Theo Vonk (born 16 December 1947) is a Dutch former

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, most recently in charge of

Gibraltar Premier Division The Gibraltar Premier Division was a football league established by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) in 1905, and the top tier of football in Gibraltar. It originally contained eight member clubs, but it has grown over the years. In 19 ...

side Glacis United, where he also served as technical director.

Career

Vonk was born in

Uitgeest Uitgeest () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Uitgeest consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Topography ''Dutch topograp ...

. He spent the majority of his playing career at

AZ'67 Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

, playing for them as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for ten years from 1968 to 1978, before spending a year at

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional Association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion ...

and subsequently retiring. After retiring from playing, he joined his boyhood club AZ'67 as assistant manager, spending five years at the club before moving to

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

in 1984. After a successful two years at the club, during which he guided them to 4th in his first season, he moved to

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

, finishing third three times over six years. A disastrous spell in Spain with Real Burgos followed in 1992, after which he became something of a journeyman manager, aside from three years in charge of AZ. Five years after leaving his last job at

Sportclub Enschede Sportclub Enschede is a football club from Enschede, Netherlands. ''SC Enschede'' was established in 1910. The club won the national championship in 1926. In 1965 ''SC Enschede'' merged with their rivals Enschedese Boys to form FC Twente (both cl ...

, he joined Glacis United as manager and technical director. He left the club on 10 August 2018 due to personal reasons.Theo Vonk steps down from role as Glacis Head Coach
Football Gibraltar. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

Personal life

Theo Vonk is the father of

Michel Vonk Michel Vonk (born 28 October 1968) is a Dutch football manager and former professional footballer As a player, he was a defender from 1986 to 2001, notably playing in the Premier League for Manchester City. He also played in England for Oldham A ...

, who notably played for AZ and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

during his playing career. In 2013, while in his second spell at Enschede, he suffered a stroke.

Honours

As a player

AZ'67 *

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 ...

: 1977–78

As a manager

AZ'67/AZ *

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 ...

: 1980–81* *

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

: 1995–96 *

: 1980–81*, 1981–82* *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

runner-up: 1980–81* (* as assistant manager)

References

External links

*
Profiel Theo Vonk op www.sparta-rotterdam.nl
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vonk, Theo Living people 1947 births People from Uitgeest Dutch footballers Association football defenders FC Volendam players AZ Alkmaar players AZ Alkmaar managers Sparta Rotterdam managers FC Twente managers FC Groningen managers Roda JC Kerkrade managers Heracles Almelo managers Dutch football managers Real Burgos CF managers Footballers from North Holland