Thiemo Meertens

Thiemo Meertens (2 December 1946 – 9 December 2022) was a Dutch amateur footballer and football trainer.
Biography.
Meertens started his playing career at and moved in 1965 to Achilles 1894 and a few years later to VV Emmen. With VV Emmen he won the 1975 Vierde Divisie and became national Sunday amateurs champion. Meertens played 22 matches with the team as a central midfielder and was captain of the team for five years. One of the highlights was the final round at the European championship in Yugoslavia.
After his playing career, Meertens became a football coach, next to his job as a teacher at the (ALO). He was the coach of , and VV Emmen until the team became professional in 1985. He then became coach of VV Hoogeveen. He became professional trainer with BV Veendam in 1989. During his second season with BV Veendam he was fired due to disappointing results. He became trainer with Be Quick 1887, and later moved back to BV Veendam as scout and within the youth academy. Meertens was assistent coach of Joop Gall until 2007. In 2007 he became technical manager of FC Emmen. He retired in 2009.
After a serious illness, Meertens died in hospital on 9 December 2022, at the age of 76.