Former Feyenoord and ADO Den Haag striker Michiel Kramer set to retire at the end of the season

Former Feyenoord and ADO Den Haag striker Michiel Kramer set to retire at the end of the season

Michiel Kramer has announced that this will be his final season as a professional footballer. The 37-year-old striker, currently playing for RKC Waalwijk, will hang up his boots at the end of the year. Kramer has spent the majority of his career in the Netherlands and has played just shy of 500 games.

Kramer began his carer with NAC Breda before joining FC Volendam in 2009 on a free transfer. As a youngster, the striker had great success with the side. Over the course of a few seasons he scored 40 goals in 116 games. His best season with FC Volendam came during the 2012/2013 Eerste Divisie season. Kramer scored 22 goals in just 32 games, a feat which earned him a move to ADO Den Haag in the Eredivisie.

It took Kramer a full season to really settle at the club, with his second season being the best of his first spell with the club. Kramer scored 17 goals for the side and caught the eye of Feyenoord. The Rotterdam club signed Kramer in 2015 and saw immediate return on investment. Kramer scored 16 goals in 35 games, but this would prove to be the high point of his Feyenoord career. Despite being part of the side that won the Eredivisie the following season, Kramer only scored five goals in 24 games. After just two goals in 12 games during the 2017/2018 season, Feyenoord release Kramer.

He found a home in the same city with Sparta. Kramer only played eight games with Sparta to end the season, scoring twice. The striker then tried his hand at playing abroad, joining Israeli side Maccabi Haifa in 2018. It proved to be a disaster, with Kramer leaving the side after barely featuring. He returned to the Eredivisie in January of 2019, signing for Utrecht. That summer, Kramer made the decision to return to ADO Den Haag on a two year deal.

Kramer spent another two seasons with the side, scoring eight goals across two seasons. At the end of the second season, the side suffered relegation to the second tier. Kramer did not join them in the Eerste Divisie, instead remaining in the top flight with RKC Waalwijk. With Kramer, the side then enjoyed their best two seasons for over a decade. During the 2021/2022 campaign they finished 10th, following that up the next season with a ninth placed finish. Kramer provided the side with 23 goals across those two seasons.

However, after the 2022/2023 season, the side began to struggle. After avoiding relegation the following season, they fell into the second tier at the end of the 2024/2025 season. So far this season, Kramer has played 16 games for the side, scoring once. The side are currently seventh in the table, which should see them finish in the play-offs and have an outside chance of promotion.

It seems fitting that, the next game after this announcement for Kramer will be a clash with ADO Den Haag. The side are set for a return to the Eredivisie after gaining promotion a few weeks ago. The side will be joined by Cambuur, who have also won promotion back to the Eredivisie.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson