Piet Keizer
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 Keizer in 1973 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Petrus Johannes Keizer | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 14 June 1943 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 10 February 2017 (aged 73) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Amsterdam | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Left winger | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1953–1955 | Amstel | ||||||||||||||||
| 1955–1961 | Ajax | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1961–1974 | Ajax | 364 | (146) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1962–1974 | Netherlands | 34 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Petrus Johannes "Piet" Keizer (14 June 1943 – 10 February 2017) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a left winger.[2]
As part of the "Total Football" Ajax Amsterdam team of the 1960s and 1970s, Keizer was particularly notable during the successive managerial tenures of Rinus Michels and Stefan Kovacs (1965–1973). He is widely considered one of the greatest players in Dutch football history. Dutch writer Nico Scheepmaker once said: "Cruyff is the best, but Keizer is the better one".[3]
Club career
Keizer totalled 489 official matches for Ajax, scoring 189 goals between 1961 and 1974,[4] and is a member of the Club van 100 at Ajax, a list of players playing more than 100 official games for the club. He made his debut in the first team on 5 February 1961 against Feyenoord.[2] He played predominantly on the left-wing and with Ajax, he won three consecutive European Cups (1971, 1972, 1973), having lost the 1969 European Cup final to AC Milan. In addition, he won six Eredivisie titles, five KNVB Cups, two European Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup and one Intertoto Cup.
In March 1964, Keizer got seriously injured during a KNVB Cup match against DWS; a critical surgery was needed due to a skull fracture and a blood clot in his brains.[2]
In August 1973, under new Ajax manager George Knobel, the Ajax players voted in a secret ballot for Keizer to be the team's next captain, ahead of Johan Cruyff. Just weeks later Cruyff left Ajax to join Barcelona.[5]
International career
With the Dutch national team, Keizer played 34 times, scoring 11 goals.[6] He made his international debut in an 8–0 friendly win against the Netherlands Antilles in 1962.[7] Keizer was selected by Netherlands manager, Rinus Michels, to play for the Dutch squad during the 1974 FIFA World Cup, but only started in the 0–0 draw against Sweden.[8]
End of career
Keizer suddenly retired from football in October 1974, shortly after a row over tactics with Ajax manager Hans Kraay.[5][6][9]
Personal life
On 13 June 1967, Keizer married Jenny Hoopman.[10] The couple had two sons.[11]
Keizer died of lung cancer in February 2017, after a long illness.[12]
Football player and manager Marcel Keizer, who played in the Ajax youth academy and was a manager of the first team in 2017, is a nephew of Piet Keizer.[13]
Style of play
UEFA website has described Keizer as "the genius on the left wing, the skillful flanker, the superb foil to Johan Cruyff".[14]
Cruyff, in his posthumously released autobiography,[15] placed Keizer, as left winger, in his "ideal squad".[16]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ajax | 1960–61 | Eredivisie | 15 | 6 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 20 | 8 | ||
| 1961–62 | Eredivisie | 23 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 9[b] | 8 | — | 33 | 20 | ||
| 1962–63 | Eredivisie | 25 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2[b] | 1 | — | 29 | 12 | ||
| 1963–64 | Eredivisie | 20 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 5[b] | 1 | — | 27 | 16 | ||
| 1964–65 | Eredivisie | 11 | 3 | — | — | — | 11 | 3 | ||||
| 1965–66 | Eredivisie | 28 | 13 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 13 | |||
| 1966–67 | Eredivisie | 28 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 5[c] | 2 | — | 38 | 16 | ||
| 1967–68 | Eredivisie | 25 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2[c] | 0 | — | 33 | 12 | ||
| 1968–69 | Eredivisie | 27 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 14[c] | 2 | — | 43 | 14 | ||
| 1969–70 | Eredivisie | 32 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 8[b] | 1 | — | 45 | 23 | ||
| 1970–71 | Eredivisie | 32 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 9[c] | 4 | — | 46 | 13 | ||
| 1971–72 | Eredivisie | 31 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 9[c] | 2 | — | 45 | 19 | ||
| 1972–73 | Eredivisie | 31 | 12 | — | 6[c] | 2 | 4[d] | 0 | 41 | 14 | ||
| 1973–74 | Eredivisie | 31 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 2[e] | 1 | 38 | 5 | |
