Jean-Paul van Gastel

Jacobus Johannes Martinus Paulus "Jean-Paul" van Gastel (Dutch pronunciation: [ʑɑ̃ːˈpʌul vɑŋ ˈɣɑstəl]; born 28 April 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of Super League club PSIM Yogyakarta.

Jean-Paul van Gastel

Jean-Paul van Gastel in the 2024 Turkish Super Cup
Personal information
Full name	Jacobus Johannes Martinus Paulus van Gastel
Date of birth	(1972-04-28) 28 April 1972 (age 53)
Place of birth	Breda, Netherlands
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	PSIM Yogyakarta (head coach)
Youth career
	BSV Boeimeer
	NAC Breda
	Willem II
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1996	Willem II	137	(15)
1996–2001	Feyenoord	121	(25)
2001–2002	Ternana	7	(0)
2002	Como	0	(0)
2002–2003	De Graafschap	13	(2)
Total		278	(42)
International career
1996–1999	Netherlands	5	(2)
Managerial career
2021–2022	Guangzhou City
2023–2024	NAC Breda
2025–	PSIM Yogyakarta
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Van Gastel started his professional career in 1990 with Willem II, where he stayed for six seasons, before moving to Feyenoord. There he won the Dutch title (1999). He moved to Italy in 2001 and played for Ternana (Serie B) and Como (Serie A). He ended his career in 2003 with De Graafschap. Van Gastel, who became national champion with Feyenoord in 1999, was approached by AS Roma the following summer with a very high offer to bring him to Italy, but Feyenoord did not want to lose him.

Coaching career

In the end as a player, he worked from 2004 to 2005 as Head Coach of the U-19 team of Willem II. On 30 June 2005, he began his coaching career with the U-19 of Feyenoord.

During his stint at Feyenoord as an assistant coach, he alongside Giovanni van Bronckhorst won five trophies at the De Kuip, including an Eredivisie and KNVB Cup.

Then in 2020, he joined alongside Giovanni van Bronckhorst in joining Guangzhou R&F as an assistant coach. After that season, he became head coach of the club after van Bronckhorst's resignation.

In the 2021 season of the Chinese Super League, he led Guangzhou City to a ninth-place finish in the regular standings and a seventh-place finish in the championship round. Including notable matches versus Qingdao 4–2, Beijing Guoan 5–0, and their city rivals, Guangzhou by 2–2 and 3–3 respectively.

On 11 May 2022, his Twitter account announced that he penned a one-year extension for Guangzhou City.^[1]

On 25 September 2023, van Gastel was appointed to the head coach position of NAC Breda, replacing Peter Hyballa.^[2]

On 1 July 2024, van Gastel joined van Bronckhorst once again for the third time as his assistant coach for Turkish side Beşiktaş until 30 November 2024, where the latter was sacked following the team's defeat by Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League.^[3]

On 17 June 2025, Indonesia club PSIM Yogyakarta announced the signing of van Gastel as their new head coach.^[4]

Honours

Player

• Feyenoord
  • Eredivisie: 1998–99
  • Johan Cruyff Shield: 1999

Manager

Feyenoord^[5][6][7]

• Eredivisie: 2016–17
• KNVB Cup: 2015–16, 2017–18
• Johan Cruyff Shield: 2017, 2018