Jan Pruijn (born 12 October 1958) is a Dutch football coach. As a footballer, Jan Pruijn only played amateur football, playing in the

Hoofdklasse The Vierde Divisie, formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league is divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunday. This is a result of ...

the 2nd highest league of amateur

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 ...

in the Netherlands. In 1985, he became the coach of

De Treffers De Treffers is an amateur football club from Groesbeek, Netherlands. The club plays in the Tweede Divisie, the highest amateur league of Dutch football. History It was founded in 1919, and its first chairman was Jan Piepenbreier. De Treffers h ...

from

Groesbeek Groesbeek () is a town and former municipality in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. In January 2015 the former municipality merged with Millingen aan de Rijn and Ubbergen. The larger area was known as Groesbeek until January 2016, when ...

, with whom he won the championship in the Zondag Hoofdklasse C league three times, also winning the championship of the whole amateur league once. Between 1991 and 1994 he was the coach of N.E.C., being promoted 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 ...

and making it to the final of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

in 1994. Jan Pruijn then managed

for one more year, followed by a season as manager for

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport is a professional association football club based in the city of Helmond, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. The club was founded on 27 June 1967, as ...

. After this coaching period, he became a football consultant for clubs such as

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

and

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

, and a couple of clubs from England. He opened up youth camps in the United States, and was youth coach in various countries, coaching at Lebanese football clubs, Dutch clubs,

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 ...

, VV Venray and

Al Ain FC Al Ain Football Club ( ar, نادي العين لكرة القدم; transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) or Al Ain FC or simply Al Ain is a professional football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many spo ...

. In 1999, he was employed by

as the manager of the international youth system, working with the academies in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, Belgium and South Africa. In 2008, he succeeded Hans Vonk as the technical director at

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and m ...

. In October 2009 he was briefly the interim manager for

following a brief interim stint by

Muhsin Ertuğral Muhsin Ertuğral (born 15 September 1959) is a UEFA Pro Licensed Turkish football manager. He works as Turkish National Team Technical Advisor for the Turkish Football Association (TFF). Playing career Ertuğral played for Antalyaspor before ...

. Jan Pruijn was relieved at the Cape club by

Foppe de Haan Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch football coach. He is known for his long association with Frisian club SC Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national football team during 2011 and then rejoined Heerenveen's ...

, to whom Jan would become the assistant, leading Ajax CT to second place in the South African PSL that season. In late 2012, Jan Pruijn occupied another interim coaching position at Ajax CT, succeeding

Wilfred Mugeyi Wilfred Mugeyi (born 4 July 1969) is a Zimbabwean former footballer whose last job was coach at South African Premier Soccer League club AmaZulu FC. During his playing days he was known as "Silver Fox" for the way he stole un-noticed behind oppo ...

's interim position, following the dismissal of

Maarten Stekelenburg Maarten Stekelenburg (; born 22 September 1982) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Ajax. Stekelenburg began his career at Ajax, playing 282 matches over nine seasons in his first spell there and win ...

as coach of Ajax Cape Town. He was relieved by

Jan Versleijen Johannes Martinus Maria Versleijen (born 29 December 1955), better known as Jan Versleijen, is a Dutch professional association football coach who last managed South African PSL side Ajax Cape Town. Career Born in Venlo, Versleijen has managed a ...

who took over as interim coach, before resigning prematurely, and

finishing the season with Ajax CT after being appointed Technical director of the Cape club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruijn, Jan 1958 births Living people Dutch footballers Dutch football managers NEC Nijmegen managers Helmond Sport managers Ajax Cape Town F.C. managers Cape Town Spurs F.C. non-playing staff De Treffers managers People from Overbetuwe Association footballers not categorized by position Sportspeople from Gelderland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Dutch expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer managers in South Africa