Louis van Gaal

Louis van Gaal (born 8 August 1951) is a former Dutch football player and international club manager. He was the manager of Manchester United.

Louis van Gaal

Van Gaal in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Aloysius Paulus Maria van Gaal[1]
Date of birth	(1951-08-08) 8 August 1951 (age 74)[2]
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Ajax (advisor)
Youth career
	RKSV de Meer
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	RKSV de Meer
1972–1973	Ajax	0	(0)
1973–1977	Royal Antwerp	41	(7)
1977–1978	Telstar	25	(1)
1978–1986	Sparta Rotterdam	248	(26)
1986–1987	AZ	17	(0)
Total		331	(34)
Managerial career
1988–1990	Ajax (youth)
1991–1997	Ajax
1997–2000	Barcelona
2000–2001	Netherlands
2001	Netherlands U20
2002–2003	Barcelona
2005–2009	AZ
2009–2011	Bayern Munich
2012–2014	Netherlands
2014–2016	Manchester United
2021–2022	Netherlands
Medal record Men's football Representing  Netherlands (as manager) FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career statistics

Club

Van Gaal (right) playing for Sparta Rotterdam in 1983 against Feyenoord's Ruud Gullit

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ajax	1971–72	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1972–73	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Royal Antwerp	1973–74	9	2	3	0	—		12	2
	1974–75	3	0	6	2	—		9	2
	1975–76	19	4	2	2	4	0	25	6
	1976–77	10	1	1	0	—		11	1
	Total	41	7	12	4	4	0	57	11
Telstar	1977–78	25	1	—		—		25	1
Sparta Rotterdam	1978–79	31	5	—		—		31	5
	1979–80	33	1	—		—		33	1
	1980–81	33	5	—		—		33	5
	1981–82	24	1	—		—		24	1
	1982–83	33	5	—		—		33	5
	1983–84	34	2	—		6	0	40	2
	1984–85	30	4	3	0	—		33	4
	1985–86	31	3	—		4	0	35	3
	Total	248	26	3	0	10	0	261	26
AZ	1986–87	17	0	—		—		17	0
Career totals		331	34	15	4	14	0	360	38

Managerial statistics

As of match played 9 December 2022

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %	Ref.
Ajax	28 September 1991	30 June 1997	285	196	49	40	068.77
Barcelona	1 July 1997	20 May 2000[4]	171	95	32	44	055.56
Netherlands	7 July 2000[5]	30 November 2001[6]	15	9	4	2	060.00
Barcelona	1 July 2002[7]	28 January 2003[8]	30	16	5	9	053.33
AZ	1 July 2005	30 June 2009	182	105	39	38	057.69
Bayern Munich	1 July 2009[9]	10 April 2011[10]	96	59	18	19	061.46	[11]
Netherlands	6 July 2012[12]	12 July 2014[13]	29	18	9	2	062.07
Manchester United	16 July 2014[14]	23 May 2016	103	54	25	24	052.43	[15]
Netherlands	4 August 2021	9 December 2022	20	14	6	0	070.00
Total			931	566	187	178	060.79

Honours

Louis Van Gaal in 2010

Manager

Ajax^[16][17]

• Eredivisie: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
• KNVB Cup: 1992–93
• Johan Cruyff Shield: 1993, 1994, 1995
• UEFA Champions League: 1994–95; runner-up: 1995–96
• UEFA Cup: 1991–92
• UEFA Super Cup: 1995
• Intercontinental Cup: 1995

Barcelona^[17]

• La Liga: 1997–98, 1998–99
• Copa del Rey: 1997–98
• UEFA Super Cup: 1997

AZ^[17]

• Eredivisie: 2008–09

Bayern Munich^[17]

• Bundesliga: 2009–10
• DFB-Pokal: 2009–10
• DFL-Supercup: 2010
• UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2009–10^[18]

Manchester United^[17]

• FA Cup: 2015–16

Netherlands^[17]

• FIFA World Cup third place: 2014

Awards and achievements

• World Soccer Manager of the Year: 1995^[19]
• Onze d'Or Coach of the Year: 1995^[20]
• El País Manager of the Year: 1995
• Rinus Michels Award: 2007, 2009^[21]
• Dutch Sports Coach of the Year: 2009, 2014^[22][23]
• Die Sprachwahrer des Jahres (3rd place): 2009^[24]
• Football Manager of the Year (Germany): 2010^[25]
• Anton Geesink Award: 2015^[26]
• Dutch Lifetime Achievement Award: 2017^[27]
• France Football 18th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019^[28]
• Eredivisie Oeuvre Award: 2023^[29]

Orders

• Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau: 1997^[30]

Publications

• De trainer en de totale mens, Leipzig, Leibniz-Blätter-Verlag, 2021.