Franciscus Petrus Theodorus "Frans" Hoek (; born 17 October 1956) is a Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. As a player, he was a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Volendam Volendam () is a tourist town in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Edam-Volendam, Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, known for its streets, old fishing boats and the traditional clothing wor ...

for more than a decade, before going into coaching as an assistant to

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...

at club sides

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, as well as the Netherlands national team. He also worked for the Poland national team under fellow Dutchman

Leo Beenhakker Leo Beenhakker (; 2 August 1942 – 10 April 2025) was a Dutch football player and coach. Nicknamed "Don Leo" for his role in Spanish football, he had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. After his amateur pl ...

. He has worked with goalkeepers including

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch association football, football executive and former professional player who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was most recently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, A ...

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Víctor Valdés Víctor Valdés Arribas (; born 14 January 1982) is a Spanish association football, football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He spent most of his professional career with FC Ba ...

Vítor Baía Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH (; born 15 October 1969) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, his career was intimately connected with FC Porto, which h ...

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his career with the Barce ...

Robert Enke Robert Enke (24 August 1977 – 10 November 2009) was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Mönchengladbach, Benfica, and Barcelona, but made most of his appearances for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 in his h ...

Łukasz Fabiański Łukasz Marek Fabiański (born 18 April 1985) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. He will become a free agent on ...

Thomas Kraft Thomas Kraft (born 22 July 1988) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Club career Bayern Munich Born in Kirchen, West Germany, Kraft began playing in a ...

, Michel Vorm and

David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (; born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Fiorentina. Considered one of the best keepers of his generation, he is known for his reflexes and shot-stopping capabilitie ...

. Hoek is widely regarded as one of world football's foremost goalkeeping mentors.

Playing career

Starting as an amateur goalkeeper at SV Always Forward, Hoek played in goal at Volendam from 1973 to 1985, and in 1977 he achieved top flight football for the first time in the club's history. Two years later, Volendam were relegated. In 1983, Hoek and his teammates were promoted back to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

, where they spent another two seasons. Hoek scored against

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

in September 1983. In 1985, Hoek ended his playing career as a goalkeeper, moving into coaching.

Coaching career

Hoek joined Ajax in 1986 as a coach, working under manager

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

, and in 1991 became the goalkeeping coach of manager Louis van Gaal at the club. A young Edwin van der Sar was under the care of Hoek at Ajax. In between this, he also coached for two years the goalkeepers of his former club Volendam. In 1997, he followed van Gaal to Barcelona, where he oversaw the promotion of Víctor Valdés. He moved with van Gaal to the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNV ...

in 2000, and back to Barcelona again in 2002. From 2005, he was for four years the goalkeeping coach of the

Poland national football team The Poland national football team () represents Poland in men's international Association football, football competitions since their first match in 1921. It is governed by the Polish Football Association (PZPN), the governing body for football ...

, under manager

, where he went to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

in Germany. Beenhakker had been the former head coach at Volendam, where Hoek spent his playing career. Following this, Hoek joined van Gaal again at Bayern Munich in 2010, where he received both the role of goalkeeping coach and an assistant coach. After van Gaal left Germany in 2011, the pair took over the Netherlands national football team (for the second time), going to

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

in Poland/Ukraine and the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

in Brazil. Hoek again teamed up with van Gaal at Manchester United in the summer of 2014, replacing

Chris Woods Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was a goalkeeper (association football), goalke ...

as the club's chief goalkeeping coach.

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; born 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach, former player and co-owner of Salford City. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best wingers in the history of footba ...

became assistant manager, Albert Stuivenberg was added as assistant coach, and

Marcel Bout Marcel Bout (; born 18 November 1962) is a Dutch football coach and scout. Bout has worked with Feyenoord, Volendam, AZ, Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experi ...

was appointed as an assistant coach and chief opposition scout; the latter previously worked with Hoek at Bayern Munich. Hoek also trains other professional goalkeeping coaches, and advises and lectures for

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues ( Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and w ...

(KNVB), among others, on goalkeeping. He previously advised Manchester United (before becoming chief goalkeeping coach),

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

and the

Danish Football Association The Danish Football Association (; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues, alongside the men's and women's national teams. Based ...

(DBU). His coaching style is known within the game as the "Hoek Method". As of 2021, he is the technical director and senior advisor of U.S. club Orange County.

References

External links

"Frans Hoek Coaching" website

Frans Hoek curriculum vitae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoek, Frans 1956 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers Dutch men's footballers Dutch football managers Eredivisie players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England AFC Ajax non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Hoorn Association football goalkeeping coaches FC Volendam players FC Barcelona non-playing staff Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany FC Bayern Munich non-playing staff Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Poland 20th-century Dutch sportsmen