.schalke04.de/643.html?&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=8567&cHash=7ca0727142 „Eddy Achterberg feiert 60. Geburtstag“] , Website des FC Schalke 04, 21 February 2007 (retrieved 23 February 2007)]

Achterberg, along with other players and fans of FC Twente, released a song entitled "Eenmal zullen wij de kampioenen zijn" (Once we are the Champions) in the successful 1973/4 season, which became the unofficial club song. [ [http://www.fanzovoort.nl/pagina/Liederen/292/nl „Eenmaal zullen wij de kampioenen zijn“] Fansite documenting the club's songs (Dutch)]

References

External links

* [http://www.twentefans.nl/held.php?heldID=5 Twentefans Hall of Fame entry (Dutch)]

* [http://www.fctriessen.nl/1024-nieuw/eddy-achterberg.htm Fan Profile of Eddy Achterberg]