What really happened that season at Willem II (1981/82)

Mental strength in football sounds abstract. Something you read or talk about. Until circumstances become unpredictable and put your own choices to the test. That is when it really matters. That is the challenge. My time at Willem II showed me a new, challenging side to life behind the scenes in professional football.

It is not just what happens on the pitch that matters, but everything around it. A new environment, expectations, pressure, choices and situations you cannot always influence. Such as serious financial problems at the club that can directly affect your career.

The dynamics that make the difference

Moving to Willem II meant starting all over again. New city, new club, new people. I lived alone in a flat high up in a tower block and had to build everything from scratch again.

One thing struck me straight away: many of the Dutch players spoke excellent English. That made settling in a little easier at first. You can communicate, and you feel part of the group more quickly.

But I soon realised something important.

If you really want to be part of a team, you need to understand more than just the instructions on the pitch. The dynamics that make the difference happen behind the scenes. In conversations, in humour, in dressing-room grumbles,  in relationships between players.

Those conversations were… in Dutch.

I realised I was still missing important nuances.

That was a turning point for me. I knew that if I wanted to play a full part here, I had to learn to speak Dutch properly. And quickly, too. Because it is precisely that communication between players that determines how a team functions.

Jimmy Calderwood

Then there was the other new arrival from abroad, Jimmy Calderwood, from Glasgow, Scotland. He would later become one of my best friends.

Everyone spoke good English… except Jimmy. Or rather, he spoke English, but in such a way that even I, as an Englishman, could barely follow him!

I remember looking at him and saying “Jim, please slow down. Could you speak English a bit more slowly? I honestly cannot understand a word you are saying.”

He looked at me as though the problem was entirely mine.

I told him: “Mate, I need subtitles when you talk…”

But after a few months, I suddenly began to understand him. Not because he had changed, but because I was getting better at making sense of that strange language of his. I made an effort to understand him, and it worked.

That is often exactly how it works in football: you have to make an effort to understand one another.

Turning heading practice into a weapon

On the pitch, we trained hard during that period. One particular exercise has always stayed with me: heading practice on what we called the gallows.

For anyone unfamiliar with it, this was a training frame with a ball hanging from a rope that kept swinging round. If you headed the ball properly, it came back round to you; if you missed, it did not. My challenge was to make good contact ten times in a row.

That sounds simple, but it was not.

You needed timing. Concentration. Strength. Courage. And, above all, plenty of repetition.

I worked on it for months. After about three months, I managed that run of ten good headers in a row. That gave me confidence. Not just in the exercise itself, but in matches too.

Heading became an important weapon in my game as a result. It certainly contributed to my goal return that season.

A word of caution is needed here. This kind of intensive heading practice is no longer used in the same way today. Our understanding of the potential risks of repeated heading has changed. There is now much greater awareness of the relationship between heading, head impacts and possible brain injury later in life. In my day, it received less attention.

What was normal in professional football then would be viewed differently now. That, too, is part of the reality behind the scenes in football: understanding evolves, and good coaching means continuing to learn.

The realisation

Another reality was that my first seven games for Willem II were poor.

I mean really poor, and  I knew it myself.

The criticism from the crowd was justified.

At the same time, there was something else going on: Willem II had a popular young local striker, and the supporters wanted to see him play. They felt I was not earning my money as a professional.

You feel that.

And it only adds to the pressure.

That is exactly where mental strength in football begins. Not when everything is going well, but when things go against you. That is when it really counts.

After yet another defeat, we had a valuable conversation. Everything was laid on the table. Players spoke openly, honestly and directly. And I had my say too: “Then give me the ball so I can score!”

Afterwards, we went out for a meal together.

That moment changed something. The air had been cleared, and we became a proper team. My relationships with the players grew stronger, and I fitted in well. We respected one another. After every match, win or lose, we did not go straight home but stayed together to talk things through. A sort of debrief, you could say.

For that little while, the players’ wives and girlfriends were not involved. I remember  one occasion when a player’s wife, a rather domineering character, walked into the dressing room and ordered her husband, in front of the other players, to come home immediately. Big mistake. The team politely but firmly showed her the door: “He’ll be along later, not now.” I do not know how things went at home afterwards, but it showed  how strong our team spirit was and how much it mattered to us.

Taking it onto the pitch

The match that followed shortly afterwards was the game of the season: at home against our rivals NAC.

We won 2–0.

I played well and scored twice. It felt as though a huge mental weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

21 goals for Willem II

We secured our safety with three games left in the season, away at Go Ahead Eagles.

I finished that season with 21 goals for Willem II. That made me the third-highest scorer in the entire Eredivisie that year, behind Kees Kist and Wim Kieft. And to this day, I still hold the record for the most goals in a single season at Willem II. I owed a great deal during that period to midfielder Toon Nelemans, who had an incredible left foot. He understood my game so well and provided perfect assists. His support, vision and trust meant a great deal at the time.

Drama behind the scenes

On the pitch, then, it was  a strong year. But behind the scenes, a drama was unfolding... Willem II were in serious financial trouble. As full-time professionals, Jimmy Calderwood and I, along with two other players, were entitled to a substantial sum from the club through a statutory contribution to the players’ fund. That payment never came.

In theory, we could have taken tough action. Had we insisted on our rights, we could even have had the club declared bankrupt.

But that is not something you do lightly.

Not when you know what is at stake. Not just for yourself, but for the team, the staff and the players’ families.

We waived that payment.

My transfer fee was eventually used to cover part of the club’s huge financial shortfall as well. That helped Willem II survive and continue in the Eredivisie.

I then went my own way – once again – heading north. FC Groningen wanted me. It did not take me long to pack my bags: I was finished in Tilburg, and finished with it.

Looking deeper

When I look back on that season, I see lessons that go beyond football:

• Adapting is essential, on and off the pitch
• Language determines whether you truly become part of a team
• The foundations are laid behind the scenes
• Trust and teamwork make performance possible
• Sometimes football demands choices that are bigger than you

And perhaps the most important lesson: you learn the most during the times when nothing comes easily.

In short

Mental strength in football is not just about performing on the pitch, but about how you deal with everything happening behind the scenes. In the end,  my time at Willem II was a season of two halves. On one side, progress on the pitch, goals and recognition. On the other, uncertainty, pressure and a departure that did not go as I had hoped. A season in which everything came together: development, responsibility and harsh reality.

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FAQ

What does Rob McDonald mean by mental strength in football?
For Rob McDonald, mental strength in football is not just about performing under pressure. Above all, it means dealing with setbacks, criticism, uncertainty and situations behind the scenes that you cannot always control.

Why was language so important at Willem II?
Language determined whether Rob could truly become part of the team. It was not just the instructions on the pitch that mattered, but also the conversations, humour, tension and relationships in the dressing room.

What role did heading practice play during Rob’s time at Willem II?
Heading practice became an important part of Rob’s development as a striker. Intensive repetition improved his timing, confidence and goalscoring ability, although he now looks back on it with a more nuanced view given today’s understanding of head impacts.

Why was the season at Willem II demanding both on the pitch and emotionally?
Rob scored 21 goals and finished third in the Eredivisie scoring charts. At the same time, there were financial problems at the club, pressure from supporters and decisions that went beyond his own career.

What can young footballers learn from Rob’s time at Willem II?
Young players can learn that success is not just about talent. Adapting, communicating, building trust, handling criticism and making decisions under pressure are every bit as important.

Where can I listen to more stories from Rob McDonald?
You can hear more stories and lessons from professional football in the video podcast The Next Goal™ via RobMcPro.com.