Nineteen players aged 35 or over are currently under contract with clubs in the Dutch top division, representing 3.8 percent of all players, according to the figures cited. Seventeen have played this season. FC Utrecht forward Nordin Amrabat, aged 39 years and 222 days, is the oldest player to have appeared, followed by NEC midfielder Tjaronn Chery at 38 years and 157 days. Remko Pasveer, who turns 43, is the oldest contracted player but is expected to be on the bench for FC Twente against Ajax. At NEC, Chery is joined by Dusan Tadic, Bram Nuytinck and Bryan Linssen among the over-35s.

KNVB doctor Edwin Goedhart attributed longer careers to improved medical supervision, training, nutrition, recovery and sleep management, as well as players’ experience and ability to read matches. He also said the increase in substitutions, from three to five in a match, introduced during the 2020 coronavirus crisis gave coaches more room to use older players. The same trend was reported at the recent World Cup, where 72 players aged 35 or over took part, compared with seven in 1990.