Tinus Bosselaar

Who is Tinus Bosselaar?

Martinus "Tinus" Bosselaar is a retired Dutch footballer who was active as a left winger.

Bosselaar is known as one of the greatest players at Sparta off all time. He started at the club as a little boy and worked his way towards the first team. He was one of the most talented footballers in the country and was signed by Sparta's city rivals Feyenoord the year after. In his period at Sparts Bosselaar was already called up for the Dutch national football team, but Sparta did not want to give him permission to play for the national side. Bosselaar was furious and almost decided to quit football, until Feyenoord goalkeeper Henk Bijl convinced him to give it another chance, at Feyenoord. Bosselaar signed the contract and played his first international match on October 16, 1955 in a 2-2 draw versus Belgium. In his second cap against Norway he netted two of his in total four international goals in a 3-0 win. While at Feyenoord he would gain himself a total of seven caps.

He became the head subject in the "Bosselaar-affaire" in 1956. Bosselaar and Sparta both agreed on a return to the club as his heart was still at the other side of the city and his contract had a clause saying that he could leave the club to rejoin Sparta at any time. Feyenoord however did not want to let him go and took Sparta to court. Eventually Feyenoord lost the case and Bosselaar left the club and returned to his love in football. He would remain at Sparta for the rest of his career. The Bosselaar-affair had its impact on the relationship between the teams of Sparta and Feyenoord for many years and the rivalry between them grew year after year. In 1958 Sparta and Bosselaar won the KNVB Cup, while in 1959 the Eredivisie was won and Sparta were crowned as Dutch champions.