The 2024–25 season was Willem II's 129th season in existence and marked a return to the Eredivisie after relegation to the Eerste Divisie following the 2023–24. They also competed in the KNVB Cup.
Season summary Pre-season The 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. Goalkeeper 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.
Season run-in Following the Winter break, Willem II went on a deep slide, earning just 2 points in the first 12 matches of 2025. This led first to the departure of Technical Director Tom Caluwé, who left Willem II April 18 to return to his former club KV Mechelen in Belgium. Less than two weeks later, on April 30, head trainer Peter Maes and the team agreed to part ways following an eighth consecutive loss. Assistant trainer Kristof Aelbrecht was named the interim head trainer, and former player, Freek Heerkens, was appointed acting Technical Director.
Players First-team squad
Transfers In DatePositionNo.PlayerFrom clubNotesRef. 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 DatePositionNo.PlayerTo clubNotesRef. 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
Competitions Overall record
Eredivisie
League table
Results summary
Results by round
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.
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.PlayerPos.EredivisieKNVB CupTotal1 GK 22 2 22 2 4 MF 14 2 14 2 5 DF 26 1 5 1 27 1 6 6 DF 22 2 5 2 1 24 2 6 7 FW 23 2 25 2 8 MF 29 5 6 1 30 5 6 9 FW 23 4 2 1 1 2 24 6 2 110 MF 11 FW 19 1 1 2 21 1 1 14 FW 26 4 1 1 1 27 4 2 15 DF 4 2 6 16 MF 29 4 2 2 31 4 2 17 DF 16 1 2 18 1 18 FW 27 2 6 1 2 1 1 29 3 7 119 MF 10 1 1 1 20 DF 3 1 1 4 1 21 FW 20 1 3 1 21 1 4 21 GK 22 DF 17 1 1 18 1 24 GK 2 1 2 1 25 DF 23 1 4 1 1 24 1 5 27 MF 30 DF 29 1 5 2 1 1 31 2 6 33 DF 29 3 2 31 3 34 MF 20 3 1 1 21 4 35 FW 1 1 2 41 GK 44 DF 48 DF 4 2 4 2 77 MF 6 6 Own goals 4 4Totals2655 24703062 2
Scoring RankNo.PlayerPosEredivisieKNVB CupTotalGoalsAssistsGoalsAssistsGoalsAssists19 FW 4 2 2 6 2216 MF 4 2 1 4 338 MF 5 5 14 FW 4 2 4 2418 FW 2 1 1 3 1530 DF 1 1 1 2 166 MF 2 2 11 FW 1 2 1 217 DF 1 1 1 1 225 DF 1 2 1 275 DF 1 1 1 17 FW 3 3821 FW 1 1 977 MF 1 1104 MF 10 MF 15 DF 20 DF 22 DF 27 MF 33 DF 34 MF 35 FW 44 DF 48 DF 1 GK 21 GK 24 GK 41 GK Totals2618433021
Disciplinary record RankNo.PlayerPosEredivisieKNVB CupTotal 118 FW 6 1 1 7 1 28 MF 6 6 30 DF 5 1 6 6 MF 5 1 6 35 DF 5 5 25 DF 4 1 5 434 MF 3 1 4 59 FW 2 1 2 121 FW 3 3 33 DF 3 3 61 GK 2 2 4 MF 2 2 14 MF 1 1 2 16 MF 2 2 48 DF 2 2 711 FW 1 1 19 FW 1 1 20 DF 1 1 22 DF 1 1 24 GK 1 1 87 FW 10 MF 15 DF 17 DF 27 MF 35 FW 44 DF 21 GK 41 GK Totals55117006211
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. GoalkeepersClean sheetsRankNo.PlayerAppsGoals concededEredivisieKNVB CupTotal 1 1 Thomas Didillon-Hödl 30 47 5 0 5 2 24 2 4 0 0 0 3 21 Joshua Smits 0 0 0 0 0 41 Maarten Schut 0 0 0 0 0Totals3251 5 0 5
Awards Eredivisie Player of the Month Awarded based on Opta statistics and votes from football fans. MonthPlayerRef.October
References
External links
Willem II on Twitter Willem II on Instagram