{{short description|Dutch footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox football biography |name = Mick Clavan |image = Mick Clavan (1964).jpg |image_size = 175 |caption = Clavan in 1964 |fullname = Matthijs Clavan |birth_date = {{birth date|1929|3|11|df=y}} |birth_place = The Hague, Netherlands |death_date = {{death date and age|1983|7|11|1929|3|11|df=y}} |death_place = The Hague, Netherlands |height = |position = Left winger / Inside left |youthyears1 = |youthclubs1 = RVC Rijswijk |years1 = 1943–1954 |clubs1 = ADO |caps1 = |goals1 = |years2 = 1954–1956 |clubs2 = SHS |caps2 = |goals2 = |years3 = 1956–1963 |clubs3 = ADO |caps3 = 213 |goals3 = 39 |years4 = 1963–1966 |clubs4 = Holland Sport |caps4 = 85 |goals4 = 9 |totalcaps = |totalgoals = |nationalyears1 = 1948–1965 |nationalteam1 = Netherlands |nationalcaps1 = 27 |nationalgoals1 = 7 }}
'''Matthijs''' "'''Mick'''" '''Clavan''' (11 March 1929 – 11 July 1983) was a Dutch footballer.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/clavan-intlg.html|title=Matthijs "Mick" Clavan - Goals in International Matches|website=RSSSF|access-date=28 April 2014}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web |url=http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/19409.html |title=Player profile |website=National-Football-Teams.com |access-date=18 April 2014}}</ref> He enjoyed a long career on both club and international level, currently having the third longest international career in the history of the national team with nearly seventeen years.<ref name=":1" /> He played on the left side of the pitch, mainly as a left winger and inside left, but later in his career also as left midfielder and left back.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=http://www.voetballegends.nl/profile.php?id=8|title=Mick Clavan|access-date=7 September 2016|publisher=Voetballegends|language=Dutch}}</ref>
==Club career== Born in The Hague, Matthijs Clavan started his club career with RVC Rijswijk before moving to ADO.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/cl/mick-clavan-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418091825/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/cl/mick-clavan-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2020|title=Mick Clavan Bio, Stats, and Results|date=|access-date=8 September 2016|publisher=SportsReference.com|language=}}</ref> At the age of 15, he acquired the nickname Mick, as his speed and cunning playing style drew comparisons with Mickey Mouse.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.trouw.nl/voorpagina/bijzondere-verslagen-3-slot~ba72848c/|title=Bijzondere verslagen (3-slot)|newspaper=Trouw|language=nl|first=Matty|last=Verkamman|date=6 January 2001|access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite web|url=http://www.onsoranje.nl/nieuws/artikel/6272/twee-maanden-cel-toch-oranje?type=team|title=Twee maanden cel, toch in Oranje|date=12 November 2010|access-date=7 September 2016|publisher=OnsOranje|language=Dutch}}</ref> Aside from his footballing skills, Clavan also showed a capricious character, such as when in 1951, while on military service, he insulted a sergeant and was convicted to two months in jail.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/5009/Archief/article/detail/2771121/2001/01/06/Bijzondere-verslagen-3-slot.dhtml|first=Matty|last=Verkamman|title=Bijzondere verslagen (3-slot)|date=6 January 2001|access-date=8 September 2016|publisher=Trouw|language=Dutch}}</ref>
In 1954, professionalism was introduced to Dutch football, which prompted Clavan to move to the newly formed "paid club" SHS.<ref name=":4" /> Here, he formed a successful partnership with fellow left-sided forward Bertus de Harder.<ref name=":3" /> In 1956, he returned to ADO, which also had begun to pay its players.<ref name=":4" /> During the 1956–57 season, he helped ADO to achieve promotion to the Eredivisie.<ref name=":4" /> He also helped them reach the final of the KNVB Cup in 1959.<ref name=":4" /> In 1962, he returned to SHS (later renamed Holland Sport), which was by then playing in the second division.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> He retired at the age of 37.<ref name=":3" />
==International career== On 26 May 1948, aged 19, Clavan made his debut for the Dutch national side, scoring once in a 2–1 away win against Norway.<ref name=":1" /> He was subsequently selected for the Dutch squad at that year's Summer Olympics, but did not make an appearance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/26645 |title=Mick Clavan |work=Olympedia |access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{FIFA|291286}}</ref> By the end of 1950, he had gained 12 caps,<ref name=":1" /> but due to his fickle character, Clavan's international appearances became more scattered after that.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> He was selected for the 1952 Summer Olympics, where he played in the Netherlands' only match, a 1–5 defeat against Brazil.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" />
On 3 April 1957, Clavan gained his 24th cap in a 1–2 home defeat against West Germany.<ref name=":1" /> He would subsequently not be called up for more than five and a half years, until November 1962, when Elek Schwartz recalled Clavan, by now 33 years old and playing for a second-tier club, for a European Championship qualifier against Switzerland.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> He helped the team win the home match 3–1.<ref name=":1" /> Almost two years later, in October 1964, Clavan was recalled again, this time for a World Championship qualifier against Albania.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> With him, the Netherlands won this away match 2–0.<ref name=":1" /> Clavan gained his final cap on 26 January 1965, aged 35, as a substitute for Klaas Nuninga in a 1–0 away win against Israel.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> In total, he earned 27 caps, in which he scored 7 goals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=3666|title=Mick Clavan, international football player|access-date=25 May 2026|website=EU-football.info}}</ref>
Clavan's international career lasted 16 years and 245 days, which makes him currently the footballer with the fourth longest ''Oranje'' career, after Abe Lenstra (19 years and 19 days), Bertus de Harder (16 years and 363 days) and Maarten Stekelenburg (16 years and 9 months).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/de-goddelijke-kale-speelde-slechts-n-wk-wedstrijd|title=De Goddelijke Kale speelde slechts één WK-wedstrijd|website=Voetbal International|language=nl|first=|last=|date=23 May 2026|access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref>
==Later life and death== thumb|Clavan (below, right) with other former Dutch internationals in 1969|rightAfter retiring, Clavan managed amateur team Ooievaars.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ad.nl/regiosport-den-haag/de-joodse-vereniging-de-ooievaars-heeft-een-sympathieke-plaats-in-het-haagse-voetballandschap~a84a3199/|title=De Joodse vereniging De Ooievaars heeft een sympathieke plaats in het Haagse voetballandschap|newspaper=Algemeen Dagblad|language=nl|first=Mario|last=van der Ende|date=9 May 2022|access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref>On 11 July 1983, he died as a result of a heart attack.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8">{{cite web|url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/sport/lunchroom~a513520/|first=|last=|title=Lunchroom|date=4 September 1997|access-date=8 September 2016|publisher=de Volkskrant|language=Dutch}}</ref> He was 54 years old.<ref name=":5" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.ererat.nl/asp/ererat_spelerpaspoort.asp?spelerid=471&AndereDivs=1 Mick Clavan] at Ererat {{in lang|nl}}
{{Navboxes |bg= #F1771D |fg= white |title= Netherlands squads |list1= {{Netherlands Squad 1948 Summer Olympics}} {{Netherlands football squad 1952 Summer Olympics}} }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clavan, Mick}} Category:1929 births Category:1983 deaths Category:Footballers from The Hague Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Men's association football wingers Category:Dutch men's footballers Category:Netherlands men's international footballers Category:ADO Den Haag players Category:SVV Scheveningen players Category:Olympic footballers for the Netherlands Category:Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Category:Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Category:Eredivisie players Category:Eerste Divisie players Category:20th-century Dutch sportsmen