Abe Lenstra

Abe Lenstra's football journey began on the streets of Heerenveen, where he honed his skills playing informal games. He also played for his school football team, showcasing his early talent. At the age of 12, Syd Castle, the Scottish coach of FF Heerenveen, sought permission from Lenstra's father to allow him to join the club's youth setup. In 1936, at just 15 years old, Lenstra joined the club's top team. His first appearance for Heerenveen came alongside his older brother, Jan, in the club’s second team. On 1 March 1936, they played against Alcides from Meppel, with Abe scoring three goals and Jan scoring six, but despite the impressive performance, Abe missed out on a move to the first team.^[8]

Abe Lenstra's football career spanned several clubs, including SC Enschede, Enschedese Boys, PH: DOS '19, WSV, DOS Kampen and vv LTC. However, it was at VV Heerenveen (the previous name of current day SC Heerenveen) where he gained national prominence and earned a spot on the Dutch national team.Abe Lenstra made his debut for Heerenveen on 16 July 1936, during a tournament featuring clubs from Gorredijk, Noordwolde, Drachten, and Heerenveen. In his first match for the club against Gorredijk, which ended in a 2–2 draw, Lenstra scored a goal that Hepkema's Courant described as a "wonderful goal." Lenstra's most notable performances were with Heerenveen, including his legendary comeback performance against Ajax in 1950, where his team was trailing 5–1 at halftime, only to win 6–5 by the end of the match. This incredible performance solidified his status as one of the Netherlands' footballing icons. In 1954, when professional football was introduced in the Netherlands, the already 34-year-old Abe Lenstra made the move from VV Heerenveen to the much larger SC Enschede. Despite his skill, he narrowly missed out on winning the Eredivisie title when Enschede lost the 1958 final to DOS Utrecht after 180 minutes of play. In 1960, he made the move to the rivals Enschedese Boys, where he ended his professional career in 1963.

Abe Lenstra became the first Friesian footballer to play for the Netherlands national team on 31 March 1940, at just 19 years old, in a 5–4 loss to Luxembourg, where he scored a goal. Over his international career, he earned 47 caps and scored 33 goals,^[9] forming key partnerships with players like Faas Wilkes and Kees Rijvers. Lenstra was known for standing by his principles, refusing to play for the national team if not selected for his preferred position.

It was Lenstra who put the name of SC Heerenveen on the footballing map, and the club became affectionately known as "Abeveen" in his honour. Long after his retirement, in 1977, he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage, which left him using a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. Lenstra passed away in 1985, just a few days before the first-ever international match was played at the stadium that would be named after him a year later.

Today, his name has been closely associated with SC Heerenveen and its stadium: The Abe Lenstra Stadion has been named in his honour as a lasting memorial.

Scores and results list Netherlands's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lenstra goal.

List of international goals scored by Abe Lenstra

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	31 March 1940	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Luxembourg	1–0	4–5	Friendly	[13]
2	21 September 1947	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Switzerland	1–0	6–2	Friendly	[14]
3	14 March 1948	Bosuilstadion, Antwerp, Belgium	Belgium	1–0	1–1	Friendly	[15]
4	18 April 1948	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Belgium	2–2	2–2	Friendly	[16]
5	13 March 1949	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Belgium	—	3–3	Friendly	[17]
6	12 June 1949	Københavns Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1–0	2–1	Friendly	[18]
7	11 June 1950	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	1–3	1–4	Friendly	[19]
8	15 April 1951	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Belgium	4–3	5–4	Friendly	[20]
9				5–3
10	6 June 1951	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Norway	2–2	2–3	Friendly	[21]
11	27 October 1951	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Finland	1–0	4–4	Friendly	[22]
12	25 November 1951	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Belgium	1–2	6–7	Friendly	[23]
13				3–3
14				4–4
15	21 September 1952	Københavns Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	2–0	2–3	Friendly	[24]
16	19 October 1952	Bosuilstadion, Antwerp, Belgium	Belgium	—	1–2	Friendly	[25]
17	7 March 1953	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Denmark	1–2	1–2	Friendly	[26]
18	22 March 1953	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Switzerland	1–1	1–2	Friendly	[27]
19	13 March 1955	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Denmark	1–1	1–1	Friendly	[28]
20	14 March 1956	Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany	West Germany	1–0	2–1	Friendly	[29]
21				2–0
22	6 June 1956	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Saar	2–0	3–2	Friendly	[30]
23	15 September 1956	Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–0	3–2	Friendly	[31]
24	11 September 1957	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Luxembourg	1–1	5–2	1958 FIFA World Cup qualification	[32]
25				3–1
26	25 September 1957	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Austria	1–1	1–1	1958 FIFA World Cup qualification	[33]
27	13 April 1958	Bosuilstadion, Antwerp, Belgium	Belgium	1–0	7–2	Friendly	[citation needed]
28				4–0
29	23 April 1948	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Netherlands Antilles	4–0	8–1	Friendly	[34]
30				8–0
31	15 October 1958	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Denmark	4–0	5–1	Friendly	[35]
32				5–1
33	19 April 1959	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Belgium	1–2	2–2	Friendly	[36]

Heerenveen

• Northern First Division: 1941–42, 1942–43, 1943–44, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51
• Netherlands Football League Championship Runner-up: 1946–47, 1947–48

SC Enschede

• Eredivisie Runner-up: 1957–58

Individual

• Netherlands national team all-time top scorer: 1958–1959^[37]
• Dutch Sportsman of the Year: 1951, 1952
• Netherlands Football League Championship top scorer: 1946–47, 1947–48

• List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals