Henk de Jong

For the theologian, see Henk de Jong (theologian).

In this Dutch name, the surname is de Jong, not Jong.

Henk de Jong (born 27 August 1964) is a Dutch professional football manager who is the head coach of Eerste Divisie club Cambuur.

Henk de Jong

Personal information
Date of birth	(1964-08-27) 27 August 1964 (age 60)
Place of birth	Drachten, Netherlands
Team information
Current team	Cambuur (head coach)
Youth career
	Drachtster Boys
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1984–1985	Heerenveen	0	(0)
Managerial career
1994–1997	Drachtster Boys
1997–1999	Sneek
1999–2000	Heracles Almelo (assistant)
2000–2002	SC Heerenveen (assistant)
2002–2005	Sneek
2005–2007	Groningen (assistant)
2007–2010	Harkemase Boys
2010–2013	Cambuur (assistant)
2013	Cambuur (interim)
2013–2014	Cambuur (assistant)
2014–2016	Cambuur
2017–2019	De Graafschap
2019–2022	Cambuur
2023–	Cambuur
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life and career

De Jong studied at the Central Institute for Sports Education (CIOS) in Heerenveen, where his instructors included Foppe de Haan, and his peers included Wiljan Vloet, Gertjan Verbeek, and Jan de Jonge.^[1] He played for Drachtster Boys until age 19 before joining SC Heerenveen's first team, but a knee injury ended his playing career prematurely.^[2]

Managerial career

De Jong's coaching career began at Drachtster Boys, where he coached the youth teams for seven years before taking charge of the first team in the Hoofdklasse for three years.^[2][3] In 1997, he moved to Sunday Hoofdklasse club Sneek.^[4] Two years later, in 1999, he joined Heracles Almelo as an assistant coach under Fritz Korbach.^[5] After one season, De Jong left the club and spent two years as an assistant coach at Heerenveen, where he helped the youth teams win national titles.^[6] He then moved to Groningen, where he served as coach of the reserves and as assistant to the first team under Ron Jans before returning to the amateur level to coach Harkemase Boys.^[7][8] His time at Harkemase Boys was marked by success, as he led the team to championships in the Eerste Klasse and Hoofdklasse, and in his final season, he achieved promotion to the Topklasse as runners-up.^[9] In May 2009, he won the named Rinus Michels Award for Manager of the Year in Amateur Football.^[10]

In early 2011, De Jong joined Cambuur as an assistant coach. At the end of the 2012–13 season, he became interim head coach and guided the club to the Eerste Divisie title. Despite his success, De Jong narrowly missed passing a professional football coaching course by one point, preventing him from coaching in the Eredivisie. Instead, he worked as the assistant to Dwight Lodeweges. De Jong was then appointed manager of Cambuur in April 2014, succeeding Lodeweges who had left the club after it was announced he would become the manager of the biggest rival of Cambuur, Heerenveen.^[11]

He returned to Cambuur in July 2019 after two years in charge of De Graafschap.^[12] In October 2022, De Jong abruptly resigned as Cambuur's coach, citing health reasons.^[13] A year prior, in December 2021, De Jong had a brief absence due to a diagnosed cyst in his head. In March 2022, Cambuur announced that health concerns prevented De Jong from completing the 2021–22 season.^[14][15] In March 2023, the club disclosed that De Jong had undergone a successful surgery to remove the cyst.^[16] On 10 October 2023, De Jong resumed his role as Cambuur's coach, taking over after the dismissal of Sjors Ultee.^[17]

Honours

Cambuur

• Eerste Divisie: 2012–13, 2020–21^[18][19]

Individual

• Rinus Michels Award: 2008–09, 2021^[10]