Mike van der Hoorn

FC Utrecht

Van der Hoorn was born in Almere, Flevoland where he first joined local club SC Buitenboys, followed by FC Omniworld before being recruited into the youth ranks of FC Utrecht in 2006. He made his league debut for the first team on 15 May 2011, during the clubs 2010–11 campaign, in a home match against AZ. The match ended in a 5–1 victory, with Van der Hoorn coming on as a substitute in the 77' minute for Mark van der Maarel. The following season saw Van der Hoorn appear in 12 league matches while scoring twice. His first two goals for Utrecht came in the same fixture. In a match against SBV Excelsior from Rotterdam on 30 March 2012. The match ended a 3–2 win at the Stadion Galgenwaard for Utrecht, with Van der Hoorn scoring in the 22' and in the 75' minute for his club.

The 2012–13 campaign saw Van der Hoorn breakthrough as he became the first choice Centre back under head coach Jan Wouters, appearing in 31 Eredivisie matches and scoring four goals. He helped his side to 5th-place finish in the league table, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League through the Eredivisie Playoff rounds, where they beat SC Heerenveen 3–1 on aggregate, and FC Twente 3–2 on aggregate, thus qualifying for the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. That year Van der Hoorn was pronounced the FC Utrecht Player of the Year, winning the David Di Tommaso Trophy, receiving his award after the home match against Heracles Almelo on 12 May 2013. The trophy was awarded by none other than Audrey, David Di Tommaso's widow to a loud and warm applause from the audience. His teammates Robbin Ruiter and Jens Toornstra came in second and third place for the trophy that season.

AFC Ajax

On 5 July 2013 it was announced that Van der Hoorn had transferred from Utrecht to Amsterdam for a reported fee of €3,8 million, signing a four-year contract binding him to Ajax until the Summer of 2017. He made his first appearance for Ajax on 13 July 2013, in a pre-season friendly encounter against RKC Waalwijk. The match ended in a 1–5 victory for Ajax, with Van der Hoorn playing the full second half of the match, having replaced Toby Alderweireld at half-time. He scored his first goal for his new club on 28 July 2013 in a pre-season friendly encounter against Willem II, scoring in the 22' minute in the 3–1 win at the Sportpark De Toekomst. His first official match of the season for Ajax was against arch-rivals Feyenoord on the third match day of the season. Making his league debut for his new club in the Klassieker match in the Amsterdam ArenA, Van der Hoorn came on in the 88' minute for Ruben Ligeon, with the match ending in a 2–1 win for the Amsterdammers.

Swansea City A.F.C.

He joined Swansea City in 2016.

International career

Van der Hoorn made his debut for the Netherlands U-21 team on 5 February 2013, in a friendly match against Croatia U-21 which ended in a 3–2 win for the Dutch. With the national under-21 team qualifying for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, Van der Hoorn was selected by head coach Cor Pot to play in the tournament. Van der Hoorn made two appearances during the tournament, which saw the Dutch eliminated in the semifinals losing to Italy U-21.

On 6 March 2013 he received his first call up for the Dutch national team from head coach Louis van Gaal, appearing in the teams preliminary squad ahead of their trip to Asia to play scheduled friendlies with China and Indonesia. Van der Hoorn however did not make the final squad for the trip, and has yet to make his debut for the Dutch national first team.

Career statistics

¹ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.

² Includes Eredivisie Playoffs and Johan Cruijff Shield matches.

Club

Individual