Stephan Van Der Heyden (born 3 July 1969) is a Belgian professional football coach and former player, who is the current assistant manager of Rangers.

Playing career

A midfielder during his playing career, Van Der Heyden has played for various clubs including

Beveren Beveren () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren ...

, Club Brugge,

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

and Royal Cappellen in Belgium,

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisi ...

in the Netherlands,

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

in Australia and

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 region, the prefecture of the N ...

in France. He has also made a handful of appearances for the Belgian national teams in the junior and senior levels. He was in the Belgium squad for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

Coaching career

After retiring from professional football in 2003, he returned to the game as a coach in 2010. He started his coaching career at Sporting Lokeren before returning to former club Club Brugge. At Brugge, He began as part of their scouting team. In June 2013, he was appointed as the club’s assistant coach and continued with them for the next four years. In 2017, he signed with Macedonian club

Vardar Skopje FK Vardar Skopje ( mk, ФК Вардар Скопје), or simply Vardar, is a football club based in the capital city of Skopje, North Macedonia. The club was founded in 1947 and currently competes in the Macedonian Second Football League. The ...

to take on the role of assistant coach once again. The following year, he started working with Jordan national team head coach

Vital Borkelmans Vital Philomene Borkelmans (born 10 June 1963) is a Belgian football coach and a former left fullback who mainly played for Club Brugge (350 matches with that club), in the Belgian First Division. He also played for Patro Eisden, SV Waregem, ...

as his assistant. On 14 October 2021, it was announced that Lokeren has been appointed as the assistant coach of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

ahead of the 2021–22 season. On 20 October 2023, Van Der Heyden joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

side Rangers as assistant manager to

Philippe Clement Philippe Clement (born 22 March 1974) is a Belgian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Ligue 1 club Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, ...

Honours

Roda JC * KNVB Cup: 1996–97

References

External links

*
soccer camps by Stephan Van Der HeydenKerala Blasters FC announced the appointment of Stephan van der Heyden as their new assistant coach
* 1969 births Living people Belgian men's footballers Belgian football managers Footballers from East Flanders Men's association football midfielders K.S.K. Beveren players Club Brugge KV players Belgium men's international footballers Beerschot A.C. players Lille OSC players Roda JC Kerkrade players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players 1994 FIFA World Cup players Royal Cappellen F.C. players People from Sint-Gillis-Waas Kerala Blasters FC non-playing staff Club Brugge KV non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in France {{belgium-footy-midfielder-stub