Nick Hengelman is not a name that immediately rings a bell with many football fans. As a goalkeeper, he nevertheless experienced colorful adventures. He will bring his book on Saturday Checkmate in which his most extraordinary events are described. Hengelman once arranged his own contract with Ajax, but was subsequently blocked by Edwin van der Sar when he made his letter of resignation public.
Abroad, Hengelman played five matches for Ajax Cape Town in addition to nine matches for the Bulgarian Pirin Blagoevgrad. Partly because of this, he was given the opportunity to train with Jong Ajax during the corona pandemic. This was laid down in a contract by Edwin van der Sar. His employment in Amsterdam was ultimately limited to one season. Hengelman received his letter of resignation from Ajax in 2021 and then decided to share a photo of this letter on Instagram.
“I tried to call Van der Sar, but I couldn’t get hold of him,” Hengelman says in conversation with Tubantia. “There was nothing special in that letter, but I think they weren’t happy with it at Ajax. Van der Sar immediately blocked my number.” On the other hand, according to Hengelman, Overmars reacted a lot nicer. “He was busy giving Gerry Hamstra a tour and I got to talk to Gerry, who I still knew from Vitesse. That took Overmars a little too long, after which he said: ‘I have you paid to play football and not to post things on social media.’”
Hengelman says he had a good reason to share the resignation letter on his Instagram account. “That was also because I felt boycotted by Ajax’s media department. They refused to post a message that I was leaving the club. And that while I needed that for the continuation of my career, because otherwise many people wouldn’t know about it. I felt shortchanged.”
The now 33-year-old former professional also felt shortchanged by Ajax. “I always gave 100 per cent and was also a listening ear for young players, such as Kenneth Taylor, who often came to me for advice.” Hengelman was told by the media department that no message was posted for Brobbey when he left for RB Leipzig. “Then I thought: am I going to post a message on Twitter or drive the whole of the Netherlands crazy? I opted for the latter haha”, concludes Hengelman.
Go Ahead Eagles
Hengelman ended his professional career in the summer of 2022 after five months without playing minutes at Go Ahead Eagles. Andries Noppert, who had left for SC Heerenveen, was preferred to Hengelman in these months. He nevertheless said goodbye to his old employer with a smile via Instagram. Hengelman made his argument in a nicely formatted message. “Go Ahead Eagles, after years of flirting we finally gave each other that kiss. It would stay with that kiss and we never shared the bed. Today we say goodbye to each other. And maybe the fantasy is better than it. Go Ahead Eagles, it was a nice short time. Best wishes. Love Nick.”