Leroy Fer

Fer was involved in the squad for the final of KNVB Cup, coming on in the 71st minute as the club were champions by beating Roda JC 2–0, therefore qualified for the UEFA Cup next season.

However, Feyenoord was subjected of investigations over claims of his eligibility while playing for Jong Feyenoord, leading an investigation from the KNVB and the club themselves.

An investigation was conducted and Jong Feyenoord was deducted points, resulting in Jong Sparta Rotterdam winning the competition.

Leroy Johan Fer (born 5 January 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Alanyaspor.

Fer had his breakthrough in Feyenoord's first team in the season 2007–08 and was first called up to the first team ahead of the match against FC Groningen on 25 November 2007 but did not play.

He made his official debut for the club under the management of Bert van Marwijk and Fer replaced Nuri Şahin in the 84th minute in the Eredivisie home at age 17, in a 6–0 win match against Heracles Almelo on 2 December 2007.

Four days later, on 6 December 2007, Fer signed his first professional contract with Feyenoord, keeping him at De Kuip until summer 2012.

This led manager van Marwijk comment on his potential, saying: "Leroy is a footballer with a lot of potential, but you have to be careful with a boy like that. He is still a freshman A-junior and I don't want to destroy him immediately. I think he could handle it but that has yet to become apparent in practice. Leroy makes a stable, calm impression and adapts easily. He does not say much, but he is not introverted either. Leroy is well integrated into the group, but that is always the case with good football players."

He was active in 13 Eredivsie matches in his first season, mainly coming in as a substitute.

Due to injuries in the club's first team squad, Fer made his first appearance in the starting line-up in the Eredivisie away match against rivals, Ajax, losing 3–0 on 3 February 2008.

Fer started on the right back position, which he continued to do so for four matches in a row.

On 30 March 2008, he scored his first Eredivisie goal in the away match against NAC Breda, as Feyenoord won 3–1.

In the 2008–09 season, Fer slowly became a first team regular.

New Feyenoord coach Gertjan Verbeek often positioned the player on the central attacking midfielder position behind striker Roy Makaay.

On 18 September 2008, Fer made his official European debut, as he was named in the starting line-up in the UEFA Cup home match against Kalmar FF.

Feyenoord lost the match 0–1, but in the return match in Sweden, Fer scored the winning goal in the 1–2 victory, securing a place in the group stage, which was later credited as own goal by Emin Nouri.

Three weeks later on 29 October 2008, he scored his first official goal for the club, in a 2–1 loss against Sparta Rotterdam.

This was followed up by scoring his second goal of the season, in a 4–0 win against Roda JC.

After missing one match due to illness, Fer scored on his return, in a 3–1 win against ADO Den Haag on 23 November 2008.

A month later on 26 December 2008, he scored a brace, in a 3–1 win against NAC Breda.

Despite being minor injuries throughout the 2008–09 season, he made forty–one appearances and scoring six times in all competitions.

It wasn't until on 15 March 2009 when Fer scored his sixth goal of the season, in a 1–0 win against PSV Eindhoven.

However, Fer played in both legs of the play-offs round against NAC Breda, as Feyenoord lost 7–2 on aggaragate.

He formerly represented the Netherlands national team, making eleven appearances between 2010 and 2014.

Fer has various nicknames.

In his youth, he was nicknamed "De Uitsmijter" ("The Bouncer") by Feyenoord youth coach Jean-Paul van Gastel for his strong physical appearance.

Other nicknames are "Lerra" and "Ferovic".

Cor Pot, coach of the Netherlands under-21 national team, compared Fer with Patrick Vieira.

According to Pot, both players show many similarities, on and off the field.

He has also been compared to Frank Rijkaard.

Fer was born and raised in Zoetermeer, South Holland.

He is the first child of parents from Curaçao.

His paternal grandfather was of Surinamese descent.

Fer's maternal grandfather was a football player in Curaçao, while his father, Lesley Fer, was a baseball player.

Fer has one younger brother, Leegreg, who played for the Feyenoord under-17 team, a sister and his cousin Patrick van Aanholt is a footballer for Galatasaray.

Fer started his youth career at the local Zoetermeer club DWO.

In his first full season, his team won friendly matches against youth teams from professional sides, like Sparta Rotterdam and Feyenoord.

However, he stayed at DWO until age nine.

Together with youth friend Kaj Ramsteijn, Fer accepted the invitation to join the Feyenoord's youth academy.

He later progressed through the academy and later Jong Feyenoord.