12 AUGUST 1896
An employee of the national railway site in Tilburg, Gerard de Ruiter, founds a football club and names it Tilburgia.
14 JANUARY 1898
Tilburgia is being renamed Willem II - after the former King of The Netherlands, Willem II. He lived in Tilburg until his death in 1849 and was very fond of the city. A statue of the former king can be found on a square in the heart of Tilburg.
1904
The traditional 'Tricolores' red white & blue home kit is born.
1916
Willem II becomes the first ever national champions of The Netherlands by beating Deventer side Go Ahead Eagles 0-1 in the final match of the season
The team that won the first ever national championship in the 1915/1916 season
1924
After having played on several pitches all over the city for the first nearly 30 years, Willem II moves to the 'Tilburgsch Sportpark', a recently build location at the Goirleseweg
The 'Tilburgsch Sportpark' was later renamed 'Gemeentelijk Sportpark' and it was on the same location as today's Koning Willem II stadion
1944
During WWII the traditional red white & blue Tricolores shirt is often cheered on, even by fans from the other teams as a nationalistic symbol. Willem II wins their first Dutch Cup.
16 JUNE 1952
Willem II is crowned national champions for the second time, after having won every single match that season. Something that has never been achieved since. Last match of the season was against Ajax at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam : 1-2. Willem II was coached by the very successful Dr Frantisek Fadrhonc from 1949 - 1956.
Willem II's all time topscorer Piet de Jong, who scored 216 goals in 363 matches between 1947 and 1961
1955
It is the first year of the professional era in Dutch football and immediately Willem II wins the league and are champions for a third time. The following year however, Willem II is relegated and needs to start all over again. With the help of their first foreign player, the German Kurt Zaro, they climb back up to highest league in the years to come.
25 SEPTEMBER 1963
After having won the Dutch Cup for the 3rd time the previous season, Willem II is going to play European football. And on September 25th they are facing the mighty Manchester United. Since Willem II's ground does not meet the specifications laid down by the UEFA - the 'home' match is being played at the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam.
FT score : 1-1. Unfortunately though, Man Utd win the return 6-1...
01 FEBRUARY 1974
Willem II opens their 'youth academy' and is the first football club in The Netherlands to do so. It is one of the very few highlights during the period 1964 - 1973. A decade in which Willem II has great financial concerns and spends most of its time playing in second division.
Dr Schuerman is being carried on the shoulders of some (smoking) first team players.
And to make matters worse ; chairman Dr Bert Schuerman dies aged 70 on 26 January 1977 after having first been a member of the board from 1936 to 1945 and then became chairman of the club until his death 32 years later.
1982
The financial problems are getting bigger and bigger and mid 1982, the court of justice rules that Willem II is almost bankrupt and needs to do some serious financial housekeeping. Chairman Wim Groels is being appointed and it will be hugely thanks to his hard work and dedication that Willem II still exists today.
Wim Groels
1987
Willem II gets a grip on their financials and is promoted back to the highest league in 1987. For a large part thanks to their trainer/coach Piet de Visser (1985-1991), who is determined to bring Willem II back to where they belong and investing a lot in their youth academy. Willem II wins the Club of the Year competition in 1987 and 1990.
Willem II, 1990. On the left Piet de Visser and literally backing him up is (then) assistent coach Adrie Koster. Top right corner is John Feskens, who holds the record for most matches played for Willem II : 483. His nickname was 'D'n Beitel'. Which is now the name of the pub at the Koning Willem II stadium
31 MAY 1995
Grand opening of the completely new stadium. Goodbye 'Gemeentelijk Sportpark', hello 'Willem II stadion'. No, indeed - not 'royal' yet.
12 AUGUST 1996
No one is talking about the years of financial stress anymore as Willem II celebrates its 100th birthday. Wim Groels' job is done and he steps down as active chairman in 1996.
Honorary chairman Wim Groels is being handed the restorated Willem II flag at the club's centennial party
1997/1998 season
Technical manager Martin van Geel hires Co Adriaanse as new trainer/coach and that proved to be a golden move. Right in his first year as coach, Willem II reaches 5th place in the league, meaning they will (again) be playing European football the following season. They knock out Dinamo Tiblisi in first round, but are unable to beat Real Betis Sevilla over two matches in second round (home 1-1, away 3-0).
Celebrations at the Heuvel, the city's central square after qualifying for European football
1998/1999 season
Halfway through the season, Willem II find themselves stuck at 11th place in the Eredivisie. Only to start a remarkable comeback during the second half of the season, accumulating in ending the league as runners up. That feat earned them the title Club of the Year, but what's even better - back then ending 2nd in the league meant a direct ticket to the Champions League.
Coach Co Adriaanse is being lifted onto the shoulders of the players at the Cambuur Leeuwarden stadium in the spring of 1999 : Willem II has qualified for the Champions League in his second year as coach.
In which they would not have the services of tall Finnish centre back Sami Hyypiä, as in the summer of 1999, he earned a 2.5M pound transfer to Liverpool FC. A team where he ended up playing well over 300 matches for, made it to captain and won the Champions League in 2005 with.
Finnish defender and captain of the team that ended as runners up that season, Sami Hyypiä, is being paraded around the stadium, emotionally thanking the fans for the support the past three years. He was to become one of the most successful former Willem II players abroad.
1999/2000 season
Willem II fought brave and played their attacking game it is famous for, but unfortunately at the highest level in Europe - it's results that count above all. So after having lost 4 matches in a row, Co Adriaanse decided to alter his gameplan a bit and went for the result instead. Leading to 2 draws against Spartak Moscow (1-1 in Russia) and Girondins de Bordeaux (0-0 in Tilburg).
Denny Landzaat congratulates Argentine striker Mariano Bombarda after scoring one of his 51 goals for Willem II in 108 appearances for the club (1998-2002)
5 APRIL 2005
Honorary chairman, and all out savior of the club, Wim Groels loses the battle against an incurable disease and dies at the age of 71.
21 APRIL 2005
After a couple of seasons without any noticeable highs or lows, Willem II face Ajax at home in the semi final of the Dutch Cup. They win 1-0 thanks to a Tom Caluwé goal and secure themselves a place in the Cup final against league champions PSV. And since PSV already won the league, as a losing finalist (0-4) Willem II is entitled to European football again the next season. AS Monaco proved too strong for the Tricolores though.
Arjan Swinkels celebrates one of his 13 goals as a centre back for the team. He played 158 matches for the Tricolores and captained most of them between 2003 and 2012
30 JANUARY 2009
The Willem II stadium is officially renamed Koning Willem II stadion, a reference to the former King of The Netherlands after which the club was named.
2010/2011 season
Financial mismanagement and lack of consistency during the past couple of years leads to the club again being faced "all of a sudden" with huge debts and almost the complete management team is being forced to step down.
A commission of "Three Wise Men" was formed and they managed to save Willem II from bankruptcy : Paul Bottelier. Jan Melis and Mike Leers. With the first one being appointed interim managing director in 2010, reorganizing the complete operational structure of the club that still stands today and is aimed at never again getting into financial trouble due to mismanagement.
The lack of funds however means Willem II is playing a lost season and is in the end being relegated to second division.
2011/2012 and 2012/2013 seasons
Jurgen Streppel (photo at top of this page) has been appointed as the new head coach and his task is clear : earn promotion to Eredivisie within 2 years. He did it in 1. Which unfortunately also meant that the team was not ready yet for the higher level of play and despite the fact that they fought as lions every single match, it was not to be and Willem II was relegated again at the end of the 2012/2013 season.
Current Willem II skipper Jordens Peters in action against Ajax. He joined Willem II in 2009 and has played well over 200 matches for the club already.
2013/2014 SEASON
By finding the right players with the limited budget that is available, coach Jurgen Streppel (by then also part-time technical manager) manages to bring Willem II back to the Eredivisie after again only one year in second division.
10 MAY 2015
17 year old Frenkie de Jong makes his Eredivisie debut for Willem II, the team he joined 10 years earlier as a kid.
He went through all the age grades at the Willem II Youth Academy. In August of 2015, he signed a 4 year deal with Ajax for a transfer fee of 1 euro. Plus a nice % of a possible future transfer fee away from Ajax.
Tilburg was outraged, letting quite possibly the best player of the Youth Academy leave for 1 euro + a percentage of a transfer fee that may never come.
Frenkie de Jong as a young Willem II player
In hindsight, it turned out to be the best possible deal they could have agreed upon, as after shining with Ajax on the Champions League stage - FC Barcelona signed Frenkie de Jong for a fee close to 80 million euro in the summer of 2019. Of which Willem II gets 8.5M
Also on May 10th 2015 we saw a grand goodbye to long serving Willem II team doctor Jan Vioen. At the age of 75, after having been The Doc for well over 40 years, he gets a nice sending off when he is placed on a roman emperor's carriage being pulled around the pitch by skipper Jordens Peters :
06 AUGUST 2016
Former Willem II defender (127 appearances + 84 caps for the Dutch National Team) Joris Mathijsen has been appointed as the new technical manager for Willem II and one of the first players he signs, is little known Spanish striker Francisco Sol Ortiz (Fran Sol). The Spaniard scores a header on his Eredivisie debut for Willem II on August 6th of that year.
He quickly won the hearts of the fans as not only being the best striker we have had in years (scoring 39 goals in 79 matches), but also as being a really nice, open and approachable person.
Spanish striker Fran Sol scored a hattrick against table leaders PSV on 10-MAR-2018
Partly thanks to his goals Willem II had no relegation fears anymore.
In the first half of the 2018/2019 season he scored 13 goals in 17 matches and he earns a well deserved 3.5M euro transfer to Ukrainian top side Dinamo Kiev in the winter of 2019.
2018/2019 SEASON
When Sol left for Ukraine, Joris Mathijsen quickly signed two Greek strikers on a loan deal : Marios Vrousai and Vangelis Pavlidis and surprised many top teams in Europe by also securing the services of Sweden's biggest talent Alexander Isak, who became an overnight Eredivisie sensation - scoring 14 goals in 18 matches while on loan from Borussia Dortmund.
Like Sol, Isak also earned a nice transfer after shining at the Koning Willem II stadion. He is currently making headlines at Spanish side Real Sociedad in the Primera Division. Isak unfortunately could also not prevent Willem II losing that year's Cup Final against Ajax (0-4).
Swedish striker Alexander Isak scored 10 goals in his first 10 matches for the Tricolores, including a hattrick of penalties in the league match against Fortuna Sittard (3-2). A league's first.
2019 / 2020 SEASON
Greek international Vangelis Pavlidis proved to be a very good signing and along with a new number 10 (young Belgian talent Mike Trésor Ndayishimiye) and two fast wingers Mats Köhlert and Ché Nunnely, Willem II had attacking players that could really play opponents apart and the Tilburg side played a very good season, ending the league in 5th place. Meaning they would be playing in next season's Europa League qualifiers. First they thrashed Luxemburg side FC Progrès Niederkorn (0-5) only to be stopped by Scottish powerhouse Rangers FC in the next round. Although the scoreboard gives you the idea of a very one sided match (0-4), in reality there wasn't much between the two teams in terms of play. Except for the minor detail (..) that Rangers did finish off their chances, and the Tricolores didn't.
2020 / 2021 SEASON
The Corona season. It became very clear that Willem II was hit harder than most other teams in the league when it had to be decided that no fans would be allowed inside the stadium anymore. With many injuries to key players and their vocal fans not there to spur the team on, it became a really rough season for the Tricolores. Leading to their manager Koster getting sacked mid-way through the campaign and Willem II only securing a prolonged Eredivisie stay during the very last match of the season. A match in which Vangelis Pavlidis scored the goal of the decade. Not just an important one, but a true beauty as well (see link for match highlights on YouTube. Goal is at 6min 10sec). His relentless hard work for the team, professional attitude and above all his skills and all the goals he scored during the past 2.5 years, earned him a nice transfer to Dutch top team AZ for a couple of million euros, and if rumors are to be believed a nice sell on percentage fee has been agreed as well.
Greek international Vangelis Pavlidis saved the best for last as he scored the stunning opener in the final match of the season