# 2024–25 Willem II season

The 2024–25 season is Willem II's 129th season in existence and marks a return to the Eredivisie after relegation to the Eerste Divisie following the 2023–24. They will also compete in the KNVB Cup.

## Season summary
### Pre-season

Off-Season personnel changes began shortly before the 2023–24 season ended, with the appointment of Merijn Goris as the new general manager of the club, taking over for Martin van Geel who announced in February 2024 that he would be leaving the position on 1 July 2024.
On 14 May Tom Caluwé was announced as the new technical director of the club, replacing Van Geel who was acting in the role following the resignation of Teun Jacobs in September 2023. Shortly after the Caluwé appointment, the team took care of its first offseason priority by signing Peter Maes, the trainer who led the team back into the Eredivisie, to a new contract that runs through the summer of 2026. The team further addressed to its technical staff by hiring Kristof Aelbrecht as assistant-trainer and Stefan Winters as performance coach. Aelbrecht replacing Peter van den Berg, who departed to become the head trainer of the Netherlands Under-17 national team, and Winters replacing departing performance coach, Nils Thörner. Golkeeper coach, Peter den Otter remained with the club, extending his contract by two years. The technical staff changes were completed with the hiring of Hessel Verhoven as video analyst for the club, replacing Rick Mennes who departed the club after seven years for a similar position with Feyenoord.
On the player side of the club, the departure of four players: Max Svensson, Matthias Verreth, Freek Heerkens, and Michael de Leeuw was announced, with Heerkens retiring and the other three moving on to new clubs. In late June, the club signed their first new player to the squad, acquiring Thomas Didillon-Hödl to a two-year contract. Four more players (Mickaël Tırpan, Cisse Sandra, Emilio Kehrer, and Kyan Vaesen) were later added from other Belgian clubs.

### Start of season

Willem II kicked off the season on 10 August 2024 with a 1-1 draw against 2023-24 KNVB Cup winners Feyenoord at De Kuip, followed by the first win of their return to the Eredivisie, 2-0 at home over Go Ahead Eagles.
As the primary transfer window was running down, the club added a few more desired pieces in preparation for the Eredivisie competition: attacking midfielder Amar Fatah and defenders Boris Lambert and Miodrag Pivaš. They closed out the period by sending midfielder Max de Waal to VVV Venlo on loan.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 9 February 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | FRA | Thomas Didillon-Hödl |
| 24 | GK | NED | Connor van den Berg |
| 41 | GK | NED | Maarten Schut |
| 4 | DF | NED | Erik Schouten (2nd captain) |
| 5 | DF | ISL | Rúnar Þór Sigurgeirsson |
| 6 | DF | BEL | Boris Lambert |
| 15 | DF | SRB | Miodrag Pivaš (On loan from Newcastle) |
| 22 | DF | NED | Rob Nizet |
| 25 | DF | BEL | Mickaël Tırpan |
| 30 | DF | AUT | Raffael Behounek |
| 33 | DF | NED | Tommy St. Jago |
| 44 | DF | NED | Niels van Berkel |
| 48 | DF | NED | Jens Mathijsen |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 8 | MF | NED | Jesse Bosch (Captain) |
| 14 | MF | BEL | Cisse Sandra (On loan from Club Brugge) |
| 16 | MF | NED | Ringo Meerveld |
| 27 | MF | NED | Dani Mathieu |
| 34 | MF | NED | Amine Lachkar |
| 77 | MF | TUR | Dennis Kaygin |
| 7 | FW | NED | Nick Doodeman |
| 9 | FW | BEL | Kyan Vaesen (On loan from Westerlo) |
| 11 | FW | GER | Emilio Kehrer |
| 17 | FW | NED | Patrick Joosten |
| 18 | FW | COD | Jeremy Bokila |
| 19 | FW | BEL | Youssuf Sylla |
| 21 | FW | SWE | Amar Fatah (On loan from Troyes) |
| 35 | FW | NED | Khaled Razak |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | No. | Player | From club | Notes |
| 26 June 2024 | GK | 1 | Thomas Didillon-Hödl | Cercle Brugge | Free Transfer |
| 26 June 2024 | DF | 25 | Mickaël Tırpan | Lierse | Free Transfer |
| 4 July 2024 | MF | 8 | Cisse Sandra | Club Brugge | Loan |
| 5 July 2024 | FW | 11 | Emilio Kehrer | Cercle Brugge | Free Transfer |
| 25 July 2024 | FW | 9 | Kyan Vaesen | Westerlo | Loan |
| 20 August 2024 | DF | 48 | Jens Mathijsen | Willem II U18 | Free Transfer |
| 26 August 2024 | MF | 21 | Amar Fatah | ES Troyes AC | Loan |
| 29 August 2024 | MF | 6 | Boris Lambert | K.A.S. Eupen | Free Transfer |
| 2 September 2024 | DF | 15 | Miodrag Pivaš | Newcastle United F.C. | Loan |
| 4 January 2025 | FW | 19 | Youssuf Sylla | Royal Charleroi S.C. | Loan |
| 16 January 2024 | MF | 15 | Dennis Kaygin | SK Rapid Wien | Loan |

