Sipke Hulshoff will work as assistant national coach at Orange from January 1st. The 47-year-old coach will be seconded to the KNVB by his employer Feyenoord until the 2024 European Championship.

The future national coach Ronald Koeman, who will succeed Louis van Gaal after the World Cup in Qatar, had previously included his brother Erwin Koeman and goalkeeping coach Patrick Lodewijks in his technical staff.

“Sipke is an innovative field coach who complements our technical staff well,” says Koeman. “In my workforce, I always try to bring people together who are mutually reinforcing. I think that worked.”

Best of both worlds

Hulshoff was never a professional footballer himself, but became a youth coach at SC Cambuur at the age of 24. In 2014 he became an assistant coach at the club from his hometown of Leeuwarden.

He later held this position at FC Volendam, which he traded to Feyenoord in the summer of 2021. There he is now assistant to head coach Arne Slot. He will continue to combine this position with his work at KNVB.

“I’m grateful to Feyenoord for being open to combining my position at the club with that of assistant coach for the Dutch national team,” Hulshoff told the Rotterdam club’s website. “The best of both worlds, because I feel very comfortable with Feyenoord and these employees and would like to take this opportunity with Orange.”