John Yzendoorn

John Yzendoorn
Personal information
Full name	John Yzendoorn
Date of birth	17 September 1955 (age 69)
Place of birth	Leeds, England
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team
1972–1974	Preston North End
1976	Morecambe
1978	Prahran Slavia
1979–1982	Heidelberg United
1983–1985	South Melbourne
1986–1988	Brunswick Juventus
1989	Sandringham City
1993	Croydon City
International career‡
1980–1981	Australia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:00, 20 August 2010 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:06, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

John Yzendoorn (born 17 September 1955) is a former professional soccer player who played for Heidelberg United, South Melbourne and Brunswick Juventus in the National Soccer League. Born in England, he represented Australia at international level.

Club career

He started his career in his native England with Preston North End but was released in 1974 without making a first-team appearance.^[2] He then moved into non-league football and played for nearby Morecambe.^[3] Yzendoorn later moved to Australia and was signed by Heidelberg United in 1979, playing four seasons with the Melbourne-based club in the National Soccer League. He joined fierce rivals South Melbourne in 1983, and helped them to their first national championship in 1984. After three years with South Melbourne, he moved to Brunswick Juventus in 1986, where he spent the final three seasons of his national domestic career.

In 2009, he became one of the initial inductees into the South Melbourne Hall of Fame.^[4]

International career

Yzendoorn made his international debut at the age of 23, when he was selected by Rudi Gutendorf to play in a two-match series against Partizan Belgrade in 1979, where he came on as a substitute in both matches. His first 'A' international cap came against Czechoslovakia in 1980, where he again appeared off the bench in the Socceroos 2–2 draw at Olympic Park in Melbourne. He scored his first and only international goal in another 2–2 draw against Mexico in Sydney later that year.

He became an Australian citizen in 1981 in order to play in Australia's 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.^[5]

In all, Yzendoorn would play 13 'A' international matches for his country, his career ending during Australia's ill-fated 1982 World Cup qualifying campaign, where he was a key member of the squad which lost at home to New Zealand.

Honours

With Heidelberg United:

NSL Championship: 1980 (Runners-Up)
NSL Cup: 1980, 1982 (Runners-Up)

With South Melbourne:

NSL Championship: 1984

With Brunswick Juventus:

NSL Cup: 1988 (Runners-Up)

References

^ Rothmans Football Yearbook 1974–1975, p380, Queen Ann Press Limited – confirmation of birthplace
^ Rothmans Football Yearbook 1974–1975 (published 1974), p380, Queen Ann Press Limited
^ Lancaster City v Morecambe programme, 11 October 1976
^ "South Melbourne FC celebrate 50 years". Football Federation Victoria. 20 November 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
^ "Players given citizenship". The Canberra Times. Vol. 55, no. 16, 618. Australian Capital Territory. 27 March 1981. p. 21. Retrieved 8 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.

External links

[1] Rothmans Football Yearbook 1974–1975, p380, Queen Ann Press Limited – confirmation of birthplace

[2] Rothmans Football Yearbook 1974–1975 (published 1974), p380, Queen Ann Press Limited

[3] Lancaster City v Morecambe programme, 11 October 1976

[4] "South Melbourne FC celebrate 50 years". Football Federation Victoria. 20 November 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2010.

[5] "Players given citizenship". The Canberra Times. Vol. 55, no. 16, 618. Australian Capital Territory. 27 March 1981. p. 21. Retrieved 8 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.

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