Jan Van Winckel (born March 26, 1974) is a Belgian football coach, UEFA and AFC Pro License Instructor and a FIFA Technical Expert. He is Technical Director at the United Arab Emirates Football Association.

Jan Van Winckel
Personal information
Full name Jan Van Winckel
Date of birth (1974-03-26) 26 March 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Duffel, Belgium
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Al-Ahli Saudi (Technical Advisor)
Managerial career
Years Team
1994–2000 University of Leuven (head-coach)
1994–2000 Stade Leuven (assistant manager)
2000–2002 KV Mechelen (assistant manager)
2002–2003 Al-Hilal Saudi (assistant manager)
2003–2004 United Arab Emirates (assistant manager)
2005–2006 United Arab Emirates U23
2006–2008 Belgium national football team (scout)
2006–2011 Club Brugge KV (assistant manager)
2011–2012 Beerschot AC (assistant manager)
2012–2014 Al-Ahli Saudi (Technical Director)
2014–2015 Olympique de Marseille (Assistant Manager)
2015–2018 Saudi Arabian Football Federation (Technical Director)
2019–2022 United Arab Emirates Football Association (Senior Technical Consultant)
2022–2023 Al-Ahli Saudi (Technical Director)
2023– United Arab Emirates Football Association (Technical Director)

Van Winckel holds a UEFA Pro-licence and graduated with a Master in Sport Sciences and a Master in Business Economics from the University of Leuven. He remains faculty of the Movement Control & Neuroplasticity Research Group[1] and is the author of various book and academic articles[2]

Van Winckel was Assistant Coach at Al-Hilal Saudi in 2004. He held the same role at the national team of the United Arab Emirates in 2005.

In 2002, he was at the heart of Belgium's footballing renaissance with Michel Sablon, Marc Van Geersom, Werner Helsen, and Bob Browaeys.[3]

At Olympique de Marseille, Van Winckel acted as Marcelo Bielsa's right hand and first team assistant.[4]

After resigning at Olympique de Marseille, Van Winckel became the technical director of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation in 2015. As technical director, Van Winckel led the Saudi Arabian football team to the World Cup in Russia in 2018.[5]

In 2019, Jan Van Winckel signed as a senior technical consultant to the United Arab Emirates Football Association. He set up the UAE FA 2nd and 3rd divisions and has launched projects to privatize football clubs in the United Arab Emirates. In 2022, he extended his contract.

In 2022, Van Winckel signed an agreement with Al-Ahli Saudi as Technical Ddvisor. He was technical director at the club from 2014 to 2015 and became vice-champion of Asia. The club was promoted back to the Saudi Pro League. [6]

In 2023, Van Winckel was re-appointed as Technical Director of the United Arab Emirates Football Association. He appointed the Portuguese manager Paulo Bento as head coach of the national team.

Career

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As Player

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  • 1994-1995: Belgian Champion University football
  • 1996-1997: Belgian Champion University football
  • 1994-1997: Belgian National University team
  • 1996-1997: Belgian National University futsal team
  • 2001-2002: 7th most valuable player Belgian Futsal Association
  • 2001-2002: 5th best goal scorer Belgian Futsal Association
  • 2001-2002: Final Belgian Cup Belgian Futsal Association
  • 2001-2002: Selected for the national futsal team

As Coach

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As Technical Director

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Others

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Honours

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Bibliography

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  • Fitness in Soccer - The science and practical application with Tenney D, Helsen W, McMillan K, Meert JP, Bradley P, Moveo Ergo Sum, Leuven 2014,ISBN 9789082132304 www.fitnessinsoccer.com
  • Voetbalconditie - Tussen praktijk en wetenschap door Jean Pierre Meert , Werner Helsen , Kenny Mcmillan , David Tenney , Jan Van Winckel. ACCO Uitgeverij. Publicatiedatum: 28 maart 2014. Pagina's: 608. ISBN 9789033497780

References

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  1. ^ "Jan Van Winckel profile on ResearchGate". University of Leuven. 8 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Jan Van Winckel profile on Academia". University of Leuven. 8 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Interview: Belgian Van Winckel spearheads a Saudi football revolution". Inside World Football. 6 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Bielsa avait toujours raison". OM. 11 November 2016.
  5. ^ "BLADES WELCOME JAN VAN WINCKEL TO THE BOARD". SUFC. 21 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Jan Van Winckel signs as technical advisor to Al-Ahli Saudi". BFC Pro. 10 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Belgian coach plots course to return Saudi to Asian elite". Inside World Football. 7 October 2015.
  8. ^ "AFC coach education panel looks to raise coaching standards". Asian Football Confederation. 9 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Saudi Vision 2030: what this means for the country's top football teams". The National. 22 June 2017.