### Out

| Date | Position | No. | Player | To club | Notes |
| 31 May 2024 | FW | 11 | Max Svensson | Kalmar FF | Free Transfer |
| 31 May 2024 | MF | 6 | Matthias Verreth | Brescia | Free Transfer |
| 31 May 2024 | FW | 3 | Freek Heerkens | N/A | Retired |
| 31 May 2024 | FW | 23 | Michael de Leeuw | SC Cambuur | Free Transfer |
| 1 July 2024 | FW | 23 | Thijs Oosting | FC Groningen | Transfer |
| 2 July 2024 | FW | 23 | Jeredy Hilterman | Arminia Bielefeld | Loan ended |
| 20 August 2024 | GK | 21 | Joshua Smits | De Graafschap | Transfer |
| 2 September 2024 | MF | 10 | Max de Waal | VVV-Venlo | Loan |
| 7 December 2024 | DF | 20 | Valentino Vermeulen | No club yet | Contract terminated |
| 4 February 2025 | FW | 35 | Khaled Razak | Roda JC | Loan |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Void  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Eredivisie | 10 August 2024 | 18 May 2025 | Matchday 1 | 0 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 25 | 31 | −6 | 027.27 |
| KNVB Cup | 30 Oct 2024 | 19 Dec 2024 | First round | Second round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | +0 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 029.17 |
Last updated: 9 February 2025 Source: Soccerway

### Eredivisie
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 12 | NEC | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 25 | |
| 13 | PEC Zwolle | 23 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 25 | |
| 14 | Willem II | 23 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 34 | −8 | 24 | |
| 15 | Heracles Almelo | 23 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 28 | 43 | −15 | 24 | |
| 16 | Sparta Rotterdam | 23 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 33 | −14 | 20 | Qualification for the Relegation play-off |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 9 February 2025. Source: Eredivisie

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A |
| Result | D | W | D | L | W | L | L | W | D | L | L | W | D | L | L | W | W | L | D | L | L | D | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Position | 9 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

#### Matches

The initial slate of league fixtures were unveiled on 19 June 2024. Matches through matchday 21 as well as the final two matchdays are definitively scheduled (though some dates have been rescheduled from the initial release), while the remaining matches are tentatively scheduled and will be given exact dates and times later in the season.
{{Football box collapsible |round = 6 |date = 21 September 2024 |time = 16:30 CEST (UTC+2) |team1 = FC Utrecht |team2 = Willem II |goals1 =
* Behounek 11' (own)
* Ohio 37' (penalty)
* El Karouani 45+2'
* Sigurgeirsson 53' (own)
* [[Paxten Aaronson[|Aaronson]] 90+3'
|goals2 =
* Sandra 29', 43'
* Maes 42' 42'
* Bosch 45+2'
* Meerveld 87'
* Fatah 90+5'
|score = 3-2 |report = https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/09/21/netherlands/eredivisie/stichting-fc-utrecht/sbv-willem-ii-tilburg/4367982/ |stadium = Stadion Galgenwaard |location = Utrecht |attendance = 20,861 |referee = Joey Kooij |result = L }}

