Donny de Groot

Donny de Groot
Personal information
Full name	Donny de Groot
Date of birth	16 August 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth	Gouda, Netherlands
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	UNIO
	FC Utrecht
Senior career*
Years	Team
1999–2004	FC Utrecht
2002	→ FC Volendam (loan)
2002–2003	→ Emmen (loan)
2004–2005	RBC Roosendaal
2005–2006	De Graafschap
2006–2007	AEK Larnaca
2007–2009	De Graafschap
2009–2010	Newcastle United Jets
2010	Go Ahead Eagles
2010–2011	RKC Waalwijk
2011–2012	Willem II
2012–2013	Sint-Truiden
2013–2014	FC Eindhoven
2014–2015	Fortuna Sittard
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Donny de Groot (born 16 August 1979) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Early career

De Groot started his football career with amateur side UNIO in Oudewater, near his native town Gouda. As a youth player, he moved to FC Utrecht, where he made his debut for the main squad on 27 February 2000, in the home game against AZ. During the next two and a half years in Utrecht, De Groot played only five matches for the main squad. During the 2001–02 season, De Groot moved to FC Volendam, where he scored 9 goals in 15 matches. De Groot moved to FC Emmen for the next season. His 30 goals in 31 matches made him top scorer of the 2002–03 Eerste Divisie.

Success and career abroad

He returned to FC Utrecht for the 2003–04 Eredivisie season; he played 23 matches, scoring 5 goals. At the end of the season, De Groot moved to RBC Roosendaal, and during the 2005–06 Eredivisie season, he went to Eerste Divisie side De Graafschap. At the end of the season, De Groot moved abroad, signing a two-year deal with AEK Larnaca of Cyprus. De Groot played for the Cypriot side for only one season, and returned to De Graafschap for the 2007–08 Eredivisie season.

On 30 January 2009, he went to Newcastle Jets on a free transfer.^[1] On 10 March 2009, he made his debut for Newcastle in their 2–0 loss in the AFC Champions League to Beijing Guoan. De Groot fell out of favour under new manager Branko Čulina and was given permission to negotiate with other clubs.

Return home

Therefore, he went to back to his home country where he signed with Go Ahead Eagles on a free transfer in January 2010. He immediately made an impact, scoring two goals as a jet lagged second-half substitute in a Dutch Cup quarter finals away win over Eredivisie side NAC Breda. He had only finished his long journey from Australia less than 24 hours earlier. In June 2011 it was reported that he would sign a contract at Tilburgian side Willem II Tilburg.^[2]

Honours

Club

FC Utrecht^[3]

KNVB Cup: 2003–04

RKC Waalwijk:^[4]

Eerste Divisie: 2010–11

Individual

Eerste Divisie Player of the Year: 2002–03
Eerste Divisie Top scorer: 2002–03

References

^ "Jets hit two targets in recruitment battle". Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
^ "Go Ahead stunt dankzij Donny de Groot" (in Dutch). Trouw. Archived from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
^ "2004: Utrecht prolongeert de beker" (in Dutch). KNVB. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
^ "RKC Waalwijk kampioen in Jupiler League" (in Dutch). Omroep Brabant. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2020.

External links

[1] "Jets hit two targets in recruitment battle". Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2009.

[2] "Go Ahead stunt dankzij Donny de Groot" (in Dutch). Trouw. Archived from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2010.

[3] "2004: Utrecht prolongeert de beker" (in Dutch). KNVB. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2020.

[rkc-kampioen-4] "RKC Waalwijk kampioen in Jupiler League" (in Dutch). Omroep Brabant. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2020.

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