Gerrit Niekoop

Gerrit Niekoop

Personal information
Full name	Arnod Gerrit Niekoop
Place of birth	Surinam
Playing position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1954–1966	Robinhood	?	(?)
1966–1970	MVV	?	(?)
National team^‡
1959–1965	Surinam	10	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of (08:53, 29 January 2016 (UTC)). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of (08:53, 29 January 2016 (UTC))

Arnod Gerrit Niekoop is a former Surinamese football player, referee and board member of the Surinamese Football Association, as well as board member and former chairman of the Surinamese Refereeing Commission.^[1]

During his playing career he played in the Surinamese Hoofdklasse for S.V. Robinhood and M.V.V., and for the Suriname national team. He spent most of his professional playing career with S.V. Robinhood, winning five national titles, finishing as the league top scorer in 1964.^[2]

Career

SV Robinhood

Born in Surinam, Niekoop joined S.V. Robinhood in 1954. Playing together with Humphrey Mijnals, Siegfried Haltman and Kenneth Kluivert during his career with Robinhood, he helped form the dangerous attack of Robinhood, only rivaled by S.V. Transvaal at the time.^[3] In 1964 he lead Robinhood to an undefeated season, winning the National championship and finishing as the leagues top goal scorer that same season.^[4][5]

MVV

In 1966, he joined M.V.V. (Militaire Voetbal Vereniging), the football club of the military. He would continue his goal scoring habits at his new club, playing with the likes of Armand Doesburg and George Headley, who were considered a dangerous attacking tandem.^[6]

International career

Suriname

Niekoop played for the Suriname national team, playing in the Nations first Olympic qualifiers following the foundation of the Surinamese Olympic Committee (S.O.C.) in 1959.^[7]

He made hist first appearance in a friendly match on 20 September 1959 against Martinique scoring the winning goal on his debut.^[8] On 20 March 1964, he scored the equalizer in a 2–2 draw with the Netherlands Antilles in the countries first Olympic qualifying match.^[9] Niekoop scored additional goals in both losses against Argentina and Peru, before Suriname were eliminated in the second round. He also played in the CCCF Championship as well as the countries 1966 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

Refereeing career

Following his playing career, Niekoop became a referee in the SVB Hoofdklasse in Suriname. Licensed by both FIFA and CONCACAF, Niekoop has refereed for International tournaments, including the 2008 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship and the 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic qualifiers.^[10]

As a member of the Surinamese Refereeing Commission, he became the chairman of the board, as well as a board member of the Surinamese Football Association. ^[11] No longer the chairman, he is still a member of the board and has been involved in the official training and licensing of referees in Suriname by FIFA. ^[12]

In June 2012, Niekoop was present when former Jungle Commando leader and owner of football club Inter Moengotapoe, Ronnie Brunswijk took to the pitch with a gun, during a match against S.V. Transvaal, in which Transvaal had been awarded a free kick. Then manager Brunswijk was unhappy with the call by the referee and became violent, waving a gun at several of the players.^[13] It was Niekoop who took to the pitch and calmed Brunswijk down preventing any further harm. Niekoop filed a detailed report of the incident to the governing body of FIFA, who in turn suspended Brunswijk for two season without permission to enter his stadium.^[14] Furthermore, SVB officials would no longer officiate matches at the Ronnie Brunswijkstadion for the remainder of the season, until more intensive measures towards safety were taken by the club.^[15]

Career statistics

International goals

Scores and results list Suriname' goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	20 September 1959	National Stadion, Paramaribo, Suriname	Martinique	1–0	1–0	Friendly
2.	10 October 1959	Rif Stadion, Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles	Netherlands Antilles	1–1	2–2	1960 Summer Olympics qualification
3.	16 April 1960	Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru	Argentina	2–2	2–6
4.	19 April 1960		Peru	1–0	1–3

Honors

Club

S.V. Robinhood^[16]

• SVB Hoofdklasse (5): 1955, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1964

Individual

• SVB Hoofdklasse Top Goalscorer (1): 1964

References

1. "SVB Jaarverslag 2013" (PDF). SVB.sr. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
2. "Sportman/-vrouw van het jaar; De eerste Surinaamse sportencyclopedie (1893-1988)". dbnl.org. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
3. "Edwin 'Wiene' Schal voorbeeld voor voetballers". Natio Suriname. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
4. "Koorndijk, Ronald Stanley; De eerste Surinaamse sportencyclopedie (1893-1988)". dbnl.org. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
5. "Robinhood; De eerste Surinaamse sportencyclopedie (1893-1988)". dbnl.org. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
6. "Doesburg, Armand; De eerste Surinaamse sportencyclopedie (1893-1988)". dbnl.org. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
7. "Utrechts Nieuwsblad (20-07-1959), pag. 1 van 12". Utrechtse Dagblad. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
8. "Arnod Gerrit Niekoop". 11v11.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
9. "Gerrit Niekoop". Soccerdb.info. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
10. "CONCACAF U-17 Women's 2008 Recap" (PDF). CONCACAF.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
11. "Suriname - Referees - Men". FIFA.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
12. "Dertig arbiters klaar voor FIFA MA-cursus". NoSprang. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
13. "Enfant terrible Surinaamse politiek mept weer". Waterkant. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
14. "Surinaamse politicus 2 jaar in de ban bij voetbal". Waterkant. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
15. "Arbiters fluiten niet meer op Moengo". Mamjo.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
16. "Gerrit Niekoop - Career Honours". Soccer-db.info.