Maarten Stekelenburg: The Calm of The Last Man
After a career spanning more than twenty years, Maarten Stekelenburg looks back without grandstanding. Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, the former Ajax and Netherlands goalkeeper reflects on the pride and pressure he experienced during his career, the legendary 2010 World Cup campaign, and the sense of freedom that came after his final match. But above all, he talks about what remains once the roar of the stadium fades away: family, peace of mind, and the simple joy of standing on the sidelines watching his sons play football.
PRIDE
When Maarten Stekelenburg reflects on his career, he doesn’t need long to find the first emotion that comes to mind.
Not nostalgia. Not relief.
“Pride,” he says. “First and foremost, pride.”
He made his professional debut at eighteen and didn’t retire until he turned forty. More than two decades in professional football, taking him through different clubs, countries and competitions. For a goalkeeper, that’s an exceptionally long career, yet Stekelenburg never speaks about it as if it were an achievement that needs defending. It was simply his life. His rhythm. His working week.
“The enjoyment was always the most important part,” Maarten says. “Being with the players, spending time in the dressing room, training—everything that came with it. That’s what you lived for. You worked all week towards the match.”
Still, something shifted during his final season. Not because his love for football disappeared, but because other things gradually became more important. His children had started playing football themselves, and more often than not, he found himself thinking about the matches he was missing.
“When you’re still playing, that’s just the way it is. But in my final year I wasn’t playing as much anymore. That made the decision a lot easier.”
NO REGRETS
Stekelenburg’s career took him to several countries and clubs. Sometimes things worked out exactly as planned, sometimes they didn’t. Managers left, circumstances changed, and the role you imagine for yourself isn’t always the role you’re eventually given.
Yet he has no regrets.
“I enjoyed every club I played for,” Maarten Stekelenburg says. “You make decisions based on what you know at that moment. You never know what’s going to happen afterwards. Whether you’ll play, whether a new manager comes in. But I don’t regret any of it.”
That grounded perspective runs throughout the conversation. While some former players look back on their careers through the lens of missed opportunities or injustice, Stekelenburg sticks to the facts.
Things change. That’s football.
Just like pressure is part of the game.
THE NATIONAL TEAM
Stekelenburg vividly remembers receiving his first call-up to the Dutch national team. It came shortly after UEFA Euro 2004. Dick Advocaat had stepped down as head coach, Marco van Basten had taken over, and Stekelenburg’s name appeared in his very first squad selection.
“Yeah, I remember that,” he says. “That was special.”
Wearing the Oranje shirt comes with pressure, especially for a goalkeeper. One mistake is impossible to hide. One wrong decision can change everything.
Yet Stekelenburg never experienced that pressure in an overwhelming way. Not because he didn’t feel it, but because he knew how to leave it behind the moment he stepped onto the pitch.
“Whether I was playing for my club or for the Netherlands, once I stepped onto the field, I just did my job. Of course you have to perform. Of course you need results. But I’ve always been quite relaxed. Mentally, I’ve always stayed calm. And the older you get, the easier that becomes.”
He knows better than anyone how costly a goalkeeper’s mistake can be. A defender can still be rescued by his keeper. A goalkeeper’s error, more often than not, ends up in the back of the net.
But that was never where his focus lay. “I was doing what I loved most. I always pushed myself to perform at the highest level, but never because I was afraid of making mistakes.”
I’ve always tried to stay true to myself. Honest, normal, down-to-earth.
BACK HOME
Stekelenburg’s final years at Ajax brought back something he hadn’t fully appreciated before: the ability to simply enjoy being on the pitch.
Maarten Stekelenburg was 36 when he returned to Amsterdam. The urgency that had defined earlier stages of his career had faded. There was no longer a need to earn another transfer, fight his way back into the national team or prove himself all over again.
“I was back home at Ajax,” Maarten says. “I’d already had my career. Of course I still wanted to win—because I hate losing—but I could enjoy the game more. I enjoyed simply being out there. Watching my teammates. Appreciating the moment.”
Perhaps that’s the most interesting layer of his story. The pressure never completely disappeared, but it changed shape. He was no longer chasing what still had to come, which allowed him to appreciate what was already there.
WHAT NOW?
Many players describe the transition into life after football as the most difficult chapter of their careers. The structure disappears. The dressing room is gone. The weeks no longer revolve around a fixed rhythm.
Maarten Stekelenburg recognises that feeling. “You retire at the end of the season, and at first everything still feels normal. The kids go on holiday, you go on holiday. But then school starts again. Normally, that’s when you’d already be back playing football. Instead, you’re sitting at the kitchen table thinking, what now?”
