Harry Dénis first played football while growing up in the Dutch East Indies, and first joined a club upon his family’s return to the Netherlands. In 1911, he started playing for HBS in The Hague, for which he would play for 29 years. Playing as a right full-back, he soon became one of the country’s best defenders, and after World War I was first selected for the national team. Eventually gathering 56 caps from 1919-30, including 37 as captain, Dénis would play for the Dutch national team at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics, placing 3rd in 1920 and 4th in 1924. As one of the best known football players in the country and the captain of the national team, Dénis was selected to recite the athletes’ oath at the 1928 Amsterdam Games.
In domestic play, Dénis won the 1925 Dutch title, the only time HBS made it into the play-off pool for the Dutch championship during his time with the club. During World War II, Dénis briefly played for Be Quick, in Groningen, but no longer at the highest level. A civil engineer by education, Dénis had a successful business career, running an engineering and architecture firm in the 1930s, and later become director of a machine factory. In the 1950s, he also served as an advisor to the Dutch Football Federation (KNVB) and later became an honorary member.
Netherlands