Mark van der Maarel (born 12 August 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Eredivisie club Utrecht, where he has spent his entire professional career. Born in Arnhem, he is of Indonesian descent through his mother, who is from Indonesia.[1]

Mark van der Maarel
van der Maarel with Utrecht in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-08-12) 12 August 1989 (age 34)
Place of birth Arnhem, Netherlands
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Utrecht
Number 2
Youth career
Argon
2006–2008 Haarlem
2008–2009 Utrecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009– Utrecht 354 (12)
2016 Jong Utrecht 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:51, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

Club career edit

Born in Arnhem, Van der Maarel played for Argon in his youth, and after a spell in the Haarlem youth, he joined FC Utrecht in May 2008.

He made his debut on 22 August 2009 in a friendly against non-league side USV Elinkwijk. His first league match was on 20 September at ADO Den Haag, where he replaced the injured Sander Keller after 67 minutes. Due to injuries to regular right back and team captain Tim Cornelisse, he kept his place in the first team and made an impressive contribution to the best start to a season ever for Utrecht. In the 1–0 win against champions AZ he was voted Man of the Match.[2][3]

In the 2017–18 season, Van der Maarel was named FC Utrecht Player of the Year by the club's supporters and thereby won the David di Tommaso Trophy. The fans rewarded him for his perseverance and the fact that during the season he broke the iconic boundary of 200 Eredivisie matches for Utrecht. In addition, the defender managed to score four goals.[4]

On 22 February 2021, Van der Maarel signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him part of Utrecht until 2023. At that point, he had made 307 official appearances for the club, making him sixth on the all-time list of most games played for Utrecht.[5]

International career edit

On 5 October, Van der Maarel was called up for Netherlands U21, for the European U21 Championship group 4 qualifiers at Finland and Poland. Here he also benefited from injury problems by his replacing Feyenoord defender Kelvin Leerdam.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "Inilah Alasan Van der Maarel dan Lilipaly Tolak Panggilan Timnas - Republika Online".
  2. ^ Van der Maarel stelt zich voor Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Dutch)
  3. ^ Eredivisie Team Of The Week: Round 8 Archived 11 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Mark van der Maarel wint David Di Tommaso Trofee" (in Dutch). FC Utrecht. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Clubheld Mark van der Maarel verlengt opnieuw bij FC Utrecht". Telegraaf (in Dutch). 22 February 2021.
  6. ^ Pot haalt Utrechter Van der Maarel bij Jong Oranje Archived 7 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Dutch)

External links edit