Kieftenbeld began his football career with his hometown club, VV Lemelerveld, before joining Twente's youth system as a young teenager.

Twente let him leave for Eerste Divisie (second-tier) club Go Ahead Eagles in 2007, and a year later, he made his senior debut and signed his first professional contract.

[7] Kieftenbeld was spotted by scouts from Twente, but after four seasons in their youth system, the staff believed he was not up to the required standard,[9] so in 2007 he moved on to Deventer-based Eerste Divisie (second-tier) club Go Ahead Eagles.

[10] The following summer, he took part in the first-team's pre-season training camp in Germany,[11] and made his senior debut on the opening day of the 2008–09 Eerste Divisie, on 8 August 2008 away to VVV-Venlo.

[10] He scored his first senior goal on 24 April 2009 – the winner as Go Ahead Eagles beat Veendam 2–1[13] – and finished the season as a first-team regular with 30 league appearances.

[18] In his first season at Groningen he did indeed play at right back,[19] competently enough, but in a 5–1 defeat away to Feyenoord, he struggled against Ryo Miyaichi, a player with pace and ability with both feet, and eventually fouled him to concede a penalty.

[25] A minor knee injury sustained during the mid-season training camp meant he missed a couple of matches,[26] and thereafter his appearances in the starting eleven were intermittent, whether through suspension or just not being selected.

[29] Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Maaskant's replacement Erwin van de Looi appointed Kieftenbeld vice-captain, with Rasmus Lindgren as captain.

[32] Towards the end of the season, he captained the side even when Lindgren played – at the latter's recommendation[33] – and according to the club's website, he was the inspiration for a ten-match unbeaten finish that meant Groningen qualified for European football for the first time in seven years.

[37] Afterwards, Aberdeen's Jonny Hayes spoke of the motivation they drew from over-confident remarks reportedly made by Kieftenbeld and others ahead of the second leg which they perceived as disrespectful.

[39] In the final, Albert Rusnák's two goals were enough to beat cup-holders PEC Zwolle, and Kieftenbeld as captain lifted the first major trophy in the club's history.

[41][42] Kieftenbeld was twice shortlisted for the Eredivisie's annual Maatschappelijk Speler (Community Player) award, which brings with it a €50,000 prize to be donated to a social project of the winner's choice.

[52] Minor injury restricted Kieftenbeld to a seat on the bench against Blackburn Rovers in early November,[55] and Davis took over his role as Rowett reverted to a two-man central midfield.

[59] At Derby County two weeks later, he ran on to a clearance and hit a powerful volley from outside the penalty area wide of the goalkeeper to complete a 3–0 victory,[60] and repeated the feat in the next match, at home to Ipswich Town.

[63] In the latter part of the season, he was used as what Rowett called a "sitting playmaker", a role he had played in Dutch football, distributing the ball from a position in front of the defence.

[52][65] A hip injury disrupted Kieftenbeld's pre-season, preventing his taking his place in a midfield further strengthened by the return of Robert Tesche to the club where he spent a successful loan spell in 2015.

[66] He was fit to start the next league match, a 2–1 win away to Leeds United, and produced what the Birmingham Mail dubbed "Almost the complete midfield performance from the Dutchman.

"[67] When Tesche finally came into – and established himself in – the starting eleven, he and Kieftenbeld worked well together,[68] demonstrating the sort of team spirit the latter believed might mitigate the financial disparity in the Championship.

[69] Kieftenbeld appeared regularly as the team reached seventh place, just outside the play-off positions, by mid-December, when Rowett was sacked and replaced by Gianfranco Zola.

[14][73] After Zola resigned in April, Kieftenbeld played all but a couple of minutes of the remaining three matches under Harry Redknapp's management as Birmingham avoided relegation by winning at Bristol City on the final day of the season.

[82] He finally regained a place in the team in mid-October, in Steve Cotterill's first match as manager, starting in defensive midfield as Birmingham beat league-leaders Cardiff City 1–0.

[84] Kieftenbeld kept his place under Cotterill and his successor Garry Monk, with whom the team again retained their Championship status on the last day of the season, this time by putting an end to Fulham's 23-game unbeaten run.

Monk was sent to the stands for using abusive language while contesting the decision, and accepted a fine and one-match touchline ban, but Kieftenbeld's dismissal was overturned on appeal.

[96][97] He was behind Ivan Šunjić, Gary Gardner, new arrivals Mikel San José and Adam Clayton, and the youthful Caolan Boyd-Munce in the pecking order.

[108] Dutch journalist Michiel Jongsma suggests that Kieftenbeld's position of choice is as a holding midfielder in front of the defence, where he can best use his energy in recovering the ball.

[14] According to Groningen's technical director Henk Veldmate, speaking in 2014, his battling style and never-say-die attitude made him the sort of player with whom supporters could identify.