Van der Quelen had the right to call himself “Mr. PSV”. Between 1964 and 1981, he played more than 500 matches for his beloved club, winning three league titles and one European Cup. As captain, he was allowed to win the UEFA Cup after the final victory in 1978 over Bastia (3-0).

De Helmonder became the Dutch League’s top scorer three times: in 1966, 1970 and 1974. “Skiete Willy!”

He later worked as a scout, youth, assistant and coach attacker in Eindhoven. In recent years, Van der Koelen, as the club’s emblem, has always been handing out an PSV shirt when introducing a new player.

More goals

No footballer has scored more than Van der Koelen in the biggest Dutch football tournament. Born Helmander scored 308 goals for PSV and three times also for MVV, the club he played with for a season. Van der Koelen has scored 46 more goals in the Eredivisie than Ruud Giles.

Johan Cruyff is third in the eternal scorer standings in the highest Dutch football category with 215 goals. The legendary No.14 player has also played football for most of his career in Spain and the United States.

No final tournament

Cruyff was also the reason why Van der Kuijlen is famous for the Eindhoven shirt and not with Orange. The outstanding member of PSV Eindhoven has scored no more than 22 caps and seven goals in the Dutch national team and was missing in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. Van der Koelen did not play the tournament final because he and PSV Eindhoven goalkeeper Jan Van Beveren came into conflict with Cruijff and some of the other Ajax players .

In the Philips stadium there is a statue of Van der Kuilin. There he stands beside the Coen Dillen statue, another PSV club icon.