A technical director. The entire Dutch football elite is looking for it. Both Ajax and Feyenoord, PSV and KNVB have long been missing one of the most important people within the organization. This is remarkable, to say the least.

When a trainer is fired, his successor seems to have already been waiting in the catacombs. That the changing of the guard sometimes happens so quickly. It turns out it’s different with a technical director.

After the departure of Frank Arnesen, Feyenoord has been without a technical lead since the beginning of September. John de Jong was sent away from PSV in the same month and there is no replacement for him either.

Marc Overmars was fired by Ajax in February. Since then, the duo Gerry Hamstra and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar have been working on an interim solution. The KNVB has even known since November 2021 that it had to look for a new “top football director”.

sensitive function

Apparently the candidates are not on the street. What is written there? “How delicate and difficult this function is,” says NEC director Ted van Leeuwen, a veteran in the land of ‘tds’ with experience at clubs such as FC Twente, Vitesse, Esbjerg fB and Valletta FC.

“It’s very labor intensive. You need a large network, you have to learn how to deal with different club cultures, different people and movements, and you have to have the talent to work very hard and for a long time,” says Van Leeuwen.

Nico-Jan Hoogma decided not to renew his expiring contract with KNVB and left this summer. “In January of this year, a profile was created for my successor,” says Hoogma. “Discussions were held, but in the end nothing came of it.”

Are there enough capable people?

This raises the question of whether there are enough capable people in the Netherlands. And how can you train someone? In contrast to the coaching profession, for which you need papers, the path to technical director is not entirely clear.

Entry is possible without a degree.

Hoogma had a teacher. “I had just come off the pitch at Heracles Almelo, had leadership ambitions and was given practical training by then-Chairman Jan Smit. That’s the luck I’ve had.”

“The technical know-how was there when I was a footballer,” explains Hoogma, who is now back at Heracles. “During my career, I’ve negotiated contracts myself and learned the entrepreneurial part from Jan, more in a buddy role.”

70-year-old Van Leeuwen, who is working at NEC in his final days, has also sometimes included (recently hired) soccer players. “They were interested in the director until they saw what that means. Then they’d rather be a scout, that’s less nonsense.”

KNVB: high turnover

The Football Association had previously found that turnover among board members was very high. To reduce this and help new directors on their way, the KNVB launched a leadership program for general and technical directors in 2020.

A course (costs: 8,000 euros per participant) of twenty days of teaching, spread over nine months, with eight to twelve participants. With a role for former top ice hockey player Floris Evers and Dirk Loots, former coach of Amsterdam ice hockey players.

“We have now run the program twice in a row and decided to postpone the third edition by one season. The turnover is high, but not so high that we get twelve new directors in a program every year,” writes a KNVB reporter. Speaker.

According to Van Leeuwen, a course is therefore not the solution. “The KNVB is coming back with a corner ball course,” he says jokingly. “People who have taken a certain course all talk the same thing. You need good practical instruction.”

“Good people to talk to are more useful than a long degree,” he says. Van Leeuwen himself still calls colleagues abroad. “Just to ask how they work in some situations.”

Active recruiting

Hoogma, who was still working for the KNVB at the beginning of his studies, welcomes the programme. “There hasn’t been anything like this before, so it’s a good start. Now it is up to the KNVB to improve the course and recruit people to get them interested in the profession.”

Just like Hoogma together with the then director of professional football Eric Gudde with Willem Janssen and Jordens Peters. Former Eredivisie captains who now hold an administrative position. Janssen as technical manager at VVV, Peters is managing director at Roda JC.

“Both rehabilitated in Zeist in their late days,” recalls Hoogma. “Then you talk to them and you realize that they have certain leadership qualities. And they were interested. Gudde became Peter’s buddy, the soundboard.”

However, the current people in the KNVB are of the opinion that recruiting employees is not a matter for the union. “The responsibility lies with the clubs. We’re just there to have a good relationship with the TDs and to develop them further in their roles where possible.”

“We are trying to make training easier for club employees in such a way that it makes more sense for a club to get someone from within for a specific position instead of having to hire someone from outside,” says the KNVB.

Meanwhile, the search for a suitable person – both in the union and in the top 3 – continues as pressure for workarounds mounts.

It’s not that easy; Find a good technical director. “Football is the eternal transmission of knowledge at all levels. But that’s a profession in itself,” concludes Van Leeuwen.