Sjaak Jacob Troost (28 August 1959) played 397 games for Feyenoord between 1978 and 1992, scoring five goals. He played for the Orange squad four times.
Troost was a typical example of a loyal club footballer. He played at the highest level for thirteen seasons and remained his club Feyenoord, despite interest from other clubs (a.o. Ajax and NAC), always loyal. Troost played 329 games for Feyenoord between 1978 and 1992 in which he scored five goals. He won one national title, four KNVB cups and one Super Cup.
Sjaak was born in Pernis and, when he is old enough, will play there in the youth of DOTO (Through Development Until Relaxation). This club no longer exists: on July 1, 2011 DOTO entered into a practical merger with the other football association in Pernis; P.v.v. Excelsior Pernis. This because the debt burden had become too great for the former club of Troost. Troost is ten years old when he leaves DOTO …
1977 is the year that Troost's name first appears in professional football. Feyenoord saw the opportunity in the diligent defender and had taken him on contract. Unofficially Troost was allowed to appear for the first time in the first in a friendly game against FC Groningen. His Eredivisie debut was on April 9, 1978 in a 1-0 loss in the away match against FC Volendam. This after he emphatically knocked on the proverbial door in his youth by often finding the enemy net as a diligent and hard-working midfielder.
In the youth he had always been center forward, only later Troost started playing in midfield. In that position I also made my debut in the first team. In the end, the man who never gave up would end up on the defense, as a right back and also central. Many people will remember Troost mainly as a right back. This especially since he achieved the most successes in that position.
Partly due to a collarbone fracture in 1979 in a practice game against the club with the ambitious and original name: SHO (Steeds Hooger Oud-Beijerland), he really broke through again in the '81 / '82 season. At the beginning of this season he was informed that he could better look for a new club, but Sjaak fought back into the selection.
Troost appeared in 29 games in 1983 when the Rotterdam club won the league after waiting ten years in vain for the national title. Sjaak scored once this season in a 4-0 win against Fortuna Sittard. The season became completely successful when the Dutch Cup was also directed to Rotterdam-South, at the expense of Fortuna from Sittard again. Peter Houtman was the man celebrated by producing the only goal of the match.
Troost was not a sweetheart in the field, but sometimes had a hard time himself, as evidenced by the following incident: Linesman Menzel concluded in 1998 that VVV'er Danny Hoekman had hit his direct opponent Sjaak Troost in the face. The referee was Van Swieten. The traces of the blow were on the Feyenoord's face: a thick lip and a crack next to his nose.
According to Sjaak Troost Hoekman had given him a headbutt in the second half. Troost said about this: “We were constantly bickering with each other. At one point Hoekman said: Let's stop now. When I wanted to shake his hand, he gave me a headbutt. ”In 1990 Troost also came out battered. Now Troost suffered a complicated leg fracture in a practice match. Because of this, he was unable to play for many months.
Troost also played four times for the Dutch national team and was part of the selection that won the European Football Championship in 1988. He made his debut on September 9, 1987 in a friendly match with Belgium. This ended in a bloodless 0-0 and Troost completed the full ninety minutes.
What should have been his highlight turned out to be a minor disappointment. The 1988 European Championship in Germany was won by Orange, Sjaak Troost was there, but never played for a minute. This while he had done well in the preparation. After he had knocked out Gary Lineker (2-2 against England) and captured the number '3', there seemed to be no problem. But then there was a Frank Rijkaard who played Troost from the base. Certainly not unjustified, but sour for the Feyenoord defender.
Sjaak Troost eventually appeared in no fewer than 397 official matches for Feyenoord. He finally retired from football in June 1992 at the age of nearly 33. He later became the club's commercial director. In January 2018, he became a member of the supervisory board at Feyenoord, where he took over from Rob Sloterboom. The former defender also has a business in sales and consultancy; Sjaak Troost & Partners and he is director of the Dirk Kuyt Foundation.
(Photo: Wikipedia)