A Name to Remember: Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink

Go ahead, we challenge you to find a football player with a longer last name. The Dutch international’s transfer from PSV Eindhoven to Celtic was finalized today and now sportswriters in Scotland have the arduous task of remembering how to spell his name.

Vennegoor of Hesselink’s physical stature is worthy of someone with such a lengthy name. The striker comes in at a cool 191 cm. He also comes to the Scottish champions with a scoring impressive resume from the past five years he spent playing in Holland’s top league.

So what about that funky name? Here’s the dirt:

His name – the longest in Dutch football – derives from the 17th Century. Two farming families, the Vennegoors and the Hesselinks, were involved in a marriage. At this time, whichever surname in a wedding had a higher social status would be taken by the married couple. As both surnames were of equal social standing, it was decided that both would be used, the term “of” in Dutch translates to “or” in English.

Source

	Soccer Forums	Team/International Results

Category: Scottish Premier League

Tags: a name to remember, Celtic, Jan Vennegood of Hesselink, PSV Eindhoven, Scottish Premier League

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share