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Glenn Loovens (born 22 October 1983 in Doetinchem, Netherlands) is a Dutch professional footballer currently playing as a centre back for Celtic in the Scottish Premier League. He is a former Netherlands under-21 international, and made his full international debut on 5 September 2009 in a 3-0 friendly win against Japan.

Club career

Early career

Loovens, a defender, came through the Feyenoord youth system and made his debut against PSV Eindhoven in the 2001-02 season in the Feyenoord team that later won the UEFA Cup, along with Robin van Persie, Civard Sprockel and Ferne Snoyl. In the later seasons he failed to make good on his promising start as he quickly lost his position in defence to Patrick Paauwe again. He made his European debut at 19 years old, in a 2-0 defeat to Dynamo Kiev at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev on 23 October 2002.

Cardiff City

Loovens spent the 2005-06 season on loan at Football League Championship side Cardiff City and impressed enough so that they signed the promising young defender on a permanent deal after several months of negotiations for a reported fee of £250,000.^[1]. He originally formed a defensive partnership with club captain Darren Purse but the 2007-08 season saw Purse lose his place in the side to Roger Johnson and the pair went on to form a vital base for the team to build on, including playing alongside each other in all 6 matches during the clubs run to the 2008 FA Cup Final. Loovens found the back of the net in the final against Portsmouth but it was disallowed for an earlier infringement. The 2007-08 season also saw Loovens make his 100th appearance in all competitions for Cardiff by playing against Hull City on 12 March.

Celtic

Loovens was the subject of transfer interest for most of Summer 2008, with Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers emerging as leading candidates to secure his signing. Walter Smith, manager of Rangers, declared his interest in Loovens and made an offer for his services but their valuation of the defender was rejected by Cardiff. On 16 August 2008, Loovens joined Scottish champions Celtic on a four-year contract for a fee of around £2.5 million. Loovens stated that Parkhead was his preferred destination as he will get the chance to play in the Champions League. ^{[2 ]} He made his Celtic debut on 23 August 2008, in a 3-0 win over Falkirk at Celtic Park. His first goal came on 23 September 2008 in a Co-op Insurance League Cup tie, also at Celtic Park, as Celtic beat Livingston 4-0.

Loovens scored the winning goal against Hearts in injury time on 20 September 2009, to send Celtic top of the table.
Loovens appearances in the first team have been hampered by Celtic's fearsome and more popular defensive partnership of Gary Caldwell and Stephen McManus.

International career

Loovens received his first senior cap for the Netherlands when he started the Oranje's 3-0 friendly win over Japan, on 5 September 2009. He had previously been capped once for the under-21 side.

Statistics

Last updated 18 October 2008

Season	Club	Nat	Apps	Goals	Assists
2001/02	Feyenoord		10	0	2
2002/03	Feyenoord		14	0	1
2004/05	Feyenoord		9	0	1
2005/06	Cardiff		36	2	3
2006/07	Cardiff		32	1	2
2007/08	Cardiff		43	0	3
2008/09	Celtic		17	3	1
2009/10	Celtic		11	2	0
Total			164	8	13

Honours

Feyenoord

• UEFA Cup Winner: 1
  

2001-02

Cardiff

• FA Cup Runner-up: 1
  

2007-08

Celtic

• Scottish League Cup Winner: 1
  

2008-09

References

External links

• Voetbal International Profile
• Glenn Loovens profile at cardiffcityfc.co.uk
• Glenn Loovens career stats at Soccerbase