Draft:Herman van Diermen

Hermanus "Manus" van Diermen (Baarn, 26 September 1895 – 14 October 1946) was a Dutch football player.

He played with VV Baarn, Blauw-Wit Amsterdam and the Dutch national team. His nickname was "Het Kanon" ('the canon').

Biography
Van Diermen was born in 1895 as the son of Gerardus van Diermen and Geertruida van Rouwendaal. He married to Johanna Maria Dijs.

Van Diermen became the first ever international footballer for Blauw-Wit in 1920. He made this debut on 5 April 1920 in Amsterdam against Denmark in the match that was won. He had good technical movements, a very good overview and especially great left sided shots. In total Manus played five matches for the national team between 1920 and 1921. In September 1920 it was announced he would possibly move from Blauw-Wit to De Spartaan, but as of December 1922 he stil played with Blauw-Wit. A knee injury plagued him and in 1923 he had to retire as a football player. Van Diermen played a total of 128 matches with Blauw-Wit. He received numerous offers to become a trainer and signed a contract with B.V.C. (Bussum).

On 14 October 1946, Van Diermen died at the age of 51 in Baarn. In newspaper Algemeen Dagblad of 15 October 1946, he was mentioned as a: “by chance forgotten footballer”. On 18 October 1946 he was buried at the de Nieuwe Algemene Begraafplaats in Baarn. The financial situation of his family was so bad that on 31 oktober 1946, the newspaper 'Het Volk' appealed to football friends to help Van Diermen's family. Ultimately, a "Fonds Van Diermen" ('Van Diermen relief fund') was founded.

In 1948 the “Van Diermen veteran tournament” was held in memory of him.