Andries Jonker named as new Netherlands manager

Andries Jonker has been appointed as the new manager of the Netherlands national women’s team, signing a contract until 2025.

The Netherlands parted company with Mark Parsons following their Euro 2022 campaign, as the Dutch failed to defend their title and exited at the quarter final stage.

Parsons’ replacement has been named as Jonker, the former assistant manager to Louis van Gaal at Bayern Munich and Barcelona. The 59-year-old will take up his post with immediate effect, and he will take charge of the Netherlands’ for the first time during September’s international break.

“I have experienced before how nice it is to work with a group of ambitious, dedicated players,” Jonker said. “During the last European Championship we also saw how incredibly fast women’s football has developed in recent years. 

“We have ambitious goals, but also an enormous amount of quality and talent that we can draw on for the 2023 World Cup. It is of course very nice to be able to give direction to that.”

Jonker had a brief spell as interim coach of the Netherlands in 2001, and boasts a wealth of experience in the game, with spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg. He was most recently in charge of Eerste Divisie outfit Telstar, before the pair parted ways in June 2022.

Jonker’s first game in charge of the Netherlands will be a friendly against Scotland on Friday 2 September, before taking on Iceland four days later in a crunch World Cup qualifier. Whoever comes out on top will be assured of their place at the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand.