Highlighted: FC Volendam with young coach to top position?
FC Volendam and Vitesse have the honor of opening the Eredivisie season 2023/24. Both clubs have a different coach compared to the start of 2022/23 and will hope to be out of relegation danger faster this season than the previous one. Vitesse ended the previous season impressively with three victories and a total of forty points, securing a tenth position in the standings. FC Volendam managed to win three out of the last five league matches of 2022/23 and finished fourteenth with 36 points.
Last top position of Vitesse
Of course, all teams start from scratch after the summer break, providing a perfect opportunity for FC Volendam and Vitesse to be the first leaders of the upcoming Eredivisie season. Vitesse last held the top position in the Dutch league in November 2020, after collecting 22 points in the first nine Eredivisie matches under the new coach Thomas Letsch (7 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss).
For FC Volendam in the previous century
The last time Volendam ended a day as the number one team in the Netherlands goes back much further. That was on August 30, 1994, after a 3-0 victory over Go Ahead Eagles in the first round of the 1994/95 season. The standings looked like this back then:
| Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
FC Volendam |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
2 |
PSV |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
|
3 |
Ajax |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
|
… |
… |
… |
… |
… |
… |
… |
… |
|
14 |
Vitesse |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
Top 10 youngest Eredivisie coaches of the 21st century
Indeed, back then, teams earned two points for a victory. The Volendam fans will eagerly hope to see their club sitting at the top of the league table with three points on Friday evening. This season, the squad is led by coach Matthias Kohler, a German who has taken over from Wim Jonk. Kohler was already Jonk's assistant coach last season but is now leading the team on his own. And that's noteworthy, as he is only 32 years old. With his age of 32 years and 63 days, Matthias Kohler will become the second youngest coach in the Eredivisie in this century, after Robert Maaskant at RBC Roosendaal in 2001. Kohler was only three years old when his current club last topped the Eredivisie table. Can he repeat that feat 29 years later?
| Datum | Team | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
|
27/01/2001 |
RBC Roosendaal |
Robert Maaskant |
32 Years 17 days |
|
11/08/2023 |
FC Volendam |
Matthias Kohler |
32 Years 63 days |
|
04/08/2019 |
Fortuna Sittard |
Sjors Ultee |
32 Years 73 days |
|
28/09/2003 |
PEC Zwolle |
Gerard Nijkamp |
33 Years 256 days |
|
31/01/2003 |
RBC Roosendaal |
Jeffrey Kooistra |
34 Years 82 days |
|
03/08/2019 |
FC Twente |
Gonzalo García |
35 Years 294 days |
|
12/08/2018 |
FC Groningen |
Danny Buijs |
36 Years 52 days |
|
04/04/2010 |
ADO Den Haag |
Maurice Steijn |
36 Years 135 days |
|
02/04/2022 |
FC Utrecht |
Rick Kruys |
36 Years 328 days |
|
18/01/2014 |
Roda JC Kerkrade |
Jon Dahl Tomasson |
37 Years 142 days |
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