Stephan Van Der Heyden (born 3 July 1969) is a Belgian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player, who is the current assistant manager of

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Playing career

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

Beveren Beveren () is a former 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'') ...

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian association football, football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from Belgian First Division 1999–2000, 1999–2000 ...

and Royal Cappellen in Belgium,

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

in the Netherlands,

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 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 the 2021 ...

in Australia and

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

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 w ...

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

. 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 () is a professional Association football, football club based in Skopje, North Macedonia, which competes in the Macedonian First Football League, Macedonian First League. They are the most successful football club in Football in Maced ...

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. Club career He also played for Patro Eisden, ...

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

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 ...

club

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 ...

ahead of the 2021–22 season. Kerala Blasters reached the Play-Offs ànd the ISL Final. They only lost after extra time and penalties to Hyderabad fc. On 20 October 2023, Van Der Heyden joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

as assistant manager to

Philippe Clement Philippe Clement (born 22 March 1974) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. He began his professional career at Belgian clubs Beerschot and Genk be ...

Honours as a player

National Military Team * Bronze medal with Belgium on WC in Naples Italy : 1987 Belgian National Team * WC in USA 1994 KSK Beveren * Belgian Champion 2nd Division : 1990-1991 Club Brugge * Belgian Champion : 1991-1992 & 1995-1996 * Belgian Cup : 1994-1995 & 1995-1996 * Belgian Supercup : 1991, 1992 & 1996 Roda JC *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 1996–97

Honours as Assistant Coach

Club Brugge * Belgian Cup : 2015 * Champion : 2016 * Supercup : 2016 Rangers * League Cup : 2023

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 20th-century Belgian sportsmen {{belgium-footy-midfielder-stub