Theo Laseroms - Misplaced Pages

Dutch footballer and manager

Theo Laseroms
Personal information
Laseroms in 1965
Full name	Matheus Wilhelmus Theodorus Laseroms
Date of birth	(1940-03-08)8 March 1940
Place of birth	Roosendaal, Netherlands
Date of death	25 April 1991(1991-04-25) (aged 51)
Place of death	Zwolle, Netherlands
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1952–1957	RBC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1957–1958	RBC
1958–1963	NAC	129	(28)
1963–1967	Sparta	104	(11)
1967	Pittsburgh Phantoms	13	(3)
1968–1972	Feijenoord	123	(4)
1972–1974	Gent	56	(2)
International career
1965–1970	Netherlands	6	(1)
Managerial career
1974–1975	Ieper
1975–1979	Vlaardingen '74
1979–1981	Heracles Almelo
1982–1984	West Riffa
1985–1986	Bahrain
1986–1987	Al-Nahda Club
1987–1988	Helmond Sport
1988–1989	PEC Zwolle
1989–1990	Trabzonspor
1990–1991	Çengelköyspor
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Matheus Wilhelmus Theodorus "Theo" Laseroms (8 March 1940 – 25 April 1991) was a Dutch football defender who made a name for himself when he played for Feijenoord. He gained six caps for the Netherlands national team.

Club career

Laseroms, nicknamed De Tank or Theo de Tank, was famous for his sliding tackle. His career had started in 1956 at RBC, followed in 1958 by NAC. In 1963, he switched to Sparta, with whom he won the KNVB Cup in 1966. In 1967, Laseroms signed with the Pittsburgh Phantoms of the newly created National Professional Soccer League while still under contract with Sparta Rotterdam. Sparta sued Pittsburgh in both the United States and the Netherlands and received $50,000 from the Phantoms.

In 1968 he moved to Feijenoord where he would form the defensive core alongside Rinus Israël. He played four seasons for Feijenoord through late sixties and early seventies. Laseroms was part of the team that won the European Cup in 1970 after a 2–1 final win over Celtic and in that same year the Intercontinental Cup against Argentinian club Estudiantes de La Plata. He also became champion twice with Feijenoord, in the seasons 1968–69 and 1970–71. In the seasons 1969–70 and 1971–72, Laseroms finished in second place with Feyenoord. The KNVB Cup was won in the 1968–69 season. He was part of the legendary team that included Eddy Pieters Graafland, Eddy Treijtel, Piet Romeijn, Rinus Israël, Theo van Duivenbode, Franz Hasil, Wim Jansen, Willem van Hanegem, Henk Wery, Ove Kindvall and Coen Moulijn.

After leaving the club in 1972, he played for the Belgian club Gent for two more years.

International career

In 1965 he made his first international appearance for the Netherlands against Northern Ireland.

Managerial career

Laseroms did an internship at Ajax in Amsterdam in the 1975–76 season before obtaining his training diploma; a team then consisting of players such as Frank Arnesen, Søren Lerby, Tscheu La Ling and Ruud Geels and was coached by Rinus Michels in his second period. Laseroms then started a less successful coaching career with Heracles, Helmond Sport, Vlaardingen '74, Trabzonspor and clubs from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, among others.