Reactions pour in from football after the death of Jergé Hoefdraad. His old clubs RKC Waalwijk, SC Cambuur, Almere City and SC Telstar have learned with great sadness of the death of the former attacker, they write in a response on social media. On Sunday morning, around 6 a.m., Hoefdraad was shot in the head at a party in a business building on the Stekkenbergweg in Amsterdam. Police believe he was trying to calm an argument. Monday afternoon it was announced that his injuries had been fatal to him.
Hoefdraad, born on July 17, 1986 in Amsterdam, was transferred by Ajax from the youth academy of FC Abcoude in 1996. He played at De Toekomst until 2004 and then transferred to the youth academy of RKC Waalwijk. He made his debut for that club on August 10, 2007 in the then Jupiler League against the then FC Omniworld (2-2). He played three more league matches in August 2007, against ADO Den Haag (2-2), FC Zwolle (0-0) and Helmond Sport (2-1 win). Hoefdraad, then 21 years old, was no longer in the competition selections. He signed with FC Omniworld in 2009 and stayed there until 2011, when he switched to Telstar. After 61 official appearances in Telstar, Hoefdraad returned to Almere in 2013.
This time he remained active for two seasons at Almere City, after which he played for SC Cambuur as of 2015/16. The transfer to Friesland meant his baptism of fire in the Eredivisie for Hoefdraad. However, he missed a large part of the season due to a torn Achilles tendon, which meant that he could only make his debut for his new club on January 31, 2016, in the derby against sc Heerenveen (0-1 defeat). In the remainder of the season, he would play seven more times in the Eredivisie, including in a duel with Ajax (0-1 defeat). Hoefdraad scored his only goal in the Eredivisie against NEC (2-1 loss) on April 17, 2016, when he determined the final score by passing Brad Jones from the box. In that season Cambuur was relegated from the Eredivisie, as a result of which Hoefdraad returned to the second level.
The only Eredivisie goal by Jergé Hoefdraad can be seen from minute 4:37
On December 15, 2016, Hoefdraad played for Cambuur against Ajax. It was a unique opportunity to show his qualities against his old club and he took advantage of that opportunity. In the twentieth minute, Hoefdraad reacted attentively to a bad pass by Frenkie de Jong: the attacker took over the ball in midfield, turned away from Donny van de Beek, sprinted past Matthijs de Ligt and put Martijn Barto in front of the goal with a cross. The striker passed Diederik Boer and opened the score; eventually Cambuur would win 2-1. Barto scored both goals and Hoefdraad could have provided another assist if he had been a little more careful in finishing on a great chance in minute 72.
The assist of Jergé Hoefdraad against Ajax can be seen from minute 1:05.
After two years in Leeuwarden, Hoefdraad returned to Almere again, where he started his third employment. That lasted until the 2018/19 season. With a total of 153 games played, spread over three terms, Hoefdraad could call himself a club icon of Almere City. Only two players have played more often for the club: Ricardo Kip (170 times) and Damon Mirani (180 times) Hoefdraad took a break after his professional career and would start working at the amateur club De Volewijckers at the fourth level from next season. Hoefdraad was persuaded by his friends to return to the field, he told in March Amsterdam Football. “In principle, it was no longer my intention to play football, but this seemed like a nice idea. It was arranged within a few days, so that after the summer I could play football again”, he looked ahead.
It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of former player Jergé Hoefdraad. On behalf of our entire club, we wish all relatives a lot of strength. Jerry, rest in peace????
— Almere City FC (@AlmereCityFC) August 2, 2021
“I am used to professional football, so of course I want to win. We will do everything for that next season,” said Hoefdraad, who announced that he was going to work hard on his condition. “The gym has been closed for a while, so my condition has undoubtedly deteriorated. But everything will be fine.” Hoefdraad played 273 official games in his entire career, scoring 28 times and providing 59 assists. He was available in all positions in the front line, but most often played as a left winger. He was known as a dribbler with a good kick.