René van Eck (born 18 February 1966) is a Dutch former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who works as

Ludovic Magnin Ludovic Magnin (; born 20 April 1979) is a Swiss football manager and a former player. He is the manager of Lausanne-Sport. He played as a left-back for the Switzerland national team, Yverdon Sport, FC Lugano, Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart, and ...

's assistant at

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

side

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

Playing career

Club

Van Eck started his professional career at local side

Excelsior Rotterdam Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion. The club was found ...

before moving to

FC Den Bosch FC Den Bosch () is a football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadium is called 'De Vliert', an 8,500 all-seater. R ...

aged 20. The long-haired defender played four seasons at Den Bosch, then moved abroad to join

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (german: Luzern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league syste ...

where he would spend eight seasons and become captain of the team. He was a hard and physical defender, moving in December 1998 from

to 1. FC Nürnberg. He played with Nürnberg sixteen games the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. After Nürnberg's relegation he played one season in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

with 22 games. Afterwards, Van Eck moved back to Switzerland and signed a contract with

FC Winterthur FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Super League, the first tier of Swiss football, and appeared regularly in the Nationalliga A during the 20th century. Their home is the Stad ...

. After half a year he moved to league rival

SC Kriens SC Kriens is a football club based in Kriens, Switzerland, who currently play in the Swiss Challenge League. They currently play at the Stadion Kleinfeld and form a local rivalry with FC Lucerne. SC Kriens women's team plays in the Nationall ...

Coaching career

His coaching career began for Van Eck as assistant manager of

; in 2003 he was named as the new manager. His greatest success was the promotion to the

, among others with 31 games without defeat. Differences with the club management led him to leave Luzern and joining the Finnish club

Inter Turku Football Club International Turku, commonly referred to as Inter Turku and colloquially known as Inter, is a professional football club based in Turku, Finland, that competes in the Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish Football. Founded in 1 ...

. With this club he stayed in the league. From June 2007 to May 2008 he managed

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of the Swiss football league system, following relegation from the Swiss Super League in the ...

and was relegated from the AXPO Super League to the Challenge League, and on 23 May 2008 fired in Thun. Since 2007, van Eck holds the UEFA Pro Coach Licence. He signed a coaching contract with

FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Formed in 1903 and initially associated with the Carl Zeiss AG factory, they were one of the strongest clubs in East Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s, winning the DDR-Obe ...

on 28 September 2008, until the end of the season, then on 5 February 2009 extended his contract to 30 June 2011. He was fired from his coaching job with Carl Zeiss Jena on 24 March 2009. On 29 May 2009, it was announced that he would return to Carl Zeiss Jena because his not cancelled contract ran until 30 June 2011. Later he was named as the new head coach of Carl Zeiss Jena, returning after 67 days. On 1 June 2010, he canceled his contract with Carl Zeiss Jena and left the club. During his time at Carl Zeiss Jena, "players were asked to toughen up by learning fighting techniques." On 5 February 2015, FC Den Bosch announced that Rene van Eck would lead the first team for the rest of the 2014–15 season. This would have Rene van Eck returning in the Vliert after 24 years. He was removed from his job as a manager on 6 February 2016, after the 3–2 loss in the cup at home against

VVSB VVSB (Voetbal Vereniging Sint Bavo) is an amateur association football club from Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands. It currently plays in the Derde Divisie. History The club was founded on October 26, 1931 and has played exclusively at the amateur lev ...

. He returned to Switzerland to take the

rein Reins are items of horse tack, used to direct a horse or other animal used for riding. They are long straps that can be made of leather, nylon, metal, or other materials, and attach to a bridle via either its bit or its noseband. Use for ...

s at

FC Muri FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

in May 2016 and took over again in April 2017 after a spell at German side

Wacker Nordhausen FSV Wacker 90 Nordhausen is a German association football club from Nordhausen, Thuringia. The club's greatest success has been promotion to the Regionalliga Nordost in 1995 and 2013. It has also won the Thuringia Cup on three occasions and, th ...

Personal life

His brother Jos also played professional football in Holland.Jos van Eck loopt baan als hoofd-opleidingen bij Willem II/RKC mis
- Rijnmond

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eck, Rene Van 1966 births Living people Footballers from Rotterdam Men's association football central defenders Dutch men's footballers Excelsior Rotterdam players FC Den Bosch players FC Luzern players 1. FC Nürnberg players FC Winterthur players SC Kriens players Eredivisie players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Dutch football managers FC Luzern managers FC Inter Turku managers FC Wohlen managers FC Thun managers FC Carl Zeiss Jena managers Alemannia Aachen managers FC Den Bosch managers 3. Liga managers Dutch expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Expatriate football managers in Finland Expatriate football managers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Finland