- Portret
Hattrick heroes: Weusthof at lonely height
In 52 seasons in the Tulp Hoofdklasse men's side, 966 hat-tricks have already been produced. In this series, we highlight some dreaded hat-trick heroes, such as Roderick Weusthof, the player with the most hat-tricks in the Hoofdklasse.
Weusthof was a real scourge for any defence between 2001 and 2015. In fourteen seasons, he shot as many as 346 goals at the highest level. He did so in the service of clubs Kampong (115 goals), SCHC (173) and Rotterdam (58).
Weusthof was known as The Knot, a nickname he inherited from his father Hans Weusthof, five-time national team player. As a striker, Roderick had a great weapon in his hands: a mighty drag flick that enabled him to cash in on countless penalty corners.
Partly because of that penalty corner, Weusthof strung together hat-tricks in the Hoofdklasse. Nobody scored as many as The Knot: he hit at least three goals in 34 matches. His finest moment was in the away match against Eindhoven on 10 December 2006, when he scored six goals in a 7-2 victory.
Record holder
With 346 goals, Weusthof held the all-time goalscoring record in the Hoofdklasse for a long time. On 6 November 2011, he scored three goals on behalf of Rotterdam against Schaerweijde (7-1) and surpassed the then record holder Floris Jan Bovelander (276 goals). Meanwhile, there is a new record holder: on 4 November 2023, Rotterdam striker Jeroen Hertzberger took over Weusthof's record. Hertz now stands at 369 goals.
'I have always been proud of my record,' Weusthof said in 2023. 'As you get older, you realise how special it actually is. You've been very important for your team with all those goals. I was a striker and I had a penalty corner. So I thought I should score at least twice every game. In the end, I never managed to do that in a single season, but with an average of 26 goals per season, it did add up.'
Remarkable fact: despite his cartload of goals, Weusthof (who also scored 79 goals in 153 international matches with the Dutch national team) never managed to win a national title in the Hoofdklasse.
Recordhouder
Weusthof had met 346 goals lange tijd het eeuwige doelpuntenrecord in de Hoofdklasse in handen. Op 6 november 2011 schoot hij namens Rotterdam drie keer raak tegen Schaerweijde (7-1) en passeerde hij de toenmalige recordhouder Floris Jan Bovelander (276 goals). Inmiddels is er zoals bekend een nieuwe recordhouder: op 4 november 2023 nam Rotterdam-aanvaller Jeroen Hertzberger het record van Weusthof over. Hertz staat inmiddels op 369 goals.
‘Ik ben altijd trots geweest op mijn record’, zei Weusthof in 2023. ‘Naarmate je ouder wordt, groeit het besef hoe bijzonder het eigenlijk is. Je bent met al die doelpunten heel belangrijk geweest voor je team. Ik was spits én ik had een strafcorner. Ik vond dan ook dat ik elke wedstrijd zeker twee keer keer zou moeten scoren. Dat is uiteindelijk in geen enkel seizoen gelukt, maar met een gemiddelde van 26 doelpunten per seizoen schoot het wel hard op.’
Opmerkelijk feitje: ondanks zijn karrenvracht aan goals lukte het Weusthof (bij Oranje nog eens goed voor 79 treffers in 153 interlands) in de Hoofdklasse nooit een landstitel te veroveren.
Eerder verschenen in deze serie:
Het verwoestende schot van Patty Mundt
Strafcornerkanon Mink van der Weerden
