Kevin van Veen

Kevin van Veen (born 1 June 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Groningen.

A youth product of PSV Eindhoven, van Veen had to work his way through the Dutch leagues, playing for Helmond Sport, Dijkse Boys, UDI '19, JVC Cuijk and FC Oss. Scoring double figure goals each season, van Veen earnt a move to English League One club, Scunthorpe United. Van Veen spent a year a Cambuur, on loan, and a year at Northampton Town before returning to Scunthorpe.

After being released by Scunthorpe at the end of 2020–21 season, van Veen joined Scottish Premiership side Motherwell. In his second season, van Veen was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year and was nominated for the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award.

Early career
Born in Eindhoven, Netherlands, van Veen started out playing football at PSV. He spent six years at the academy before being released by PSV, due to his height – this broke a teenage van Veen, who opted to just play amateur football and began plastering. He was tempted back into the professional game by Helmond Sport in 2005. He was promoted to the first team in 2010. He went on to make six appearances for Helmond Sport. Van Veen would go on to play for Dijkse Boys, UDI '19 and JVC Cuijk. In each season, van Veen would score over 15 goals, earning him a move back into the Eerste Divisie.

FC Oss
In July 2014, it was announced that FC Oss had signed van Veen on a one–year contract.

After making his FC Oss debut, van Veen scored a hat–trick in the next game on 15 August 2014, in a 3–0 win over RKC Waalwijk. van Veen then scored consecutively on two occasions; the first one came when he scored two goals in two games between 25 August and 30 August against VVV-Venlo and De Graafschap and the second one came when he scored three goals in three games between 3 October and 26 October against MVV Maastricht, Eindhoven and N.E.C. He then scored his second FC Oss hat–trick but was sent–off for the second bookable offence, in a 5–4 win over Fortuna Sittard on 12 December. After returning from suspension, van Veen scored his third FC Oss hat–trick on 23 January 2015, in a 4–1 win over Almere City. Amid to scoring sixteen goals in twenty–one appearances, van Veen was linked a move away from FC Oss, attracting interests from English clubs in League One.

Scunthorpe United
In the January transfer window, van Veen was a subject of a transfer bid from English side Scunthorpe United on 28 January 2015. The move was confirmed on 30 January, with van Veen signing a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

On 7 February, van Veen made his Scunthorpe United debut, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Oldham Athletic. A week later, he scored his first goal for the club by chipping past Wes Foderingham, in a 3–1 win over Swindon Town. After the match, Manager Mark Robins commented on his first goal, quoting: "His goal was joy to behold. He is a really confident lad and confident in his ability to put the ball in the net." He scored again on 21 March, in a 3–1 loss against Rochdale. At the end of the 2014–15 season, van Veen went on to make twenty appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.

At the start of the 2015–16 season, van Veen remained a first team regular at the club despite being featured most of the first half of the season on the substitute bench. However, in a 0–0 draw against Millwall on 22 August, he suffered a head injury and had to be substituted in the second half as a result. Eventually, he recovered in time for the match against Colchester United on 29 August, and scored in a 2–2 draw. This earned him the club's Goal of the Month for August. His second goal came on 10 October, in a 4–2 win over Oldham Athletic. However, van Veen soon lost his first team place throughout the first half of the season. Although he was loaned out for the second half of the season, he went on to make twenty–five appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.

Ahead of the 2016–17 season, van Veen was given a number ten shirt for the new season. He started the 2016–17 season when he scored in the opening game of the season, in a 3–1 win over Bristol Rovers. van Veen also scored four goals throughout August against Notts County (twice), Fleetwood Town (in which he was later voted Goal of the Season) and Gillingham. van Veen then established himself in the first team for the side this season, forming a striking partnership with Paddy Madden. By the end of 2016, he scored four league goals for the side and his performance attracted interest from Chinese Super League side Henan Jianye, who had their £4 million bid rejected. Manager Graham Alexander confirmed that the bid had been rejected, citing his desire to keep him. Despite this, van Veen continued to remain in the first team for the rest of the 2016–17 season, in which he scored two more goals against Charlton Athletic and Coventry City. His goal against Coventry City earned him April's Goal of the Month. Although he made forty–two appearances and scoring twelve times in all competitions, van Veen played an important role at the club this season for "his more than capable of providing an attacking threat from the position".

Cambuur (loan)
In January 2016, van Veen was subsequently loaned out to SC Cambuur for the rest of the 2015–16 season. It came after when he became a replacement for the departing Bartholomew Ogbeche.

On 7 February, van Veen made his SC Cambuur debut, where he started the whole game, in a 2–0 loss against Groningen. It was not until on 2 April when he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–2 draw against De Graafschap. Although he scored once, van Veen became a first team regular, making twelve appearances for the club.

