Cornelis "Kees" Hendricus van Wonderen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkeːs fɑɱ ˈʋɔndərə(n)]; born 4 January 1969) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of 2. Bundesliga club Schalke 04. During his playing career, he was mostly utilised as a centre back.[1]

Kees van Wonderen
van Wonderen as manager of Heerenveen in 2023
Personal information
Full name Cornelis Hendricus van Wonderen
Date of birth (1969-01-04) 4 January 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Bergen, Netherlands
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
Schalke 04 (head coach)
Youth career
0000–1991 Bennekom
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1994 NEC 99 (26)
1994–1996 NAC 56 (6)
1996–2004 Feyenoord 203 (5)
Total 358 (37)
International career
1998–1999 Netherlands 5 (0)
Managerial career
2015–2017 Netherlands U18
2015–2018 Netherlands U17
2020–2022 Go Ahead Eagles
2022–2024 Heerenveen
2024– Schalke 04
Medal record
Representing  Netherlands
UEFA European Under-17 Championship
Winner England 2018 U-17 Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Club

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Van Wonderen was born in Bergen, North Holland, and played professional football for NEC, NAC Breda and Feyenoord.

While at Feyenoord, Van Wonderen won the Eredivisie in 1999 and the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, as the club beat Borussia Dortmund 3–2 in the final at De Kuip.

International

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He also won five caps for the Netherlands national team.

Coaching career

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van Wonderen with the Netherlands U-18 in March 2017

After his career as a professional footballer, he started as a scout at Feyenoord but left the position again after a few months. He then became assistant coach to Camiel Jager at his youth club VV Bennekom in December 2006.

In the summer of 2008 he accepted an offer from Twente to join the technical staff there under manager Steve McClaren.[2] After two years, McClaren left Twente in the summer 2010 and following that, van Wonderen indicated that he wanted to take a step back to spend more time with his family. However, he signed a new deal with Twente in August 2010 as an assistant manager.[3]

In October 2011, he was also added to the backroom staff of Netherlands U-16 and U-18 national teams as an assistant manager beside his job at Twente.[4] Meanwhile, Van Wonderen and FC Twente decided to separate on 6 July 2012.[5] However, by the request of his former Twente-colleague Alfred Schreuder who had been appointed head coach of Twente, Van Wonderen returned to the club as an assistant manager at the end of February 2013.[6]

In the summer 2015, Van Wonderen left Twente and was appointed manager of Netherlands U-17 and U-18 national teams.[7] At the start of the 2017/18 season, Van Wonderen was added to the technical staff of VVV-Venlo as an intern.[8]

In March 2018, he was appointed assistant manager to Ronald Koeman for Netherlands A-team. He left this position in December 2019.[9]

On 29 February 2020, Go Ahead Eagles confirmed that Van Wonderen would become the club's new head coach for the upcoming season.[10]

On 21 March 2022, Van Wonderen was appointed as the new head coach of Heerenveen at the start of the 2022–23 season.[11] On 11 March 2024, it was announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season.[12]

On 6 October 2024, Van Wonderen became head coach of German 2. Bundesliga club Schalke 04, signing a contract until summer 2026.[13]

Managerial statistics

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As of 10 November 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
G W D L Win %
Go Ahead Eagles 1 July 2020 30 June 2022 80 39 14 27 048.75 [14][15]
Heerenveen 1 July 2022 30 June 2024 76 26 17 33 034.21 [16][17]
Schalke 04 6 October 2024 present 5 1 1 3 020.00 [18]
Total 161 66 32 63 040.99

Honours

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Player

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Feyenoord

Manager

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Netherlands U17

References

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  1. ^ Kees van Wonderen at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ Kees van Wonderen in technische staf FC Twente, vi.nl, 25 August 2008
  3. ^ Football - Des membres du staff de Michel Preud’homme prolongent à Twente, sudinfo.be, 25 October 2010
  4. ^ Van Wonderen assistent Onder 16 Archived 9 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine, onsoranje.nl, 20 October 2011
  5. ^ Afscheid Van Wonderen bij FC Twente, volkskrant.nl, 6 July 2012
  6. ^ Van Wonderen weer terug bij Twente, volkskrant.nl, 27 February 2013
  7. ^ Kees van Wonderen nieuwe coach bij Onder 17 en Onder 18, knvb.nl, 8 July 2015
  8. ^ VVV-Venlo - Kees van Wonderen loopt ... - Facebook, facebook.com, 26 June 2017
  9. ^ Koeman needs new assistant: Van Wonderen steps down, football-oranje.com, 3 December 2019
  10. ^ Kees van Wonderen nieuwe hoofdtrainer vanaf volgend seizoen, ga-eagles.nl, 29 February 2020
  11. ^ "Go Ahead-trainer Van Wonderen na de zomer bij sc Heerenveen aan de slag". NOS (in Dutch). 21 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Trainer Van Wonderen verlaat Heerenveen aan eind van dit seizoen". NOS (in Dutch). 11 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Kees van Wonderen is the new head coach of FC Schalke 04". FC Schalke 04. 6 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Go Ahead Eagles » Fixtures & Results 2020/2021". worldfootball.net.
  15. ^ "Go Ahead Eagles » Fixtures & Results 2021/2022". worldfootball.net.
  16. ^ "SC Heerenveen » Fixtures & Results 2022/2023". worldfootball.net.
  17. ^ "SC Heerenveen » Fixtures & Results 2023/2024". worldfootball.net.
  18. ^ "FC Schalke 04 – Trainer". Kicker (in German).
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