Louis van Gaal

Louis van Gaal
	Louis van Gaal
Personal information
Full name:	Aloysius Paulus Maria van Gaal
Date of birth:	8 August 1951 (age 73)
Place of birth:	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height:	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position:	Midfielder
Youth clubs
	RKSV de Meer
Senior clubs
Teams managed
1991–1997; 1997–2000; 2000–2002; 2002–2003; 2005–2009; 2009–2011; 2012–2014; 2014–2016; 2021–2022	AFC Ajax; Barcelona; Netherlands; Barcelona; AZ; Bayern Munich; Netherlands; Manchester United; Netherlands

General

Image gallery

Aloysius Paulus Maria van Gaal OON (born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football manager and player. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having two spells in charge of the Netherlands national team. Van Gaal is one of the most decorated managers in world football, having won 20 major honours in his managerial career.

Before his career as a coach, Van Gaal played as a midfielder for Royal Antwerp, Telstar, Sparta Rotterdam and AZ. He is also a fully qualified gymnastics teacher and has worked as such at high schools during various stages of his career as a semi-professional footballer.

After a brief spell as coach at AZ, Van Gaal served as assistant coach under Leo Beenhakker at Ajax and eventually took over as head coach in 1991. Under his lead, the club won three Eredivisie titles, the UEFA Cup, and the Champions League. Van Gaal moved to Barcelona in 1997 and won two Spanish league titles and one Copa del Rey. After some disagreements at Barcelona, he was appointed coach of the Netherlands national team, but failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Another brief spell at Barcelona followed before he became manager of AZ. After winning the Eredivisie with AZ in 2008–09, he was hired by Bayern Munich on 1 July 2009. In his first season at Bayern, he secured the Bundesliga title, won the DFB-Pokal, and reached the final of the Champions League. In July 2012, he was appointed manager of the Netherlands for the second time, and led them to third place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Honours[]

Managerial honours[]

Club[]

Ajax

Eredivisie: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
KNVB Cup: 1992–93
Johan Cruijff 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

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

AZ

Eredivisie: 2008–09

Bayern Munich

Bundesliga: 2009–10
DFB-Pokal: 2009–10
DFB-Supercup: 2010
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2009–10

International[]

Netherlands

FIFA World Cup third place: 2014

Awards and achievements[]

World Soccer Manager of the Year: 1995
Onze d'Or Coach of the Year: 1995
Rinus Michels Award: 2007, 2009
Dutch Sports Coach of the Year: 2009
Die Sprachwahrer des Jahres (3rd place): 2009
German Football Manager of the Year: 2010

Orders[]

Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau: 1997

External links[]

Official website
Profile and stats at Voetbal International
CV Louis van Gaal
Van Gaal: My football philosophy, from FIFA.com
Profile and stats on RAFC History

AFC Ajax - Managers
Kirwan (1910–15) · Reynolds (1915–25) · Rose (1925–26) · Castle (1927–28) · Reynolds (1928–40) · Distelbrink (a.i.) (1940) · Halpern (1940–41) · Volkers (1941–42) · Van Kol (1942–45) · Reynolds (1945–47) · Smith (1947–48) · Crook (1948–50) · Thomson (1950–53) · Stejskal (a.i.) (1953) · Crook (1953–54) · Humenberger (1954–59) · Buckingham (1959–61) · Spurgeon (1961–62) · Gruber (1962–63) · Rowley (1963–64) · Buckingham (1964–65) · Michels (1965–71) · Kovács (1971–73) · Knobel (1973–74) · Haarms (a.i.) (1974) · Kraay (1974–75) · Michels (1975–76) · Ivić (1976–78) · Brom (1978–79) · Beenhakker (1979–81) · De Mos (1981) · Linder (1981–82) · De Mos (1982–85) · Kohn, Bruins Slot & Van der Hart (1985) · Cruijff (1985–88) · Kohn (1988) · Linder (1988) · Kohn, Haarms & Hulshoff (1988–89) · Beenhakker (1989–91) · Van Gaal (1991–97) · Olsen (1997–98) · Wouters (1998–(2000) · Westerhof (2000) · Adriaanse (2000–01) · Koeman (2001–05) · Blind (2005–06) · Ten Cate (2006–07) · Koster (2007–08) · Van Basten (2008–09) · Van 't Schip (a.i.) (2009) · Jol (2009–10) · De Boer (2010–16) · Bosz (2016–17) · Keizer (2017) · Reiziger (a.i.) (2017) · Ten Hag (2017–2022) Schreuder (2022–)

Futbol Club Barcelona - Managers
Barrow (1917) • Greenwell (1917–23) • Spouncer (1923–24) • Poszony (1924) • Kirby (1924–26) • Domby (1926–27) • Forns (1927–29) • Bellamy (1929–31) • Greenwell (1931–33) • Domby (1933–34) • Plattkó (1934–35) • O'Connell (1935–40) • Planas (1940–41) • Guzmán (1941–42) • Nogués (1942–44) • Samitier (1944–47) • Fernández (1947–50) • Daučík (1950–54) • Puppo (1954–55) • Plattkó (1955–56) • Balmanya (1956–58) • Herrera (1958–60) • Broćić (1960–61) • Orizaola (1961) • Miró (1961) • Kubala (1961–63) • Gonzalvo (1963) • C.Rodríguez (1963–64) • Sasot (1964–65) • Olsen (1965–67) • Artigas (1967–69) • Seguer (1969^c) • Buckingham (1969–71) • Michels (1971–75) • Weisweiler (1975–76) • Ruiz (1976^c) • Michels (1976–78) • Muller (1978–79) • Rifé (1979–80) • Herrera (1980) • Kubala (1980) • Herrera (1980–81) • Lattek (1981–83) • Menotti (1983–84) • Venables (1984–87) • Aragonés (1987–88) • Cruijff (1988–91) • Rexach (1991^c) • Cruijff (1991–96) • Robson (1996–97) • Van Gaal (1997–2000) • Serra Ferrer (2000–01) • Rexach (2001–02) • Van Gaal (2002–03) • Antić (2003) • Rijkaard (2003–08) • Guardiola (2008–12) • Vilanova (2012–13) • Martino (2013–14) • Enrique (2014–17) • Valverde (2017–20) • Quique Setién (2020) • Koeman (2020–21) • Xavi (2021–24) • Flick (2024–)

