Frans van Balkom (23 October 1939 – 2 September 2015) was 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 ...

player and manager.

Playing career

As a player, van Balkom signed for Australian side

Ringwood City Ringwood City Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club from Ringwood, a suburb of Melbourne. The club was formed in 1953 as Wilhelmina by Dutch Australians. The club currently competes in Victorian State League Division 4 East, where it has ...

Managerial career

In 1973, he was appointed manager of Japanese side

Tokyo Verdy is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of football in the country. Founded as Yomiuri F.C. in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated clubs in the J.League, with ...

. In 1976, van Balkom was appointed manager of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In 1980, he was appointed manager of

. After that, he was appointed director of St. Louis Scott Gallagher in the United States. In 1995, van Balkom was appointed manager of Japanese club

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the fir ...

References

1939 births 2015 deaths People from Schin op Geul Sportspeople from Kerkrade Dutch men's footballers Footballers from Limburg (Netherlands) Ringwood City SC players Dutch football managers Tokyo Verdy managers Hong Kong national football team managers Indonesia national football team managers Albirex Niigata managers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate football managers in Japan Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Expatriate football managers in Hong Kong Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Expatriate football managers in Indonesia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Men's association football players not categorized by position {{Netherlands-footy-bio-stub