Leo Canjels

Leonard Canjels (1 April 1933 – 26 May 2010) was a Dutch international footballer who played for NAC Breda.

Leo Canjels

Canjels in 1973
Personal information
Full name	Leonard Canjels
Date of birth	(1933-04-01)1 April 1933
Place of birth	Breda, Netherlands
Date of death	26 May 2010(2010-05-26) (aged 77)
Place of death	Breda, Netherlands
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1955–1956	Baronie
1956–1963	NAC	149	(114)
International career
1959	Netherlands	3	(2)
Managerial career
1968–1971	NAC
1971–1973	Club Brugge
1973–1975	MVV
1975–1977	Patro Eisden
1977–1979	Beringen
1979–1982	Cercle Brugge
1982–1985	KV Mechelen
1985–1987	Eendracht Aalst
1987–1989	Patro Eisden
1989–1990	FC Boom
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Club

Canjels started playing football at Breda side VV Baronie. He made his debut for NAC in the 1956/1957 season and played seven years for the club before retiring. As a NAC Breda player, Canjels twice won the Eredivisie top goalscorers award, in 1958 and 1959.^[1]

Canjels was nicknamed Het Kanon (the Gun) because of his powerful shooting.^[2]

International

Canjels made his debut for the Netherlands in a May 1959 friendly match against Turkey and earned a total of 3 caps, scoring 2 goals. He won his other caps in friendlies against Bulgaria and Scotland in the same year.^[3]

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Canjels became a coach, first at amateur sides Dongen and Baronie and later managed NAC Breda, as well as Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge among others in Belgium.^[4] With Brugge he won the Belgian league title in 1973.^[5]

He retired from coaching in 1990.

He died on 26 May 2010^[6] after a long illness.