Template:AZ managers

FC Bayern München - Managers
Hesselink (1903–?) • Taylor (1907–?) • Hoer (1909–11) • Taylor (1911) • Griffiths (1911–12) • Townley (1914) • Kreisel (1915) • Baumann (1916–17) • Kirstner (1917–18) • Storch (1918–(19) • Townley (19(19–21) • Schmid (1921–24) • McPherson (1924–27) • Weisz (1927–28) • Konrád (1928–30) • Kohn (1931–33) • Tauchert (1933–34) • Hofmann (1934–35) • Michalke (1935–37) • Körner (1937–38) • Goldbrunner (1938–43) • Heidkamp (1943–45) • Högg (1945–46) • Pöttinger (1946–47) • Riemke (1947) • Dietl (1947–48) • Riemke (1948–50) • Davison (1950–51) • Riemke (1951) • Schäfer (1951–53) • Bayerer (1953–54) • Knöpfle (1954) • Streitle (1954–55) • Moll (1955–56) • Hahn (1956–58) • Moll (1958) • Patek (1958–61) • Schneider (1961–63) • Čajkovski (1963–68) • Zebec (1968–70) • Lattek (1970–75) • Cramer (1975–77) • Lóránt (1977–79) • Csernai (1979–83) • Saftig (1983) • Lattek (1983–87) • Heynckes (1987–91) • Lerby (1991–92) • Ribbeck (1992–93) • Beckenbauer (1994) • Trapattoni (1994–95) • Rehhagel (1995–96) • Beckenbauer^c (1996) • Trapattoni (1996–98) • Hitzfeld (1998–(2004) • Magath (2004–07) • Hitzfeld (2007–08) • Klinsmann (2008–09) • Heynckes^c (2009) • Van Gaal (2009–11) • Jonker^c (2011) • Heynckes (2011–13) • Guardiola (2013–16) • Ancelotti (2016– 17) • Sagnol^c (2017) • Heynckes (2017–18) • Kovač (2018–19) • Flick (2019–21) • Nagelsmann (2021–23) • Tuchel (2023–24) • Kompany (2024–)

Manchester United Football Club - Managers
Albut^s (1892–1900) • West^s (1900–03) • Mangnall^s (1903–12) • Bentley^s (1912–14) • Robson (1914–21) • Chapman (1921–26) • Hilditch^p (1926–27) • Bamlett (1927–31) • Crickmer (1931–32) • Duncan (1932–37) • Crickmer (1937–45) • Busby (1945–69) • Murphy^c (1958) • McGuinness (1969–70) • Busby (1970–71) • O'Farrell (1971–72) • Docherty (1972–77) • Sexton (1977–81) • Atkinson (1981–86) • Ferguson (1986–2013) • Moyes (2013–14) • Giggs^{p c} (2014) • Van Gaal (2014–2016) • Mourinho (2016–2018) • Solskjær^c (2018–2019) • Solskjær (2019–2021) • Carrick^c (2021) • Rangnick^c (2021–2022) • Ten Hag (2022–2024) • van Nistelrooy^c (2024) • Amorim (2024–)

Netherlands
Dutch competitions Dutch coaches Dutch players Dutch stadiums

Template:Netherlands national football team managers

Netherlands – 2014 FIFA World Cup – Third place
1. Cillessen 2. Vlaar 3. De Vrij 4. Martins Indi 5. Blind 6. De Jong 7. Janmaat 8. De Guzmán 9. Van Persie (c) 10. Sneijder 11. Robben 12. Verhaegh 13. Veltman 14. Kongolo 15. Kuyt 16. Clasie 17. Lens 18. Fer 19. Huntelaar 20. Wijnaldum 21. Memphis 22. Vorm 23. Krul Manager: Louis van Gaal

Netherlands – 2022 FIFA World Cup – Quarter-finals
1. Pasveer 2. Timber 3. De Ligt 4. Van Dijk (c) 5. Aké 6. De Vrij 7. Bergwijn 8. Gakpo 9. L. de Jong 10. Depay 11. Berghuis 12. Lang 13. Bijlow 14. Klaassen 15. De Roon 16. Malacia 17. Blind 18. Janssen 19. Weghorst 20. Koopmeiners 21. F. de Jong 22. Dumfries 23. Noppert 24. Taylor 25. Simons 26. Frimpong Manager: Louis van Gaal

Personal information
Louis van Gaal

Full name:	Aloysius Paulus Maria van Gaal
Date of birth:	8 August 1951 (1951-08-08) (age 73)
Place of birth:	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height:	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position:	Midfielder
Youth clubs
	RKSV de Meer
Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)
1972–1973 1973–1977 1977–1978 1978–1986 1986–1987 Total	Ajax Royal Antwerp Telstar Sparta Rotterdam AZ	000 00(0) 041 00(7) 025 00(1) 248 0(26) 017 00(0) 331 0(34)
Teams managed
1991–1997 1997–2000 2000–2002 2002–2003 2005–2009 2009–2011 2012–2014 2014–2016 2021–2022	AFC Ajax Barcelona Netherlands Barcelona AZ Bayern Munich Netherlands Manchester United Netherlands