Northampton Town
On 30 January 2018, van Veen signed for fellow League One side Northampton Town on a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club on 3 February, coming off the bench in a 1–0 defeat at home to Rochdale. He would go on to make 10 appearances for Northampton in the 2017–18 season, but did not get on the scoresheet as Northampton were relegated to EFL League Two.

Van Veen started the season in fine form for Northampton scoring in his first match of the season in a 2–2 draw with Carlisle United, before following this up with a brace the following week in another 2–2 draw, this time with Cambridge United. He made his last appearance for the club in a 2–1 defeat to Forest Green Rovers on 1 January 2019. He played 38 times in total for Northampton and scored ten goals over two seasons.

Return to Scunthorpe United
On 1 January 2019, van Veen returned to Scunthorpe United for an undisclosed fee following a spell with Northampton Town. He played fourteen games, for Scunthorpe, in the 2018–19 season and only scored once. Scunthorpe United were relegated from League One. His next season, in League Two, saw him play 27 league games and score ten goals. He also scored three goals in six cup competitions, including a brace against a strong Manchester City U21s side. In this game, he was also involved in some controversy with Taylor Harwood-Bellis, van Veen pushed the youngster into some hoardings and then van Veen claimed he "cashed [him] up" by saying "[Harwood-Bellis] had more money than [van Veen]." Harwood-Bellis denied the claims and eventually Pep Guardiola publicly defended Harwood-Bellis.

Despite a strong season from van Veen, Scunthorpe were in a relegation battle. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was cancelled and a point-per-game format helped Scunthorpe survive relegation. In the next season, van Veen started well, scoring twice in two games, but would go goalless for the rest of the season and Scunthorpe were once again in a relegation battle. They avoided relegation by just one place. Following an extremely underwhelming 2020–21 season, van Veen decided to not renew his contract, deciding instead to become a free agent.

Motherwell
On 2 July 2021, van Veen signed for Scottish Premiership side Motherwell. His move there saw him reunited with ex-Scunthorpe manager, Graham Alexander. He made his debut in a 1–0 win against Queen's Park in the Scottish League Cup, and made his Scottish Premier League debut (and scored his first goal) in a 3–2 loss to Hibernian. Despite losing the game, former Scotland internationals Steven Naismith and Chris Iwelumo praised van Veen's performance. Iwelumo commented that "[van Veen] was outstanding", while Naismith remarked "it all seemed to click" for the striker on his debut. On 12 February 2022, van Veen scored in a 2–1 victory to Aberdeen. After the game, van Veen claimed the Aberdeen defenders – specifically Declan Gallagher and David Bates, punched him in the ribs in an attempt to provoke a reaction. Van Veen claimed there were similar actions in Motherwell's 2–0 victory over Aberdeen earlier in the year – suggesting Scott Brown tried provoking him to get him sent off. In his debut campaign, van Veen scored 9 goals in 32 league appearances as Motherwell finished fifth in the 2021–22 season.

On 26 July 2022, van Veen signed a one-year extension to his contract, keeping him at Motherwell until the summer of 2024. van Veen opened his account for the season on the opening day, in a 1–0 victory against St Mirren. van Veen has scored 25 goals, from 40 appearances, in all competitions, including hattricks against Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County. From 4 March to 28 May 2023, van Veen scored in every game – the first time a Motherwell player scored in seven consecutive league games since Dixie Deans in the 1968–69 season. On 25 May, by scoring in ten league games consecutively, he equaled Motherwell's top-flight consecutive scoring record set in 1920 by Hughie Ferguson. He also equaled the consecutive scoring record of modern era Scottish football held by Mark Viduka and Marco Negri. On 28 May, he scored in the final game of the 2022–23 season, and set a new league and club record by scoring in eleven games consecutively. Similar to the end of 2016, another Chinese Super League club, this time Changchun Yatai, had offered Motherwell a six figure sum for the striker, but this offer was turned down. For his goal scoring heroics, van Veen was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year and was nominated for the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award.

Groningen
In June 2023 it was announced that Van Veen would return to the Netherlands and join FC Groningen, relegated from the Eredivisie to Eerste Divisie, for the 2023–24 season.

Van Veen returned to Scottish football soon afterwards, joining Kilmarnock on loan on 1 February 2024.

Personal life
Van Veen grew up supporting PSV Eindhoven and idolising Ruud van Nistelrooy, who managed van Veen while the two of them were at PSV. When he was released by PSV, he was ready to give up on the professional game and instead began working as a plasterer, working for a friend's company and sometimes going out on jobs prior to attending training.