| 1974–75 | Eredivisie | 5 | 1 | — | 2[f] | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 364 | 146 | 46 | 19 | 73 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 489 | 189 | ||
- ^ Appearances in KNVB Cup
- ^ a b c d Appearances in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
- ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in European Cup
- ^ Two appearances in European Super Cup, two appearances in Intercontinental Cup
- ^ Two appearances in European Super Cup
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 1962 | 2 | 1 |
| 1963 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1964 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1965 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1966 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1968 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1969 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1970 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1971 | 5 | 5 | |
| 1972 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1974 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 34 | 11 | |
- Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Keizer goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 September 1962 | Olympisch stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands |  Netherlands Antilles |
4–0 | 8–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 20 October 1963 | Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands |  Belgium |
1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 17 April 1966 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands | Belgium |
2–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 4 | 5 April 1967 | Zentralstadion, Leipzig, East Germany |  East Germany |
2–0 | 3–4 | UEFA Euro 1968 qualification |
| 5 | 3–2 | |||||
| 6 | 24 February 1971 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands |  Luxembourg |
2–0 | 6–0 | UEFA Euro 1972 qualification |
| 7 | 5–0 | |||||
| 8 | 10 October 1971 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands | East Germany |
2–1 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 1972 qualification |
| 9 | 3–1 | |||||
| 10 | 17 November 1971 | Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands | Luxembourg |
2–0 | 8–0 | UEFA Euro 1972 qualification |
| 11 | 1 November 1972 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands |  Norway |
7–0 | 9–0 | 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Ajax
- Eredivisie: 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73
- KNVB Cup: 1960–61, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72; runner-up: 1967–68
- European Cup: 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73; runner-up: 1968–69[14]
- UEFA Super Cup: 1972, 1973[18]
- Intercontinental Cup: 1972
- Intertoto Cup: 1961–62, 1968 (Group A2 winner)
Netherlands
- FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1974
Individual
- Winger in Cruyff's Favourite World XI[16]
See also
References
- ^ "Piet Keizer". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ a b c "Piet Keizer: grillig, geniaal en natuurlijk die schaar" [Piet Keizer: whimsical, ingenious and of course that step-over]. NOS (in Dutch). 11 February 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ^ Hall of Fame: Piet Keizer
- ^ a b "Piet Keizer bij Ajax" [Piet Keizer at Ajax]. afc-ajax.info (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ^ a b "Piet Keizer: Ghost goal". Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
- ^ a b Piet Keizer
- ^ a b c "Piet Keizer - Interlands Nederlands Elftal" (in Dutch).
- ^ 1974 Netherlands World Cup Squad at Planet World Cup. Planetworldcup.com. Retrieved on 9 November 2013
- ^ Ajax-icoon Piet Keizer (73) overleden – Telegraaf (in Dutch)
- ^ Het paar op weg naar de trouwzaal. gahetna.nl
- ^ Ajax-elftal arriveert op Schiphol uit Londen. Piet Keizer met zoontje. gahetna.nl
- ^ "Niederlande trauern um Keizer" [Netherlands mourn Keizer]. sport1.de (in German). 12 February 2017.
- ^ "Neef van Ajax-legende Piet Keizer volgt Peter Bosz op in Amsterdam" [Nephew of Ajax legend Piet Keizer succeeds Peter Bosz in Amsterdam]. sporza.be (in Dutch). 17 June 2017.
- ^ a b The greatest teams of all time: Ajax 1971–73. UEFA.com. Retrieved on 31 October 2015.
- ^ Johan Cruyff, My Turn. The Autobiography, Macmillan, 2016, p. 273.
- ^ a b Adam Bate; Leon Yearwood (6 October 2016). "Johan Cruyff picks all-time world XI: Pep Guardiola makes the team". Skysports. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ^ "Piet Keizer - speler Eredivisie". voetbalstats.nl (in Dutch).
- ^ 1973: Ajax enjoy early success. UEFA.com. Retrieved on 31 October 2015.
External links
- Piet Keizer at National-Football-Teams.com
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