Willem II (), also known as Willem II Tilburg, is a Dutch football club based in Tilburg, Netherlands, whose team plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football.
The club was founded on 12 August 1896 as Tilburgia.
On 12 January 1898, the club was renamed Willem II after Dutch king William II of the Netherlands, who, as Prince of Orange and commander of the Dutch army, had his military headquarters in Tilburg during the Belgian uprising of 1830, spent much time in the city after becoming king, and died there.
Notable former players for the club include Dutch internationals Jan van Roessel, Joris Mathijsen, Jaap Stam, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Overmars, Virgil Van Dijk and Finland's Sami Hyypiä.
The club's shirt consists of red-white-blue vertical stripes, inspired by the colours of the flag of the Netherlands.
Willem II plays its home matches in the Koning Willem II Stadion, also named after the King.
The stadium, opened on 31 May 1995, has a capacity of 14,700 spectators.
The average attendance in 2004–05 was 12,500 people.
The club has won the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie three times each.
History
Established on 12 August 1896 in Tilburg as Tilburgia, the club first played at the Gemeentelijk Sportpark Tilburg and in 1995 relocated to the Koning Willem II Stadion, the ground where they have played ever since.
Willem were champions of the Eredivisie in 1916, 1952 and 1955.
The Tricolores also won two KNVB Cups in 1944 and 1963 and were also crowned champs of the Eerste Divisie in 1958, 1965 and 2014.
With regard to European competition, Willem II first appeared in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup of 1963 where they lost to Manchester United in the first round by an aggregate score of 7–2.
In 1998–99, Willem once again competed in the Cup Winners' Cup and after beating Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia 6–0 in both legs, Willem then lost to Spanish side Real Betis in the second round, 4–1 on aggregate.
A second place in the Eredivisie of 1999 guaranteed the club a UEFA Champions League berth for the first time.
At the tournament's group stage, Willem only attained two points in their six group G matches and were thus eliminated.
After reaching the KNVB Cup final in 2005 where they lost 4–0 against PSV Eindhoven, Willem II again qualified again for the UEFA Cup, in which they lost to French side AS Monaco in the first round by 5–1 on aggregate.
At the end of the 2010–11 season, Willem II were relegated from the Eredivisie for the first time in 24 years.
In the 2011–12 season under new manager Jurgen Streppel Willem II was promoted back to the Eredivisie, but they went right back down the next season after finishing bottom of the table.
The club became champions of the Eerste Divisie in the subsequent season and were thus promoted back to the Eredivisie.
In early 2015, journalists at De Volkskrant revealed that Willem II had its matches fixed by an "Asian gambling syndicate", who had paid Willem's players a total sum of €100,000 to lose matches against Ajax and Feyenoord (in October and December 2009).
According to the journalists, midfielder Ibrahim Kargbo was the Asians' main contact within the club; Kargbo denies having accepted their money.
The Royal Dutch Football Association called the affair "the most concrete case of match fixing in the Netherlands" and took legal action as well as asking UEFA and FIFA to reevaluate previous matches.
In 2019, Willem II reached the KNVB Cup Final for the fourth time in their history.
They beat AZ Alkmaar in the semi-finals after a penalty shoot-out, but were defeated by in the final by AFC Ajax.
The fans of Willem II have close links with the fans of English championship club Bristol City.
Willem supporters have been known to travel to Bristol, with Bristol City fans heading the other way to Tilburg.
At Bristol City's game on 31 October 2009 against Sheffield Wednesday, some Willem II fans were seen in the 'Eastend' of the Ashton Gate Stadium, and songs were sung about Willem II by City fans.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Notable players
The players below had senior international cap(s) for their respective countries.
Players whose name is listed represented their countries while playing for Willem II.
;Albania
Lindon Selahi
;Armenia
Aras Özbiliz
Norair Aslanyan
;Austria
Andreas Lasnik
;Belgium
Geert De Vlieger
Moussa Dembélé
Christophe Grégoire
Chris Janssens
Tristan Peersman
;Bulgaria
Igor Tomašić
;Burkina Faso
Ousmane Sanou
;Curaçao
Kemy Agustien
Darryl Lachman
;Czech Republic
Tomáš Galásek
;Denmark
Lucas Andersen
;Finland
Juha Hakola
Sami Hyypiä
Joonas Kolkka
Jukka Koskinen
Veli Lampi
Niki Mäenpää
;Gambia
Jatto Ceesay
;Guinea
Mohamed Sylla
;Hungary
Csaba Fehér
Zsombor Kerekes
;Israel
Ben Sahar
;Kosovo
Arijanet Muric
Donis Avdijaj
;Luxembourg
Aurélien Joachim
;Morocco
Rochdi Achenteh
Youssef Mariana
Mourad Mghizrat
Adil Ramzi
Tarik Sektioui
;Netherlands
Kevin Bobson
Bud Brocken
Romano Denneboom
Nicky Hofs
Kew Jaliens
Bert Konterman
Michel Kreek
Kees Krijgh
Denny Landzaat
Joris Mathijsen
Oscar Moens
Marc Overmars
Martijn Reuser
Jaap Stam
Netherlands (continued)
Virgil van Dijk
Jean-Paul van Gastel
Ulrich van Gobbel
Frenkie de Jong
Toine van Mierlo
Jan van Roessel
Kenneth Vermeer
;Nigeria
Bartholomew Ogbeche
;Northern Ireland
James Quinn
;Peru
Renato Tapia
;Sierra Leone
Ibrahim Kargbo
;Slovakia
Adam Nemec
;Switzerland
Stephan Keller
;Sweden
Alexander Isak
Andreas Landgren
George Mourad
;Thailand
Geoffrey Prommayon
;Ukraine
Evgeniy Levchenko
;United States
Earnie Stewart
Domestic results
Below is a table with Willem II's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.
Coaches
Honours
National Football League Championship/Eredivisie
Winners (3):  1915–16, 1951–52, 1954–55
Runners-up (1):  1998–99
Eerste Divisie
Winners (3):  1956–57, 1964–65, 2013–14
Runners-up (1):  1986–87
KNVB Cup
Winners (2):  1943–44, 1962–63
Runners-up (2):  2004–05, 2018–19
See also
Dutch football league teams
References
External links
Willem II on Twitter
Willem II on Instagram
