Koen van de Laak

In this Dutch name, the surname is van de Laak, not Laak.

Koen van de Laak (born 3 September 1982) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He played for Den Bosch, Groningen and Ajax Cape Town in South Africa.

Koen van de Laak

van de Laak with Groningen
Personal information
Full name	Koen Marinus Adrianus van de Laak
Date of birth	(1982-09-03) 3 September 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth	Vught, Netherlands
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1988–1994	Zwaluw VFC
1994–2000	Den Bosch
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2005	Den Bosch	142	(46)
2005–2012	Groningen	139	(24)
2012–2014	Ajax Cape Town	19	(0)
Total		290	(70)
International career
2000–2004	Netherlands U21	8	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Den Bosch

Born in Vught, Koen van de Laak started to play for a local club named Zwaluw VFC in 1988 when he was six years old. He moved to FC Den Bosch in 1994. After spending six years in the youth team, he made his debut in the first squad of Den Bosch on 4 November 2000. In this game he scored two times against Helmond Sport. That year his team promoted to the Eredivisie.

Groningen

After playing some good seasons at Den Bosch and being top scorer several times, he opted to move to another team. He had several clubs to choose from but Groningen signed him for four years. In the first year playing for Groningen they ended up fifth in the league and managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup for the 2006–07 season. He quickly adjusted at Groningen, soon becoming a very important player and a fan favourite under the tenure of Ron Jans.

In the 2009–10 season, he became the captain of the team. Groningen managed to qualify twice for the Europe League which was unique in the history of Groningen. In December 2010, he picked up a knee injury in a match against Vitesse which kept him off the pitch till January 2012; despite that, his club agreed to extend his contract by one more year (from June 2011 to June 2012).

On 29 March 2012, it was revealed Van de Laak would leave Groningen at the end of the season, once his contract expired.^[1]

Ajax Cape Town

On 15 June 2012, Van de Laak signed with Ajax Cape Town from South Africa, playing in the Premier Soccer League for two seasons before parting ways with the Cape club.^[2]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Other		Total		Ref.
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Den Bosch	2000–01	Eerste Divisie	20	7							20	7	[3]
	2001–02	Eredivisie	28	0							28	0	[3]
	2002–03	Eerste Divisie	29	17							29	17	[3]
	2003–04		34	16							34	16	[3]
	2004–05	Eredivisie	31	6							31	6	[3]
	Total		142	46							142	46	–
Groningen	2005–06	Eredivisie	24	3					3	0	27	3	[3]
	2006–07		25	7			2	1	3	0	30	8	[3]
	2007–08		18	2	1	0	2	0			21	2	[3]
	2008–09		26	5	2	0			3	0	31	5	[3]
	2009–10		26	5	2	0			2	0	30	5	[3]
	2010–11		16	2	2	1					18	3	[3]
	2011–12		4	0							4	0	[3]
	Total		139	24	7	1	4	1	11	0	161	26	–
Ajax Cape Town	2012–13	Premier Soccer League	13	0							13	0	[4]
	2013–14		6	0	0	0					6	0	[4]
	Total		19	0							19	0	–
Career total			290	70	7	1	4	1	11	0	312	72	–

Honours

Den Bosch

• Eerste Divisie: 2000–01, 2003–04^[5][6]