Jean-Michel Vandamme (; born 10 November 1959) is a French

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 ...

executive, and former professional player and coach, who is currently the academy general manager of French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

Career

After retiring from professional football, Jean-Michel Vandamme became

first-team assistant coach in 1984. In 1989, he then left the club for

Derby du Nord The Derby du Nord (, ''Northern Derby'') is a football rivalry contested between French clubs Lille OSC and RC Lens, two of the region's most successful clubs. Both clubs are located in northern France, though in different departments: Lille in ...

rivals

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

and joined the first-team coaching staff as assistant coach. In 1993, after this short experience, he returned to Lille and was appointed as academy general manager of the Northmen. He was then appointed as technical advisor of president

Michel Seydoux Michel Seydoux (; born 11 September 1947) is a French businessman and film producer. He is also the former president and chairman of French professional football club Lille OSC. In 1975-1976, Seydoux worked with director Alejandro Jodorowsky ...

in 2009, and as head of recruitment in 2011. Vandamme left his longtime club in 2018 with Luis Campos' arrival as Lille new technical advisor under Gérard Lopez presidency. As a consequence, he signed with

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

, being appointed as head of recruitment in 2019, and worked for

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

as well. On 20 April 2021, he returned to Lille and was appointed again as academy general manager. Under his watch as academy general manager, Lille renowned youth programme has produced many talents over the years.

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered o ...

Yohan Cabaye Yohan Cabaye (; born 14 January 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Cabaye began his football career playing for hometown club US Tourcoing at the age of six. After seven years developing in the club's ...

Mathieu Debuchy Mathieu Debuchy (born 28 July 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Ligue 2 club Valenciennes. Debuchy started his senior career at Lille, where he won a Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double in the 2010–11 sea ...

Idrissa Gueye Idrissa Gana Gueye (born 26 September 1989) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Everton and the Senegal national team. Starting his career at Diambars in his native Senegal, Gueye joined Frenc ...

Lucas Digne Lucas Digne (; born 20 July 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Aston Villa and the France national team. Digne began his career at Lille before joining Paris Saint-Germain in 2013. After spending a sea ...

Divock Origi Divock Okoth Origi (born 18 April 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club AC Milan and the Belgium national team. Origi began his career at Lille, and scored on his professional debut for them in 2013. A ...

Benjamin Pavard Benjamin Jacques Marcel Pavard (born 28 March 1996) is a French professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Bayern Munich and the France national team. Although usually deployed as a right-back, he is also capable of playing ...

Martin Terrier Martin Albert Frédéric Terrier (born 4 March 1997) is a French professional association football, footballer who plays as winger (association football), winger or forward (association football), forward for Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais F.C., Ren ...

have come through the ranks and are just some of the talents who have played for the club.

Honours

Player

Lille * Division 2: 1977–78

References

External links

*
Jean-Michel Vandamme
at SoFoot.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Vandamme, Jean-Michel 1959 births Living people French footballers French football managers Lille OSC players Lille OSC non-playing staff Association footballers not categorized by position