Thijs Libregts (, born 4 January 1941) is a Dutch football coach and former player, who played professionally as a defender in the 1950s. His daughter

Patricia Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United State ...

was one of the Netherlands' leading

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

players in the 1980s and 1990s.

Club career

Born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, Libregts began his playing career at

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 ...

, where he played from 1958 to 1962. From Excelsior he moved to Rotterdam's larger team

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

, where he remained until 1968. After six years at Feyenoord, Libregts returned to Excelsior where he played until 1972 when he announced his retirement.

Managerial career

Libregts' first coaching position was at Excelsior Rotterdam, where he worked from 1975 to 1980. Excelsior were relegated in Libregts' first season, but they won promotion in 1978–79. From Excelsior he moved to

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

, whom he took to second place in the

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 ...

in 1981–82. In 1983 Libregts moved to Feyenoord, where he won a league and cup double in his first season. At Feyenoord Libregts he was involved in a race row after he was alleged to have referred to

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all ...

as "blackie" and criticised him for being lazy, though Libregts defended himself by claiming that it was merely a nickname. In November 1984 Libregts moved to Greece with

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

, where he remained until 1986. In the 1986–87 season he joined PAOK, but his stay was brief and in December 1987 he switched to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. Libregts was appointed as

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

manager in 1988 as he took over from

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...

as coach of the European champions. The Netherlands easily qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but Libregts was replaced by

Leo Beenhakker Leo Beenhakker CM (; born 2 August 1942) is a Dutch international football coach. He has had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. He led both Ajax and Feyenoord to Dutch championships and also had domestic s ...

before the tournament itself. From 1991 to 1994 he was a coach with

Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnasticos Syllogos Iraklis ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής, en, Gymnastics Club Heracles), commonly referred to as Iraklis, is a Greek multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki. The club was founded in 1908 as "Mace ...

in Greece and from 1994 to 1995 returned to coach

. Having been dismissed by Olympiakos, Libregts took charge of the Nigeria national team in August 1998, who he managed until October 1999. After two years out of work Libregts joined

Grazer AK Grazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletiksport Klub (in Austria the abbreviation GAK is more common), is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria (''Steiermark''). The football section used to be on ...

in October 2001 where he remained until August 2002Die Trainer
/ref> and whom he led to the Cup, as well as to the victory in Supercup. In August 2002 he was replaced by

Walter Schachner Walter "Schoko" Schachner (born 1 February 1957) is a football manager and former player, who played as a forward. He made 64 appearances scoring 23 goals for the Austria national team. As he always brought chocolate to the games when he was ...

and he has been without a club since then.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Libregts, Thijs Living people 1941 births Association football defenders Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch football managers Dutch expatriate football managers Dutch footballers Excelsior Rotterdam players Feyenoord players Excelsior Rotterdam managers PSV Eindhoven managers Feyenoord managers Eredivisie players Eredivisie managers Netherlands national football team managers Super League Greece managers Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers Olympiacos F.C. managers Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. managers PAOK FC managers Grazer AK managers Expatriate football managers in Greece Nigeria national football team managers Expatriate football managers in Nigeria Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria