Rob Alflen (born 7 May 1968) is a Dutch football manager and former player who is the assistant manager of Dutch

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 ...

club

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

Playing career

Club

Alflen was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. He played for FC Utrecht, Ajax Amsterdam, Vitesse Arnhem, Sparta Rotterdam, and

Cambuur Leeuwarden SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 Ee ...

in the

Managerial career

Since 2004, Alflen has been co-presenter of the TV program Namen & Rugnummer on RTV Utrecht. Alflen started his coaching career as a youth coach of FC De Bilt, and later became manager of the first team for the 2006–07 season. In the following season, he became assistant manager of HFC Haarlem but still remained as manager of De Bilt. From 2008 until 2010, he was manager of FC Breukelen. In February 2009, he also took a job at

Jong FC Utrecht Jong FC Utrecht (U23) is a Dutch football team, based in Utrecht. It is the reserve team of FC Utrecht and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2016–17 Eerste Divisie season. Current squad On loan Staff ...

as manager of the team alongside his manager job at Breukelen. When

Erwin Koeman Erwin Koeman (born 20 September 1961) is a Dutch retired professional football player and retired football manager. Personal life He is the son of Dutch international footballer Martin Koeman, and, alongside his younger brother Ronald, has also ...

quit as head coach of FC Utrecht in October 2011, Alflen was assigned as assistant coach of Jan Wouters for the first team of FC Utrecht. He became head coach after Wouters left the club in June 2014. On 25 March 2015 FC Utrecht said that coach Alflen and his advisor

Co Adriaanse Co Adriaanse (born 21 July 1947) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Playing career As a professional player, Adriaanse played for six seasons with (now dissolved) De Volewijckers (from 1964 until 1970) and ...

would step down from their roles with the Dutch club at the end of the season. On 11 January 2016 he became an assistant at

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

after Hendrie Krüzen left the club. On 16 April 2018, it was announced that Alflen would take over as the head coach of

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 ...

on a two-year contract starting next season. On 8 May 2019, Helmond announced, that they had sacked Alflen after a disappointing season, the worst season in the club's history with only four victories in 38 games.

Personal life

Alflen's father was the Dutch wrestling champion Loek Alflen.

Career statistics

References

1968 births Living people Footballers from Utrecht (city) Dutch footballers Association football midfielders FC Utrecht players AFC Ajax players SBV Vitesse players Sparta Rotterdam players Heracles Almelo players SC Cambuur players UEFA Cup winning players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Dutch football managers FC Utrecht managers Helmond Sport managers Eredivisie managers Eerste Divisie managers Heracles Almelo non-playing staff {{Netherlands-footy-midfielder-stub