### KNVB Cup
## Statistics
### Overall

Appearances numbers are for appearances in competitive games only, including sub appearances. Red card numbers denote: numbers in parentheses represent red cards overturned for wrongful dismissal. Source for all stats:
| No. | Player | Pos. | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup | Total | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | Thomas Didillon-Hödl | GK | 22 | | 2 | | | | | | 22 | | 2 | |
| 4 | Erik Schouten | MF | 6 | | 1 | | | | | | 6 | | 1 | |
| 5 | Rúnar Sigurgeirsson | DF | 20 | | 4 | | 1 | | | | 21 | | 5 | |
| 6 | Boris Lambert | DF | 19 | 1 | 4 | | 2 | | 1 | | 21 | 1 | 5 | |
| 7 | Nick Doodeman | FW | 17 | | | | 2 | | | | 19 | | 2 | |
| 8 | Jesse Bosch | MF | 21 | 3 | 5 | | 1 | | | | 22 | 3 | 6 | |
| 9 | Kyan Vaesen | FW | 17 | 4 | 2 | | 1 | 2 | | | 18 | 6 | 2 | |
| 10 | Max de Waal | MF | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Emilio Kehrer | FW | 13 | | | | 2 | | | | 13 | | | |
| 14 | Cisse Sandra | FW | 20 | 4 | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | 21 | 4 | 2 | |
| 15 | Miodrag Pivaš | DF | 2 | | | | 2 | | | | 4 | | | |
| 16 | Ringo Meerveld | MF | 22 | 4 | 1 | | 2 | | | | 24 | 4 | 1 | |
| 17 | Patrick Joosten | DF | 12 | | | | 2 | | | | 14 | | | |
| 18 | Jeremy Bokila | FW | 20 | 2 | 5 | | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 22 | 3 | 6 | |
| 20 | Valentino Vermeulen | DF | 3 | | 1 | | 1 | | | | 4 | | 1 | |
| 21 | Amar Fatah | FW | 14 | 1 | 3 | | 1 | | | | 15 | 1 | 4 | |
| 21 | Joshua Smits | GK | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 22 | Rob Nizet | DF | 12 | | 1 | | 1 | | | | 13 | | 1 | |
| 24 | Connor van den Berg | GK | | | | | 2 | | 1 | | 2 | | 1 | |
| 25 | Mickaël Tırpan | DF | 19 | 1 | 3 | | 1 | | 1 | | 20 | 1 | 4 | |
| 27 | Dani Mathieu | MF | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 30 | Raffael Behounek | DF | 22 | 1 | 4 | | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 24 | 1 | 5 | |
| 33 | Tommy St. Jago | DF | 22 | | 3 | | 2 | | | | 24 | | 4 | |
| 34 | Amine Lachkar | MF | 16 | | 3 | | 1 | | 1 | | 17 | | 4 | |
| 35 | Khaled Razak | FW | 1 | | | | 1 | | | | 2 | | | |
| 41 | Maarten Schut | GK | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 44 | Niels van Berkel | DF | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 48 | Jens Mathijsen | DF | 3 | | 1 | | | | | | 3 | | 1 | |
| 77 | Dennis Kaygin | MF | 2 | | | | | | | | 2 | | | |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 4 | | | | | | | | 4 | | |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 22 | 44 | 0 | | 4 | 7 | 0 | | 26 | 51 | 0 |