Still, boredom never really became an issue. All three of his sons play football, two of them in AZ’s academy. These days, his weekends are spent on the sidelines—something he rarely had the opportunity to do during his own playing career.
“I watch my children’s matches now. I couldn’t do that before. I really enjoy it.”
He also plays plenty of padel, often with other former footballers. Three or four times a week, sometimes even more. Not just to stay fit. The competitor in him never disappeared.“I hate losing,” he says with a smile. “Padel is the sport I’ve found after football.”
THE DISCIPLINE & THE SACRIFICES
As a father, he now watches from close by what it means to be young and ambitious. His eldest son is sixteen and progressing towards AZ Under-17—a stage where football starts demanding sacrifices. Friends go out. Birthday parties become more frequent. Temptations grow.“That’s difficult,” Stekelenburg says.
“At that age, you want to do everything. But you can’t combine everything. If you really want to achieve something, you have to make choices. You have to give certain things up.”
He recognises the process from his own youth.
The discipline. The sacrifices. The understanding that talent alone is never enough.
“If you have the right mindset, it’s not a problem. But it’s still difficult. Especially when you’re sixteen, seventeen or eighteen.”
WHAT HE MISSES
What does he miss most about professional football? Not the matches. Not the adrenaline. Not the packed stadiums.
“The dressing room,” Maarten answers without hesitation. “Walking in every morning. Talking to the lads. That feeling of belonging somewhere.”
What he doesn’t miss is the physical side of the game. The aching back. The sore ankles. The constant wear and tear on his body.
“Two or three months after retiring, I realised my back pain had completely disappeared. I definitely don’t miss that,” he says laughing.
Life after football wasn’t a blank page for Stekelenburg. He had already made investments, including in real estate, and several projects were running before he retired.
But the biggest adjustment wasn’t finding work. It was redefining identity. Is he still Maarten the goalkeeper?
“At home, I’ve never been that,” he says. “To my children, I’m simply Dad.”
People still recognise him in public. Perhaps even more often than he expected. Not always by the younger generation, but by fathers introducing him to their children.
Yet he feels like exactly the same person. Only freer.
“If I’m somewhere now and I have a glass of wine, I don’t think twice about it. Back then, you always had responsibilities towards your club. That’s gone now. You simply have more freedom.”
FREEDOM
A perfect day looks very different now than it used to. No reporting time at the training ground. No team hotel. No schedule planned down to the minute.
I can organise my own time. That’s the freedom I enjoy most.
Maybe that will change in a few years. Perhaps he’ll miss having more structure. Perhaps another challenge or a new role will come along. But for now, he’s exactly where he wants to be.
Family gives him energy. Sport still does too: padel with his old teammates, footvolley with Life After Football.
Football is still close. It just no longer defines every aspect of his life.
ENJOY IT
If he could give one piece of advice to the young Maarten Stekelenburg standing on the verge of his Netherlands debut, it would be remarkably simple: enjoy it. “It goes by so quickly,” he says. “Twenty or twenty-two years sounds like a long time, but before you know it, it’s over. Enjoy every single minute. It’s a privilege. Every child who plays football dreams of being in your position.”
It’s exactly the same advice he would give today’s Dutch internationals preparing for another major tournament.“You can’t reach a bigger stage than this. The World Cup is the greatest stage in football.”
“I was fortunate enough to play in five major tournaments: two World Cups and three European Championships. That’s the very best part of being a footballer. Not many players get to experience that.”
He pauses for a moment before smiling with nostalgia in his eyes. “And please… go and win it this time.”
DOWN-TO-EARTH
How would Maarten Stekelenburg like to be remembered?
As a footballer, the save against Kaká will remain. The World Cup final will remain. Ajax will remain. The Netherlands will remain.
But as a person, he hopes it’s much simpler than that.
An honest guy. A nice guy. Just down-to-earth. That’s who I’ve always been, and that’s who I try to remain.
Perhaps that’s exactly why his career lasted as long as it did. Not because he ever tried to become bigger than the game, but because he never lost himself in it.
Football gave him stadiums, finals and memories an entire country will never forget.
Yet after everything he won, everything he experienced and everything he eventually left behind, the place where he’s happiest today is on the sidelines.
No longer as the last man. Simply as a father.
Ready for more?
You can get the Life After Football magazine Issue 88 with Maarten Stekelenburg on the cover here!
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