“It’s a great city with a great fanbase”, exclusive interview with former Southampton defender Jos Hooiveld

When you think of a towering Dutch centre-back who has played for both Celtic and Southampton over the last decade, the first name that comes to your head sadly isn’t Jos Hooiveld.

This is no fault of his own, but instead due to the excellence of Virgil Van Dijk over the last few years.

An exceptional footballer in his own right, it was a true honour to interview Jos Hooiveld recently, as we discussed various topics such as his spell at Celtic and his time with Southampton.

To start the interview I asked Jos about his time in Finland with Inter Turku. The Dutchman’s form there earned him his move to Swedish giants AIK, which earned him his subsequent transfer to Celtic. The spell in Finland with Turku was one of the best in his career as he won the League’s best defender of the season award two years running. He put his success down to his manager at the time, fellow Dutchman Job Dragtsma.

“I got a coach [Dragtsma] that supported me through and through my time there. I started to become more conscious about football and my style of play.”

After his successful time in Finland he moved to neighbouring Sweden, and once again found good form, this time with AIK. This saw Scottish giants Celtic come calling in 2010. I asked him how the move to Glasgow came about.

“It’s a good story actually, the assistant coach from Celtic was watching one of my games in a courtesy box. We came to chat there, he then checked me as a player and instigated the move to Scotland.”

With only a handful of appearances made in Scotland, Hooiveld’s next permanent move came in 2011 as he joined Southampton after a successful loan spell on the South Coast. I asked him if he was always keen to have a stint in England.

“Absolutely, I knew English football would suit my style of play so I was always interested. It’s a tough place to get a move to however, so I was quite fortunate to get the opportunity.”

Hooiveld would go on to make over 50 appearances in his permanent spell at St Mary’s, I asked him how he reflects on his time with Southampton.

“I loved it at St Mary’s, I scored some good goals and won promotion to the Premier League. It’s a great city with a great fanbase.”

While at Southampton Hooiveld had two loans away from St Mary’s with Norwich and Millwall respectively. I asked him how he looks back on the two loans.

“I didn’t have the best time at Norwich. The day I joined them they signed three other centre backs, which limited my game time.

“Millwall was amazing, I love the dedication of the fans and the ground as it just breathes English culture and football. I enjoyed my time there.”

After a spell in the USA with Orange County SC, Hooiveld retired in 2018. I concluded our discussion by asking him what he’s been up to since he retired from Football.

“I’m starting an online platform on which amateur players can get match-analyses from professionals. The pro’s tell them where and how they can improve their games. I’ve started it recently and it’s called Scorelit.”

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Jos for his time, it was a real privilege to ask him some questions for the purposes of this article.

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