René van Eck (born 18 February 1966) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current manager of German

René van Eck
Van Eck training Carl Zeiss Jena in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1966-02-18) 18 February 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
FC Cosmos Koblenz (Manager)
Youth career
1984–1988 Excelsior
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1986 Excelsior 50 (0)
1986–1990 FC Den Bosch 127 (1)
1990–1998 Luzern 240 (6)
1998–2000 FC Nürnberg 38 (0)
2000–2001 Winterthur 21 (1)
2001–2002 Kriens 31 (0)
Total 507 (8)
Managerial career
2002–2003 Luzern (assistant)
2003–2006 Luzern
2006 Inter Turku
2006–2007 FC Wohlen
2007–2008 FC Thun
2008–2009 Carl Zeiss Jena
2009–2010 Carl Zeiss Jena
2010–2012 FC Nürnberg (U19)
2012–2013 Alemannia Aachen
2014–2015 Excelsior (U19)
2015–2016 FC Den Bosch
2016[1] FC Muri
2017[2] Wacker Nordhausen
2017 FC Muri
2017–2018 FC Zürich (U16)
2018–2019 FC Zürich (assistant)
2020 Feyenoord (academy)
2020–2021 Grasshoppers (U18)
2021 Feyenoord (U18)
2021–2022 SC Kriens
2022 Deinze (assistant)
2023 VV Capelle
2023– FC Cosmos Koblenz
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Club

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Van Eck started his professional career at local side Excelsior Rotterdam before moving to FC Den Bosch aged 20.[3] The long-haired defender played four seasons at Den Bosch, then moved abroad to join FC Luzern where he would spend eight seasons and become captain of the team.

He was a hard and physical defender, moving in December 1998 from FC Luzern to 1. FC Nürnberg. He played with Nürnberg sixteen games the Bundesliga. After Nürnberg's relegation he played one season in the 2. Bundesliga with 22 games.[4] Afterwards, Van Eck moved back to Switzerland and signed a contract with FC Winterthur. After half a year he moved to league rival SC Kriens.

Coaching career

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His coaching career began for Van Eck as assistant manager of FC Luzern; in 2003 he was named as the new manager. His greatest success was the promotion to the Swiss Super League, among others with 31 games without defeat. Differences with the club management led him to leave Luzern and joining the Finnish club Inter Turku. With this club he stayed in the league. From June 2007 to May 2008 he managed FC Thun and was relegated from the AXPO Super League to the Challenge League,[5] and on 23 May 2008 fired in Thun.[6]

Since 2007, van Eck holds the UEFA Pro Coach Licence.[7] He signed a coaching contract with FC Carl Zeiss Jena on 28 September 2008, until the end of the season, then on 5 February 2009 extended his contract to 30 June 2011.[8] He was fired from his coaching job with Carl Zeiss Jena on 24 March 2009.[9] On 29 May 2009, it was announced that he would return to Carl Zeiss Jena because his not cancelled contract ran until 30 June 2011.[10] Later he was named as the new head coach of Carl Zeiss Jena,[11] returning after 67 days.[12] On 1 June 2010, he canceled his contract with Carl Zeiss Jena and left the club.[13] During his time at Carl Zeiss Jena, "players were asked to toughen up by learning fighting techniques."[14]

On 5 February 2015, FC Den Bosch announced that Rene van Eck would lead the first team for the rest of the 2014–15 season.[14] This would have Rene van Eck returning in the Vliert after 24 years. He was removed from his job as a manager on 6 February 2016, after the 3–2 loss in the cup at home against VVSB.[15]

He returned to Switzerland to take the reins at FC Muri in May 2016[16] and took over again in April 2017 after a spell at German side Wacker Nordhausen.[17] Unable to save them from relegation to the 2. Liga Interregional, he left the club again at the end of the season and was instead appointed manager of FC Zürich's U16s.[18] On 21 February 2018, Van Eck was promoted to the first team staff as assistant coach of newly hired manager Ludovic Magnin.[19] At the end of May 2019, Van Eck announced his departure from Zürich.[20]

In the first half of 2020, Van Eck worked at the academy of Feyenoord, before returning to Switzerland ahead of the 2020-21 season, where he was appointed U-18 manager of Grasshopper Club Zürich.[21] However, he returned to Feyenoord in August 2021, in a similar position as at Grasshoppers. Van Eck was at Feyenoord for a few months, before being appointed manager of SC Kriens in November 2021.[22] In April 2022, the club confirmed that Van Eck would leave the club at the end of the season.[23] He ended the season at Kriens with 20 defeats, 1 draw and only 2 victories.

