.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (December 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 8,952 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Abe Lenstra]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template ((Translated|de|Abe Lenstra)) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Abe Lenstra
Lenstra, photographed in 1951
Personal information
Full name Abe Minderts Lenstra
Date of birth (1920-11-27)27 November 1920
Place of birth Heerenveen, Netherlands
Date of death 2 September 1985(1985-09-02) (aged 64)
Place of death Heerenveen, Netherlands
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1936–1955 Heerenveen 395 (471)
1955–1960 SC Enschede 107 (65)
1960–1963 Enschedese Boys 88 (40)
Total 590 (576[1])
International career
1940–1959 Netherlands 47 (33)
Managerial career
1946–1947 Heerenveen (player-coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Abe Minderts Lenstra (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈaːbə ˈmɪndərt͜s ˈlɛnstraː]; 27 November 1920 – 2 September 1985) was a Dutch footballer and national football icon in the 1950s who played as a forward. He is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to hail from the Netherlands. He was also a Frisian legend, most notably with the club where he made his name as a football player, Heerenveen.[2]

Career

Lenstra played for a host of clubs such as SC Enschede, Enschedese Boys, PH: DOS '19, WSV, DOS Kampen and vv LTC. However, it was with VV Heerenveen (the previous name of current day sc Heerenveen) where he first was selected for the Dutch national team. When in 1954 professional football was introduced in the Netherlands the already 34-year-old Abe Lenstra moved from VV Heerenveen to the bigger SC Enschede. It was in Enschede where he missed his best chance of ever winning the Dutch title: in 1958 SC Enschede lost the first and last Eredivisie final ever after 180 minutes from DOS Utrecht. In 1960, he made the move to the rivals Enschedese Boys, where he ended his professional career in 1963.

With the national team, for which he played a total of 47 caps scoring 33 goals,[3] he struck a partnership with other internationals such as Faas Wilkes and Kees Rijvers. He was known to stand by his principles and objected to play for the national squad if he was not selected for the position he favoured.

It was Lenstra who put the name of sc Heerenveen on the footballing map, where the club was also fondly referred to as 'Abeveen'. In 1977, long after he retired from football, he was diagnosed with having a brain haemorrhage and spent the remainder of his life using a wheelchair. He died in 1985, just a few days before the first ever international match in the stadium that a year later would bear his name.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition. Only official games are included in this table.[4][5][6]
Club Season League League Play-Off Dutch Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Heerenveen 1936/1937 18 20 4 2 0 0 22 22
1937/1938 17 13 0 0 4 11 21 24
1938/1939 18 25 0 0 1 0 19 25
1939/1940 16 21 0 0 0 0 16 21
1940/1941 14 20 0 0 0 0 14 20
1941/1942 17 32 8 6 0 0 25 38
1942/1943 18 27 7 7 0 0 25 34
1943/1944 16 19 8 3 0 0 24 22
1944/1945 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1945/1946 19 18 9 7 1 1 29 26
1946/1947 19 30 10 15 0 0 39 45
1947/1948 20 28 10 13 0 0 30 41
1948/1949 18 21 10 12 0 0 28 33
1949/1950 17 30 10 5 0 0 27 35
1950/1951 21 29 4 1 0 0 25 30
1951/1952 26 29 0 0 0 0 26 29
1952/1953 26 19 0 0 0 0 26 19
1953/1954 25 24 0 0 0 0 25 24
1954/1955 34 28 0 0 0 0 34 28
SC Enschede 1955/1956 33 25 0 0 0 0 33 25
1956/1957 30 17 0 0 0 0 30 17
1957/1958 21 11 0 0 0 0 21 11
1958/1959 27 18 0 0 0 0 27 18
1959/1960 25 15 0 0 0 0 25 15
Enschedese Boys 1960/1961 27 13 0 0 4 3 31 16
1961/1962 33 20 0 0 1 2 34 22
1962/1963 23 7 0 0 1 1 24 8
Total 578 559 80 71 12 18 680 648

Legacy

Today, his name has been closely associated with sc Heerenveen and its stadium: The (first and second) Abe Lenstra Stadion has been named in his honour as a lasting memorial.

Honours

Heerenveen

SC Enschede

Individual

External links

See also

References

Yme Kuiper, 'Abe Lenstra (1920–1985). Van Us Abe tot nationaal idool,' in: Fryslân, Nieuwsblad voor geschiedenis en cultuur, jg. 6 (2000), nr. 2, pp. 50–53. Online site

  1. ^ "Prolific Scorers Data - Abe Lenstra - Additional Data".
  2. ^ "Abe Lenstra". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Abe Lenstra - Goals in International Matches". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Delpher » Kranten, Boeken & Tijdschriften". www.delpher.nl.
  5. ^ {https://www.goldengoals.nl/berichten/911840_abe-lenstra-cijfers-per-seizoen
  6. ^ "Voetbalarchieven | Statistieken Nederlandse voetbalgeschiedenis". Voetbalarchieven.
  7. ^ "Abe Lenstra - Goals in International Matches". Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
Awards Preceded byNone Dutch Sporter of the Year 1951 to 1952 Succeeded byArie van Vliet
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