### Scoring

| Rank | No. | Player | Pos | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup | Total | Total |
| Rank | No. | Player | Pos | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists |
| 1 | 9 | Kyan Vaesen | FW | 4 | 2 | 2 | | 6 | 2 |
| 2 | 16 | Ringo Meerveld | MF | 4 | 2 | | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | 14 | Cisse Sandra | FW | 4 | 1 | | | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | 18 | Jeremy Bokila | FW | 2 | | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | 8 | Jesse Bosch | MF | 3 | | | | 3 | |
| 6 | 30 | Raffael Behounek | DF | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | 25 | Mickaël Tırpan | DF | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 7 | Nick Doodeman | FW | | 3 | | | | 3 |
| 6 | 6 | Boris Lambert | MF | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| 6 | 21 | Amar Fatah | FW | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| 6 | 17 | Patrick Joosten | DF | | 1 | | 1 | | 2 |
| 7 | 5 | Rúnar Sigurgeirsson | DF | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| 7 | 11 | Emilio Kehrer | FW | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| 7 | 77 | Dennis Kaygin | MF | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| 8 | 4 | Erik Schouten | MF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 10 | Max de Waal | MF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 15 | Miodrag Pivaš | DF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 20 | Valentino Vermeulen | DF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 22 | Rob Nizet | DF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 27 | Dani Mathieu | MF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 33 | Tommy St. Jago | DF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 34 | Amine Lachkar | MF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 35 | Khaled Razak | FW | | | | | | |
| 8 | 44 | Niels van Berkel | DF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 48 | Jens Mathijsen | DF | | | | | | |
| 8 | 1 | Thomas Didillon-Hödl | GK | | | | | | |
| 8 | 21 | Joshua Smits | GK | | | | | | |
| 8 | 24 | Connor van den Berg | GK | | | | | | |
| 8 | 41 | Maarten Schut | GK | | | | | | |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 22 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 16 |

### Disciplinary record

| Rank | No. | Player | Pos | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | 18 | Jeremy Bokila | FW | 3 | 1 | | 1 | | | 4 | 1 | |
| 2 | 30 | Raffael Behounek | DF | 4 | | | 1 | | | 5 | | |
| 2 | 6 | Boris Lambert | MF | 4 | | | 1 | | | 5 | | |
| 2 | 8 | Jesse Bosch | MF | 5 | | | | | | 5 | | |
| 2 | 25 | Mickaël Tırpan | DF | 4 | | | 1 | | | 5 | | |
| 3 | 5 | Rúnar Sigurgeirsson | DF | 4 | | | | | | 4 | | |
| 3 | 34 | Amine Lachkar | MF | 3 | | | 1 | | | 4 | | |
| 4 | 21 | Amar Fatah | FW | 3 | | | | | | 3 | | |
| 4 | 33 | Tommy St. Jago | DF | 3 | | | | | | 3 | | |
| 4 | 1 | Thomas Didillon-Hödl | GK | 2 | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 4 | 14 | Cisse Sandra | MF | 1 | | | 1 | | | 2 | | |
| 4 | 9 | Kyan Vaesen | FW | 2 | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 5 | 4 | Erik Schouten | MF | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 5 | 16 | Ringo Meerveld | MF | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 5 | 20 | Valentino Vermeulen | DF | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 5 | 22 | Rob Nizet | DF | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 5 | 24 | Connor van den Berg | GK | | | | 1 | | | 1 | | |
| 5 | 48 | Jens Mathijsen | DF | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 6 | 7 | Nick Doodeman | FW | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 10 | Max de Waal | MF | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 11 | Emilio Kehrer | FW | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 15 | Miodrag Pivaš | DF | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 17 | Patrick Joosten | DF | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 27 | Dani Mathieu | MF | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 35 | Khaled Razak | FW | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 44 | Niels van Berkel | DF | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 21 | Joshua Smits | GK | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 41 | Maarten Schut | GK | | | | | | | | | |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 43 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 0 |

### Clean sheets

The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play.
| Goalkeepers | Goalkeepers | Goalkeepers | Goalkeepers | Goalkeepers | Clean sheets | Clean sheets | Clean sheets |
| Rank | No. | Player | Apps | Goals conceded | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | Total |
| 1 | 1 | Thomas Didillon-Hödl | 22 | 31 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | 24 | Connor van den Berg | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 21 | Joshua Smits | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 41 | Maarten Schut | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 24 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 5 |

## Awards
### Eredivisie Player of the Month

Awarded based on Opta statistics and votes from football fans.
| Month | Player | Ref. |
| October | Thomas Didillon-Hödl | |