BACKROOM STAFF · 2025/26

Willem II backroom staff

We hold the names of 34 people on Willem II's staff for 2025/26, beyond the players. John Stegeman manages the first team, with Kristof Aelbrecht, Pascal Diender and Pim Hendrix as assistant managers. Willem II's is the joint 12th longest staff list of the 18 Eredivisie clubs we hold.

STAFF NAMED34

COACHING15

MEDICAL7

SCOUTING AND ANALYSIS5

NATIONALITIES4

MEDIAN AGE44

Coaching staff

The manager, the assistants and the coaches at every level of the club, 15 people

Willem II coaching staff in 2025/26: name, role, team, age, nationality and previous clubs.
NAME	ROLE	TEAM	AGE	NATIONALITY	PREVIOUSLY AT
John Stegeman	Manager	First team	48	Netherlands	R Antwerp FC before that PEC Zwolle, Go Ahead Eagles and Heracles Almelo
Edwin Linssen	Manager	Under-19s	44	Netherlands	Vitesse Arnhem
Jordy Buijs	Manager	Reserves	36	Netherlands	-
Kristof Aelbrecht	Assistant manager	First team	44	Belgium	Club Brugge KV before that PSV Eindhoven and Fortuna Sittard
Pascal Diender	Assistant manager	First team	43	Netherlands	PEC Zwolle
Pim Hendrix	Assistant manager	First team	31	Netherlands	-
Jos van Nieuwstadt	Coach	First team	45	Netherlands	-
Daniel van der Meulen	Coach	Under-19s	42	Netherlands	-
Jos Bogers	Coach	Under-19s	60	Netherlands	-
Patrick de Werk	Coach	Under-19s	50	Netherlands	-
Sharan Gayadien	Coach	Under-19s	40	Netherlands	ADO Den Haag
Thijs Schalken	Coach	Under-19s	31	Netherlands	-
Peter den Otter	Goalkeeping coach	First team	54	Netherlands	RKC Waalwijk
Alex van Roessel	Goalkeeping coach	Reserves	51	Netherlands	-
Axel van Overdijk	Fitness coach	Under-19s	25	Netherlands	-

Medical and sports science

Doctors, physios and sports scientists, 7 people

Willem II medical and sports science in 2025/26: name, role, team, age, nationality.
NAME	ROLE	TEAM	AGE	NATIONALITY
Pieter Vioen	Club doctor	First team	44	Netherlands
Michel de Gruijter	Head physio	Club-wide	51	Netherlands
Henry van Amelsfort	Physio	First team	62	Netherlands
Jasper de Langen	Physio	First team	40	Netherlands
Sep Bierkens	Physio	First team	24	Netherlands
Rob Hendriks	Sports scientist	Under-19s	46	Netherlands
Nikolaos Skourlis	Sports scientist	Reserves	31	Greece

Scouting and analysis

Scouts, recruitment analysts and performance analysts, 5 people

Willem II scouting and analysis in 2025/26: name, role, team, age, nationality and previous clubs.
NAME	ROLE	TEAM	AGE	NATIONALITY	PREVIOUSLY AT
Steven Aptroot	Chief scout	Club-wide	46	Netherlands	Norwich City Norwich before that Feyenoord Rotterdam
Jonathan Bisschop	Scout	Club-wide	34	Belgium	-
Milan Stawicki	Scout	Club-wide	32	Netherlands	-
Nils Thörner	Head performance analyst	Club-wide	35	Germany	-
Hessel Verhoeven	Performance analyst	First team	23	Netherlands	VVV-Venlo

Football management

The people who run the football side, from the sporting director to the academy, 2 people

Willem II football management in 2025/26: name, role, age, nationality and previous clubs.
NAME	ROLE	AGE	NATIONALITY	PREVIOUSLY AT
Freek Heerkens	Technical director	35	Netherlands	-
Eric Hellemons	Head of youth development	54	Netherlands	SK Beveren

Owners and directors

Who owns Willem II and sits on its board

Willem II owners and directors in 2025/26: name, role, age, nationality.
NAME	ROLE	AGE	NATIONALITY
Meindert van Duijvenbode	Chair	53	Netherlands
Merijn Goris	Managing director	37	Netherlands
Adrie Koster	Director	70	Netherlands
Jan van der Laak	Director	63	Netherlands
Sam Strijbosch	Director	30	Netherlands

Backroom staff at every Eredivisie club

The names we hold at each club in the division, 2025/26

Feyenoord Rotterdam 72 PSV Eindhoven 68 FC Utrecht 57 AZ Alkmaar 48 sc Heerenveen 44 FC Twente 43 SC Cambuur 43 FC Groningen 42 Sparta Rotterdam 42 Go Ahead Eagles 37 N.E.C. Nijmegen 36 PEC Zwolle 34 Willem II 34 Excelsior Rotterdam 30 Fortuna Sittard 27 ADO Den Haag 26 SC Telstar 22 Heracles Almelo 19

Willem II's list is the joint 12th longest of the 18, against a median of 40 across the division. Feyenoord Rotterdam names the most, 72. Heracles Almelo names the fewest, 19.

