Jan van Beveren

His father was Wil van Beveren (1911–2003), a sprinter who appeared at the 1936 Olympic Games, competing against Jesse Owens in the 200 metres event.

His mother was a regional athlete.

Van Beveren immediately started playing football as a goalkeeper at age 3 with his brother Wil (born 1945).

His first footballing years were spent on the Stadionplein, next to the Olympic Stadium.

Jan van Beveren (5 March 1948 – 26 June 2011) was a Dutch footballer and coach, who played as a goalkeeper.

Van Beveren was born in Amsterdam, but moved to Emmen as a teenager.

Van Beveren was born on 5 March 1948 in Amsterdam, where he spent his first years.

In 1958, the Van Beveren family moved to Emmen, where father Wil could get a job at the local newspaper.

The two sons Jan and Wil subsequently joined amateur club VV Emmen.

Van Beveren was placed in the seventh squad of the under-14s, but his talent was recognized and he quickly rose through the youth ranks.

He made his debut for Emmen's first team at age 15.

A year later, Van Beveren decided to try his luck with a professional team: he had set his eyes on Sparta Rotterdam, where his brother Wil had left to play for earlier.

The Emmen board refused to let him leave, though.

Even when Van Beveren quit his school and travelled to Rotterdam, the club refused to sign the necessary papers for months, preventing Van Beveren to play.

At Sparta, Van Beveren trained with coach Wiel Coerver, who turned out to be instrumental in his development.

They would frequently hold training sessions together three times a day.

Van Beveren started out in the Sparta under-19 squad but he quickly became first choice, surpassing Pim Doesburg.

Van Beveren reached the fifth place twice with Sparta and in his last season, that spot enabled them to enter the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

After reaching the first team with amateur side VV Emmen in 1963, he joined Sparta Rotterdam two years later.

In 1970, Van Beveren was bought by PSV Eindhoven, where he won three Eredivisie titles, two domestic cups and the UEFA Cup in 1978.

In 1970, the ambitious Van Beveren aimed for a bigger club, and Ajax, Feyenoord, Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven tried to sign him.

Real Madrid had to cancel the deal because the Spanish league was being closed for foreigners.

Of the remaining clubs, only PSV managed to meet the financial demands from Sparta and Van Beveren, with the transfer fee being 1 million Guilder.

When Van Beveren joined PSV he would take the goalkeeping spot from Doesburg again, who consequently returned to Sparta.

In his first season, the team reached the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup, but were eliminated by Real Madrid.

In the following years, Van Beveren established himself as PSV's first goalkeeper choice; in 1973 he signed a new seven-year contract with the club.

In late 1973, Van Beveren injured his groin during a match against Ajax.

Despite severe pain, he chose to remain on the pitch.

The injury prevented Van Beveren to play for the remainder of the season, in which PSV won the KNVB Cup.

It resulted in Van Beveren missing the 1974 FIFA World Cup, and retiring from international football in 1977.

In the 1974–75 season, the recovered Van Beveren was appointed as captain of the team.

PSV reached the Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals again and won the Eredivisie; Van Beveren's first title win.

This was followed up by the "double" a year later.

That season, Van Beveren and PSV almost managed to reach the European Cup final; PSV was eliminated with a single goal by AS Saint-Étienne in the semi-finals.

In 1980, he moved to the United States to spend three seasons with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

After playing indoor soccer for two years with the Dallas Sidekicks, Van Beveren retired and settled in Texas.

He later served as a youth coach at several clubs.

He died at the age of 63, on 26 June 2011, at his home.

Van Beveren played 32 caps for the Netherlands national team.

Although a first choice in the late sixties, his international career was cut short due to a long feud with Johan Cruyff.