Franciscus Petrus Theodorus Hoek (; born 17 October 1956) is a Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player. As a player, he was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional Association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion ...

for more than a decade, before going into coaching as an assistant to

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spel ...

at club sides

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and the Netherlands national team. He also worked for the Poland national team under fellow Dutchman

Leo Beenhakker Leo Beenhakker CM (; born 2 August 1942) is a Dutch international football coach. He has had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. He led both Ajax and Feyenoord to Dutch championships and also had domestic s ...

. He has worked with goalkeepers including

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

Stanley Menzo Stanley Purl Menzo (born 15 October 1963) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and worked as a manager of Ajax Cape Town in the South African Premier Soccer League. He is currently the manager of Chinese Super Le ...

Víctor Valdés Víctor Valdés Arribas (; born 14 January 1982) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player, who played as a goalkeeper. Valdés was considered fiercely competitive and demanding, demonstrating great mental strength and concen ...

Vítor Baía Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH (; born 15 October 1969) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, his career was intimately connected with FC Porto, which he started re ...

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ca ...

Robert Enke Robert Enke (24 August 1977 – 10 November 2009) was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Mönchengladbach, Benfica, and Barcelona, but made the majority of his appearances for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 ...

Łukasz Fabiański Łukasz Marek Fabiański (born 18 April 1985) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. He also played for the Poland na ...

Thomas Kraft Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

Michel Vorm Michel Armand Vorm (born 20 October 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and was a goalkeeping coach at Tottenham Hotspur. Vorm began his professional career at FC Utrecht in 2005, spending his first season ...

and

David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Born in Madrid ...

. Hoek is widely regarded as one of world football's foremost goalkeeping mentors.

Playing career

Starting as an amateur goalkeeper at SV Always Forward, Hoek played in goal at FC Volendam from 1973 to 1985, and in 1977 he achieved top flight football for the first time in the club's history. Two years later, Volendam were relegated. In 1983, Hoek and his teammates were promoted back to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

, where they spent another two seasons. Hoek scored against

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

in September 1983. In 1985, Hoek ended his playing career as a goalkeeper, moving into coaching.

Coaching career

Hoek joined Ajax in 1986 as a coach, working under manager

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

, and in 1991 became the goalkeeping coach of manager Louis van Gaal at the club. A young Edwin van der Sar was under the care of Hoek at Ajax. In between this, he also coached for two years the goalkeepers of his former club Volendam. In 1997, he followed van Gaal to Barcelona, where he oversaw the promotion of Víctor Valdés. He moved with van Gaal to the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Du ...

in 2000, and back to Barcelona again in 2002. From 2005 he was for four years the goalkeeping coach of the

Poland national football team The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Associ ...

, under manager

, where he went to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

in Germany. Beenhakker had been the former head coach at Volendam, where Hoek spent his playing career. Following this, Hoek joined van Gaal again at Bayern Munich in 2010, where he received both the role of goalkeeping coach and an assistant coach. After van Gaal left Germany in 2011, the pair took over the Netherlands national football team (for the second time), going to

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

in Poland/Ukraine and the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Brazil. Hoek again teamed up with van Gaal at Manchester United in the summer of 2014, replacing

Chris Woods Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was a goalkeeper who played in the Football Leag ...

as the club's chief goalkeeping coach.

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

became assistant manager,

Albert Stuivenberg Albert Stuivenberg (; born 5 August 1970) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player who is currently the assistant manager of club Arsenal. Stuivenberg played professionally for SC Telstar and HFC Haarlem, before suffering a ser ...

was added as assistant coach, and

Marcel Bout Marcel Bout (; born 18 November 1962) is a Dutch football coach and scout. Bout has worked with Feyenoord, FC Volendam, AZ Alkmaar, SC Telstar, FC Bayern Munich, Manchester United and the Netherlands national football team in various coaching ...

was appointed as an assistant coach and chief opposition scout, the latter previously worked with Hoek at Bayern Munich. Hoek also trains other professional goalkeeping coaches, and advises and lectures for

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

and the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women ...

(KNVB), among others, on goalkeeping. He previously advised Manchester United (before becoming chief goalkeeping coach),

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

and the

Danish Football Association The Danish Football Union ( da, Dansk Boldspil-Union; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national t ...

(DBU). His coaching style is known within the game as the "Hoek Method". As of 2021, he is the technical director and senior advisor of U.S. club

Orange County SC Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the second tier USL Championship. The team plays its home games at ...

References

External links

"Frans Hoek Coaching" website

Frans Hoek curriculum vitae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoek, Frans 1956 births Living people Association football goalkeepers Dutch footballers Dutch football managers Eredivisie players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England AFC Ajax non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff People from Hoorn Association football goalkeeping coaches FC Volendam players FC Barcelona non-playing staff Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany FC Bayern Munich non-playing staff Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Poland Footballers from North Holland