Internationals: none

Biog

A tall and powerful centre back Jos Hooiveld arrived from AIK Solna as a replacement for the maligned Gary Caldwell.

A reported transfer fee of £1.4 million was paid for the Dutch defender who was brought to Parkhead in the hope of adding some much needed tenacity to the Hoops backline.

Before opting for Celtic Hooiveld sought the advice of Johan Mjallby, who made the same journey some 11 years previously. While it is to be hoped that the Dutchman will emulate the performances of defensive rock Mjallby, he has arrived at Celtic Park by a more circuitous route.

Mjallby joined after many years as captain of AIK (albeit punctuated by two serious injuries) and as an established international player with Sweden. In contrast Hooiveld had been at AIK for just one season after a spell in Finland.

He received an early-season runaround from Henrik Larsson in April 2009, as AIK crashed to a 3-0 home defeat to Helsingborgs. Henrik's young protégé Rasmus Jonsson grabbed a hat trick. But improvement followed and AIK eventually won the Allsvenskan conceding just 20 goals in 30 games.

A final day win over Teddy Bjarnason's IFK Gothenburg on 1 November 2009 sealed a League and Cup double, with Hooiveld voted Player of the Year.

His footballing odyssey began with youth teams Achilles 1894 and Emmen before he joined Heerenveen in 2001. Sporadic appearances followed his 2003 debut, but with centre back pairing Petter Hansson and Michel Breuer proving difficult to shift, the young Hooiveld was often shunted to left back.

At Heerenveen his path crossed with two precocious strikers named Georgios Samaras and Klaas Jan Huntelaar. One of whom became an international superstar playing for Real Madrid and AC Milan. I'll let you guess which.

He was loaned to second division FC Zwolle for half of 2004/05 and the entire 2005/06 campaign, reportedly failing a trial with Livingston in between.

Then he spent an unhappy first half of 2006/07 with Austrian second division minnows Kapfenberger SV. This preceded the move to Finland with Inter Turku where he began to blossom, winning the Player of the Year in each of his two seasons. After scooping a Veikkausliiga winners' medal in 2008 he moved on to AIK and further success.

Hooiveld had come to Celtic from the Swedish close season and it would take him several weeks to obtain match fitness. When he did he was given his debut in the league clash at Hamilton on January 30th and his presence helped the Celts claim a 1-0 victory.

Against the Accies, Jos had looked unfussy but commanding and his robust style certainly gave the Celtic defence a resilience and confidence they had lacked for sometime. Hooiveld's introduction had given renewed hope for the title race but this optimism was to be cruelly robbed in the very next game when Jos was injured and Celtic fell 1-0 at Kilmarnock.

Hooiveld's absence robbed Celtic of a potentially key figure in the hunt for the title and after late goals at Aberdeen and Rangers all but ended the Hoops distant title dreams one can only wonder what would have happened if the Dutchman had been fit and available.

At the start of the 2010/11 campaign Hooiveld seemed to be manager Neil Lennon's first-choice centre half. But in early games he looked a little rusty and having played & failed in the embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Braga it didn't help his cause.. He was unable to establish a partnership, Lennon at first preferring Majstorovic and Loovens before settling on Majstorovic and Rogne or Mulgrew. Stories abounded of fall-outs with the management which didn't help. Taking in that the club was unable to manage and sort out a central defence for many years after numerous combinations, the problem alone wasn't Hooijveld.

The announcement of the signing of Kelvin Wilson on a pre-contract agreement in January 2011 seemed to signal the end to Hooiveld's Celtic career, and he was loaned out to Denmark's FC Kobenhavn for the second half of the 2010/11 season.

Having played no games at the start of season 2011-2012, Jos was loaned out to Southampton on a loan deal, and after a good period there the deal was made permanent in Dec 2011. The final deal size was undisclosed (as has become increasingly the case) but Sky Sports estimated just below £2m! If true then it's an incredible return taking in his lack of first team matches. Probably the true figure was actually lower.

We had to have a fresh start in the squad with a bit of a clear-out. Jos was to be just another on this list. It wasn't to be for Jos but in fairness he possibly was as good (or better) as some of the other incumbents who had played at Centre-half for Celtic over the past 5 seasons or so. Celtic just could not get it right in defence.

At least he left on a fair note: "Wish I'd done better up north, never really got to my level. Still feel gutted abt it, but sometimes things just don't work out as planned. Still want to say I had an amazing time in the cold and rainy but Celtic-mad city! Honour to be part of the Celtic family!" - Jos on Twitter (1 Dec 2011).

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Celtic sign Dutch Defender Jos Hooiveld

Newsroom Staff CELTIC Football Club are delighted to announce the signing of Jos Hooiveld from AIK Stockholm on a three-and-a-half-year contract. The 26-year-old Dutch defender has been with the Swedish side for the past year and helped them to win the league and cup. Hooiveld began his career with Heerenveen, and after three years at the club, during which time he also had a loan spell at Dutch second division side FC Zwolle, he moved to Austrian side Kapfenberger SV.

After a season there, he joined Finnish club Inter Turku, where two impressive seasons earned him a move to AIK Stockholm.

Speaking to the official Celtic website, Jos Hooiveld said: “I’m delighted to sign for a club of Celtic's stature. Celtic has a magnificent history and is a club with great tradition and great supporters.

“Having visited the club and spoken to the manager, I feel this is the right place for me and I am very much looking forward to meeting up with my new team-mates and hopefully playing my part in bringing success to the club and our fans.”

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray said: “We are very pleased to welcome Jos to Celtic. He is a player who we believe can make an important contribution to the club and someone we look forward to working with.”

Jos Hooiveld joins FC Copenhagen on loan

By: Newsroom Staff on 18 Jan, 2011 21:23
JOS Hooiveld has joined FC Copenhagen on loan until the end of the season. The defender joined Celtic in January 2010 and has made nine appearances for the club.

Everyone at Celtic wishes Jos every success during his loan spell in Denmark.

Southampton complete deal for Celtic's Jos Hooiveld

BBC