Verbruggen: People doubted me and van Hecke, we proved them wrong

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Dutch duo come from humble beginnings.

Charlie Hanson

2025-09-09T06:30+01:00

Jan Paul van Hecke and Bart Verbruggen are both internationals for the Netherlands. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

It’s got Albion quiz question vibes. “Aside from Brighton, which club have Jan Paul van Hecke and Bart Verbruggen both played for?”

And even then, only Jan Paul played for NAC Breda’s first team, while Bart would have to make a name for himself by crossing the Netherlands/Belgium border to play for Anderlecht.

“He played one age group above me for Breda, and he went into the first team a bit quicker than I did,” our Dutch goalkeeper revealed. “But I just remember when training sometimes with his age group that they had a very good team at the time, a very strong team. You could always see Jan Paul’s quality in possession. Obviously, he got a lot better, even though he was already good!

“Most people might not know this, but he used to take penalties at NAC. I remember him scoring some penalties in front of the NAC ultras – the celebrations were always nice! Their fans are really lively and obsessed with the club and the game. I remember him scoring some penalties and then celebrating with them.”

Jan Paul van Hecke and Bart Verbruggen previously both played for NAC Breda. 📷 by James Boardman.

Albion signed Jan Paul in 2020 after six months of first-team action with NAC. At the time, there might have been questions as to why a Premier League club would swoop for a relatively unproven youngster, but Bart could see Albion’s reasons for signing his mate. He’s also pleased with how he’s progressed from a similar situation himself.

“I wasn’t shocked by Jan Paul getting the move to Brighton. He went on loan straight after – I think it’s one of the pathways you see more often now as well as here at Brighton, signing for a big team and then going out on loan. I’ve always been a fan of him as a player and as a person. I wasn’t surprised when he left, I could understand what a big team would see in him.

“If you see how his career worked out, I think all credit to him. He has taken the right steps at the right time and always had the right attitude and the right mentality. If you have those things, then the quality will take care of itself, but I think he maybe even surprised some people with how well he is doing now.

“As for myself, I didn’t even play at NAC. I was the third choice, and I went to Anderlecht to be a third choice there. There was a lot of questions about that. People were asking, ‘Why would you do that? Why would you skip a step?’ You know, I wasn’t playing for a team so why would I go a step higher. There were a lot of people who questioned that move because there’s this thing about going abroad at a young age, which some people don’t like.

Bart Verbruggen celebrates our late winner against Manchester City. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“But I always had a clear vision, and I knew why I was doing it, and I knew my motives and just stuck by them and worked hard. Then everything went a little bit quicker than I expected myself as well. But everything worked out well because I ended up at Brighton in the Premier League.

“It’s the same for JP – obviously when he was playing, everybody could see his quality, but I think to see how good he is now, maybe some people wouldn’t have expected it at the time because they didn’t really see him as someone destined for the top.”

The 25-year-old’s time out on loan in the Netherlands with Heerenveen and then in the Championship with Blackburn Rovers would prove pivotal in Jan Paul’s career, before his form for Albion saw him called up to his national team for the first time a year ago. Bart is reluctant to speak on behalf of Dutch national team boss Ronald Koeman, who often visits the Amex to check up on his Albion contingent, but has no doubts about the quality van Hecke brings to the team.

“You would have to ask him what the national team coach likes about him! I don’t know what is in the mind of the national team coach, but I think what everybody can see is his quality; his consistency, how well he performs every week is something I really admire as a player myself.

Joel Veltman has been with Albion since 2020. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“It's really hard in any sport to be as consistent as he is. That’s one of his big qualities, but it could also be his ability on the ball, his quality in defence, his mental strength. There’s so many qualities about him that the national team coach would love about him. But the competition is high and the fact that he’s playing is a very, very big compliment to him.”

While we all get to see the player, Bart is close friends with JP the person.

“I think everybody can see how good of a player JP is, but what people maybe don’t always see because they don’t know him is how good a person he is. He really helped me a lot when I joined, in terms of showing me the way around Brighton, even teaching me about the culture at the training ground.

“I'm really grateful for how he and Joel (Veltman) helped when I first joined. We became really close. We are good friends. His wife and my girlfriend get along really well, and it’s just nice to have all the Dutch players here as we all get along really well. JP is definitely a big, big part of the great atmosphere in the squad we have.”