Reinhard Jozef Petrus "René" Meulensteen (born 25 March 1964) is a Dutch former

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 lea ...

and coach who was most recently assistant coach of the Australia national soccer team. He spent the early parts of his career working in the Netherlands before taking up managerial roles with the Qatari youth team, as well as clubs

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

and Al-Sadd. He then spent 12 years, split either side of a year stint at Brøndby, with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in various non-managerial capacities. Following his departure from the club in 2013, Meulensteen was in charge for short spells at Anzhi Makhachkala,

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and Maccabi Haifa.

Managerial career

Early career

While still playing, Meulensteen became a youth coach at

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

. In June 2006, he signed a three-year contract with Danish club Brøndby to become manager of the club, but resigned after six months. On 18 January 2007, Meulensteen rejoined Manchester United as technical skills development coach mainly to work with the first team. After the departure in July 2008 of their assistant manager, Carlos Queiroz to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

as their

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

manager, Meulensteen took over as first team coach, with

Mike Phelan Michael Christopher Phelan (born 24 September 1962) is an English professional football coach and former player who was most recently (until 31 December 2024) assistant head coach for EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle. Born in Nelson, L ...

being promoted to assistant manager. Both assumed their new roles on 13 August 2008. During his time as first-team coach, he helped Sir Alex Ferguson secure the

title in 2008–09, 2010–11 and 2012–13; the Community Shield in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, the League Cup in 2008–09 and 2009–10; the UEFA Champions League in 2007–08 and

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

. Manchester United confirmed his departure from the club on 26 June 2013, after incoming manager David Moyes decided to bring in his own coaching team. On 1 July 2013, Meulensteen signed a contract with Anzhi Makhachkala, joining

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

as an assistant coach. Hiddink left Anzhi after only two games into the 2013–14 Russian Premier League season, allowing Meulensteen to step up to head coach. After 16 days in charge, Meulensteen was sacked and replaced by Gadzhi Gadzhiyev.

Fulham

Meulensteen returned to England in November 2013 to take up a coaching position under

Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany and England, as well as earning three caps wi ...

. Less than three weeks later, Jol was sacked by Fulham after five consecutive league defeats, with Meulensteen taking over as manager. His first match as Fulham manager was a 2–1 loss to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 4 December, where Ashkan Dejagah scored the only goal for Meulensteen's side. Fulham won their first match under Meulensteen days later on 8 December, beating

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

2–0 with goals from Steve Sidwell and Dimitar Berbatov. On 14 February 2014, Fulham hired Felix Magath to replace Meulensteen as manager, sacking Meulensteen four days later. In November 2014, he was hired as a consultant by the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

from

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

Maccabi Haifa

On 9 August 2016, Meulensteen was presented as head coach by Maccabi Haifa from

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

. His appointment lasted just over six months, and then resigned as head coach on 13 February 2017.

Kerala Blasters

On 14 July 2017, Meulensteen was appointed as head coach of

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

side

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

. The club parted ways with Meulensteen after poor start of the season. He resigned as head coach on 2 January 2018.

Australia

Meulensteen served as an assistant coach with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

from 2018 to 2024.

Personal life

Meulensteen's daughter Pien is a television presenter and reporter in the UK, whilst his son Melle is also a footballer.

Honours

Manager

Al-Ittihad *

Qatar Crown Prince Cup The Qatar Cup (formerly known as Qatar Crown Prince Cup) is a tournament in men's football. It is played by the top 4 teams of the Qatar Stars League after each season. In 2013, the tournament was renamed Qatar Cup. Previous winners All-time ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Arab Cup Winners' Cup The Arab Cup Winners' Cup () was a football (soccer), football competition between the winning clubs of national cup competitions in Arab nations. It started in 1989 and merged with the Arab Club Champions Cup and Arab Super Cup in 2002 to form th ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Al-Sadd *

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup (), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by all first and second division teams in Qatar. The tournament is played in a knockout system, ...

: 2000–01 Man United Reserves * Premier Reserve League: 2005–06 * PRL Northern Division: 2005–06 * Manchester Senior Cup: 2005–06

References

External links

Brøndby IF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meulensteen, Rene 1964 births Living people Sportspeople from Boxmeer Dutch men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Dutch football managers Dutch expatriate football managers Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Al Sadd SC managers Al-Gharafa SC managers FC Anzhi Makhachkala managers Fulham F.C. non-playing staff Fulham F.C. managers Maccabi Haifa F.C. managers Kerala Blasters FC managers Danish Superliga managers Russian Premier League managers Premier League managers Israeli Premier League managers Indian Super League managers Expatriate football managers in Denmark Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Russia Expatriate football managers in England Expatriate football managers in Israel Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Dutch expatriate sportspeople in India Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Russia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Israel Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Footballers from North Brabant NEC Nijmegen players NEC Nijmegen non-playing staff Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Australia 20th-century Dutch sportsmen