Eddy Pieters Graafland

Eduard Laurens "Eddy" Pieters Graafland (5 January 1934 – 28 April 2020) was a Dutch professional football player and coach. As a player, he was the goalkeeper of Ajax, Feyenoord and the Netherlands. In 1970, his last season as a professional, he won the Europa Cup with Feijenoord. In total, he was capped for the national team 47 times.

Eddy Pieters Graafland
Pieters Graafland in 1970
Personal information
Full name Eduard Laurens Pieters Graafland
Date of birth (1934-01-05)5 January 1934
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Date of death 28 April 2020(2020-04-28) (aged 86)
Place of death Barendrecht, Netherlands
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1948–1952 Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1952–1958 Ajax 154 (0)
1958–1970 Feijenoord 356 (0)
National team
1957–1967 Netherlands 47 (0)
Teams managed
1979–1981 Feyenoord (youth coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

His nickname was, after his abbreviated surname, Eddy PG. He was a renowned penalty stopper, and kept a notebook with potential penalty takers' favorite side.[1][2]

Career

At the age of eleven he became a member of Ajax. Twelve was the minimum age, but his father was a board member, which gave him priority.[3] At the age of seventeen, in 1951, he made his debut in Ajax's first team. In the mid-1950s, Pieters Graafland fulfilled his military service in Arnhem. From that moment on he practiced for a year with the first team of Vitesse. After his military service he returned to Amsterdam. On 28 April 1957, Pieters Graafland made his international debut for the Netherlands against Belgium (1–1).

In 1958, Pieters Graafland left for Feijenoord for the, at that time, record sum of 134,000 guilders. He experienced his greatest success in 1970; his final year as a player. That season, he was initially benched by Feijenoord coach Ernst Happel as first goalkeeper and replaced by Eddy Treijtel. Happel made him the starter for the Europa Cup final against Celtic. Initially, Pieters Graafland did not want to play this match: "You haven't seen me all season. I'm not doing it," was his initial reaction, allegedly.[4] He changed his decision decision later and partly thanks to his goalkeeping work, Feyenoord won the final 2–1. It was his last official game in professional football.

Outside football

After his playing career he started a trade in promotional and business gifts. Pieters Graafland's hobby was making amateur film images. Parts of the films he made during his sporting career were regularly broadcast in various sports programs on television. He shot the images of Jan Janssen's Tour de France victory in 1968. In 1999, he was voted the third Dutch goalkeeper, after Hans van Breukelen and Edwin van der Sar, in the election of European goalkeeper of the twentieth century organized by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).[5]

Pieters Graafland was a knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau. In 2017, he and his wife Teddy celebrated their diamond wedding.[6]

Death

He died on 28 April 2020, at the age of 86.[2]

Honours

Ajax

Feyenoord

References
  1. "Naast het doel van Eddy PG". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 29 April 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. "Pieters Graafland, onverschrokken penaltykiller in zelfgebreide grijze trui". NOS (in Dutch). 29 April 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  3. "Eddy Pieters Graafland (1934-2020)" (in Dutch). Kent U Deze Nog?. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  4. Visser, Wout (25 May 2008). "Eddy Pieters Graafland moest Feyenoord laten stikken". sportgeschiedenis.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2020. De volgende dag vroeg Happel of EPG de finale tegen Celtic wilde keepen. Het antwoord, helemaal volgens de moraal van deze generatie: "Je hebt me het hele seizoen niet zien staan. Ik doe het niet".
  5. "IFFHS' Century Elections". rsssf.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  6. van der Maten, Jeffrey (19 May 2017). "Echtpaar Pieters Graafland - Driessen 60 jaar getrouwd". Het Zuiden (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
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