Leen Vente

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Leendert Roelof Jan “Leen” Vente (14 May 1911 – 9 November 1989) was a Dutch footballer who played as a striker. He earned 21 caps for the Netherlands national team and scored 19 goals, and he took part in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups.

He started in Rotterdam youth clubs Semper Melior and Pro Patria, then played for Neptunus (1928–1936), before joining Feyenoord (1936–1941). At Feyenoord he made 82 league appearances and scored 65 goals. He was part of the opening match of De Kuip in 1937, scoring the first goal in the stadium and finishing with a hat-trick in a 5–2 win over Beerschot. In 1941 he returned to Neptunus, where he played until 1948. He earned his coaching license in 1943.

As a manager, Vente led NOAD (1950–1954), EBOH (1955–1956), VOC (1956–1957), Xerxes (1957), Neptunus (1958–1959), and Slikkerveer (1959–1960), and was connected with MSV en AV Flakkee as well. He also worked as a representative and owned cafés, including Café Leen Vente, which he ran three times; one was lost during the German bombing of Rotterdam. After World War II he was briefly detained by the Political Investigation Service on charges of recruiting from his café, but he was rehabilitated and found to have prevented collaboration with the Axis powers.

Leen Vente died in Rotterdam in 1989. His family continues in football: his brother’s grandson Dylan Vente plays for Heerenveen and started his career with Feyenoord.