Willem II against the Eredivisie, department by department

Names held in each department, beside the average and the most at any one club

Willem II staff by department against the Eredivisie average and the largest department in the division, 2025/26.
DEPARTMENT	WILLEM II	AVERAGE	MOST	AT
Coaching	15	18	35	Feyenoord Rotterdam
Medical and sports science	7	9	17	PSV Eindhoven
Scouting and analysis	5	9	22	PSV Eindhoven
Football management	2	2	3	Feyenoord Rotterdam
Owners and directors	5	3	6	Sparta Rotterdam

Backrooms the size of Willem II's, in every league

Willem II's 34 names make the joint 254th longest staff list of the 815 clubs we hold one for

Clubs ranked by the number of staff we hold for 2025/26, from 254th to 278th, with Willem II among them.
#	CLUB	LEAGUE	STAFF
254	Motor Lublin	Ekstraklasa	34
254	NK Istra 1961	Croatian First League	34
254	Odense Boldklub	Danish Superliga	34
254	Oita Trinita	-	34
254	Oviedo	La Liga 2	34
254	PEC Zwolle	Eredivisie	34
254	Śląsk Wrocław	Ekstraklasa	34
254	Ural Yekaterinburg	-	34
254	Vejle Boldklub	Danish Superliga	34
254	Wigan Athletic	League One	34
254	Willem II	Eredivisie	34
254	Wisła Kraków	Ekstraklasa	34
278	1. FSV Mainz 05	Bundesliga	33
278	Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club	Saudi Pro League	33
278	Arsenal Women	Women's Super League	33
278	FC Baník Ostrava	Czech First League	33
278	HNK Rijeka	Croatian First League	33
278	Nagoya Grampus	J1 League	33
278	Oud-Heverlee Leuven	Belgian Pro League	33
278	Portsmouth	Championship	33
278	Preston North End	Championship	33

Where Willem II's staff come from

4 nationalities across the 34 staff whose nationality we hold

Netherlands 30

Belgium 2

Germany 1

Greece 1

Netherlands supplies 30 of the 34, 88%. The median age is 44. The oldest is Adrie Koster, director, at 70, and the youngest Hessel Verhoeven, performance analyst, at 23. 9 members of staff came from another club.

Where Willem II's former staff work now

On Willem II's staff in an earlier season and at another club in 2025/26, 10 people

People who worked at Willem II in an earlier season and the club and job they hold in 2025/26.
NAME	ROLE NOW	NOW AT
Kenny Verhoene	Coach	KRC Jong Genk
Arno Arts	Coach	FC Utrecht
Harald Wapenaar	Goalkeeping coach	FC Utrecht
Chima Onyeike	Fitness coach	Vitesse Arnhem
Bartosz Barnaś	Chief scout	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Micha Jansen	Chief scout	Feyenoord Rotterdam
Sebastiaan Scholman	Scout	AZ Alkmaar
Rick Mennes	Performance analyst	Feyenoord Rotterdam
Teun Jacobs	Technical director	VVV-Venlo
Lisandro Isei	Director	Valencia

Frequently asked questions

Who is Willem II's manager?

John Stegeman is the Willem II first-team manager, aged 48. Kristof Aelbrecht, Pascal Diender and Pim Hendrix are the assistant managers.

Who is the goalkeeping coach at Willem II?

Peter den Otter coaches the Willem II first-team goalkeepers.

Who is Willem II's head physio?

Michel de Gruijter is head physio at Willem II.

Who is Willem II's chief scout?

Steven Aptroot is chief scout at Willem II.

Who is Willem II's technical director?

Freek Heerkens is technical director at Willem II.

How many backroom staff do Willem II have?

We hold the names of 34 people on Willem II's staff for 2025/26: 15 in coaching, 7 in medical and sports science, 5 in scouting and analysis, 2 in football management and 5 owners and directors. That is the joint 12th longest list of the 18 Eredivisie clubs we hold, against a median of 40. Across every league we hold, that list is the joint 254th longest of 815.

Where to next

For what Willem II pays its squad, see Willem II player wages. What each of these jobs pays across football is on backroom staff wages. Every club in the division is on Eredivisie wages.