Ahead of the 2020-21 season, Van Eck was appointed assistant coach of Takahisa Shiraishi at K.M.S.K. Deinze in Belgium.[24] From January 2023, until the end of the season, Van Eck was in charge of VV Capelle.[25] Ahed of the 2023-24 season, he took the reins at German club FC Cosmos Koblenz.[26]

Personal life

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His brother Jos also played professional football in the Netherlands.[27]

References

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  1. ^ René van Eck übernimmt‚ fcmuri.ch, 19 May 2016
  2. ^ Wacker Nordhausen trennt sich von Trainer van Eck, mdr.de, 23 April 2017
  3. ^ "Career stats – Voetbal International" (in Dutch). Vi.nl. 18 February 1966. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Glubberer Profile" (in German). Glubberer.de. 18 February 1966. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Sex Skandal beim FC Thun with Van Eck" (in German). Rhetorik.ch. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Dutch Players Abroad Profile". Dutchplayers.nl. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Auch Van Eck mit Uefa Pro Lizenz" (in German). Fussball.ch. 30 June 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  8. ^ "René van Eck erhält einen Vertrag bis 2011" (in German). fc-carlzeiss-jena.de. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  9. ^ "Jena trennt sich von René van Eck – Marc Fascher neuer Trainer" (in German). Fc-carlzeiss-jena.de. 23 March 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Marc Fascher nicht mehr Trainer in Jena" (in German). Sport.t-online.de. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  11. ^ "Fascher geht – Comeback von van Eck" (in German). mdr.de. 28 October 2011. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  12. ^ "Van Eck beerbt Fascher" (in German). kicker.de. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  13. ^ "René van Eck verlässt den FCC" (in German). fc-carlzeiss-jena.de. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  14. ^ a b "Dutch club Den Bosch hire former kickboxer René van Eck as new coach". The Guardian. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  15. ^ "Coach Van Eck na bekerdrama ontslagen bij FC Den Bosch". FCUpdate.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  16. ^ René van Eck übernimmt - FC Muri (in German)
  17. ^ "Trainer Pascariello entlassen – René van Eck soll 1. Liga-Club in letzter Sekunde retten - Aargauer Zeitung". AargauerZeitung.ch (in German). 27 April 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  18. ^ FUSSBALL: Van Eck trainiert neu die U16 des FCZ, luzernerzeitung.ch, 9 June 2016
  19. ^ OFFICIAL - Ludovic MAGNIN is the new FC..., ghanasoccernet.com, 21 February 2018
  20. ^ Zurück in die Heimat: Veränderung auf der FCZ-Trainerbank, sport.ch, 25 May 2019
  21. ^ 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙠𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙞 𝙂𝘾 𝙍𝙚𝙣𝙚́ 𝙫𝙖𝙣 𝙀𝙘𝙠 !, facebook.com, 30 May 2020
  22. ^ Herzlich willkommen im Kleinfeld René van Eck, sckriens.ch, 8 November 2021
  23. ^ René van Eck wird uns zum Saisonende verlassen, sckriens.ch, 5 April 2021
  24. ^ René van Eck wird Co-Trainer in Belgien, luzernerzeitung.ch, 8 June 2022
  25. ^ René van Eck bij Capelle op de bank, capelle.ijsselenlekstreek.nl, 5 December 2022
  26. ^ René van Eck ist neuer Trainer bei Cosmos – Koblenz verpflichtet Holländer, rhein-zeitung.de, 15 June 2023
  27. ^ Jos van Eck loopt baan als hoofd-opleidingen bij Willem II/RKC mis - Rijnmond (in Dutch)
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