Johannes Gerrit "Johan" Derksen (born 31 January 1949) is a Dutch sports journalist and former football player.
He played professional football between 1966 and 1978 for six clubs: Go Ahead Eagles, Cambuur, Veendam, HFC Haarlem, SV Meppen and MVV Maastricht.
When he was a teenager, his family moved to Drenthe, where he later played for amateur football clubs Nieuw-Buinen and Rolder Boys.
Derksen then moved to Deventer to join the youth academy of professional football club Go Ahead Eagles.
Derksen was one of the six players in the club's boarding school, together with Oeki Hoekema, André van der Leij, Ger Veerman, Herman Tieselink and Tiny Broers.
[4] He made his debut on 1 August 1968 in a friendly against PEC Zwolle,[5] and quickly developed into a reliable defender notorious for his rough playing style.
[6] In a game against Vitesse, he injured his knee and was forced to decline an invitation from the Dutch military football team.
[16] Derksen immediately made an impression; he formed the link Haarlem's defence had missed, and his contract was extended by a year.
Derksen, who lived in Emmen, wanted to play for a more local club; Meppen is situated across the German-Dutch border, while Haarlem is located in western Netherlands.
He was signed to replace John Webb, who departed for the United States to serve out his outstanding contract with Chicago Sting.
"[24] In an article published in Voetbal International, Derksen asked "what the world had come to when creative players in the Eerste Divisie cannot freely practice their job", after which he was widely criticised.[why?]
Derksen started writing in the regional daily Dagblad De Noord-Ooster, later becoming an editor for the Winschoter Courant and Nieuwsblad van het Noorden.
He confessed to have written for VI before as a side job, using the pseudonyms "Gerrit Westers" and "Freek Zoontjes", without his employer's permission.
[28][29] Johan Derksen claimed in VI that Cambuur had paid a large sum of money to keep Oeki Hoekema from being suspended.
According to Derksen, Vlaardingen player Herman den Haag had received a few banknotes from a Cambuur official whilst on the toilet.
De Volkskrant called KNVB official Van Zon, who stated he had laughed very hard when he heard the claims: "Money handed out on the toilet?
He would lead the club together with manager Jan Korte and quit his job as editor-in-chief of Voetbal International immediately, where he had worked for almost 25 years.
[32] In his role as panelist in various television programmes, Derksen has been occasionally criticized for his jokes and remarks against women, ethnic minorities and the gay community.
[42] Dutch prosecutors did open inquiry "aimed at establishing the truth of possible criminal behaviour that was discussed in that programme.”[43] Derksen himself refused to make apologies for the incident claiming "it happened in the zeitgeist of then.
"[44] On 27 April, he did retract the sexual assault story, claiming he had not penetrated the woman but had put a candle between her legs.
As an adolescent, he met singer Harry Muskee of the Dutch blues band Cuby & the Blizzards, who became his idol.
He jokingly referred to himself as a "notorious whore-hopper", since he accompanied American soul artists to the red-light district De Wallen in Amsterdam almost weekly.
[53] From 2014 until May 2022 Derksen was an unpaid employee of the theater agency AT Next, during concert tours of ensembles of blues artists he acted as ringmaster.
Original Dutch:Eerste divisieclub Veendam heeft Johan Derksen getransfereerd naar FC VVV in Venlo.
In verband met zijn zeer grote straflijst had Veendam Johan Derksen, die ook voor SC Cambuur heeft gespeeld, op de tweede transferlijst geplaatst.
15.000 for Derksen to the club of manager Cor van der Gijp.Original Dutch:De even verrassende, als noodzakelijke overwinning, die Haarlem behaalde tegen FC Twente, mag voor een belangrijk deel worden toegeschreven aan het aansprekende debuut van Johan Derksen.
He showed his value especially after the break.Original Dutch:Thomas Haan greep de gelegenheid aan tot centrale man uit te groeien.
Elke actie van Cambuur liep via hem, zo ook na een klein half uur spelen.