Hendrikus "Henk" Fraser (born 7 July 1966) 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. He played as a defender for various Dutch teams. Born in Suriname, he earned seven caps for the Netherlands national team in which he scored one goal. He was a member of the Dutch team at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

in Italy under coach

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 made his debut for the Netherlands on 6 September 1989, in a friendly against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

(2–2).

Playing career

Fraser played for

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

(1984–86),

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

(1986–88),

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 ...

(1988–90), and

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

(1990–99), with whom he won the Dutch title twice (in 1993 and 1999). After his professional career ended, he became a youth coach at Feyenoord.

Managerial career

ADO Den Haag

Being assistant of Maurice Steijn for two years, Fraser became first the caretaking manager of

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

after Steijn had been sacked. However, a month later he signed deal with the club to be the permanent manager until the summer of 2016.

Vitesse

Vitesse announced on 13 June 2016 that Fraser would replace

Peter Bosz Peter Sylvester Bosz (, born 21 November 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is currently the head coach of Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven. He had previously ...

at the start of the 2016–17 season. In his first full season, won the club first major trophy in its 125-year existence. Fraser defeating AZ by a score of 2–0 in the final of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

, with two goals from

Ricky van Wolfswinkel Ricky van Wolfswinkel (; born 27 January 1989) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), striker for Eredivisie club FC Twente. He has played top-flight football in the Netherlands, ...

. On 5 August 2017 Vitesse were beaten 1–1 (4–2 on penalties) at

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in the

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

final by Feyenoord. On 18 December 2017, Fraser announced he would not be extending his ending contract at the end of the season, leaving the club. On 12 March 2018, it was announced that russian coach Leonid Slutsky would replace Henk Fraser as the new manager of Vitesse for the start of the 2018-19 season. On 23 March 2018, Fraser was presented as the new head coach for

for the following season. Following a significant dip in form, Fraser was relieved of his duties in April 2018, two months prior to the conclusion of his contract at Vitesse.

Sparta Rotterdam

In December 2017, the board of

announced that they had recruited

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

to succeed the dismissed

Alex Pastoor Alexander Anton Aiko Pastoor (; born 26 October 1966) is a Dutch football manager and former player who is the assistant coach of the Indonesia national team. Career A former midfielder, Pastoor spent most of his career at FC Volendam, playing ...

. The former national team coach of

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

signed for six months and was instructed to keep Sparta in 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 ...

. In the meantime, club management were looking for a head coach for the new season. On 23 March 2018, Fraser signed a two-year contract with Sparta, beginning on 1 July. Despite Advocaat's presence, Sparta were relegated to the second-tier

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

after a 3–1 defeat against Emmen. In his first season as head coach, Fraser won promotion to the Eredivisie through the play-offs. In the following season, Sparta finished eleventh in the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

abandoned Eredivisie season. In the 2020–21 season, Sparta finished in eighth place in the Eredivisie under the leadership of Fraser, thereby qualifying for the European football play-offs. However, Sparta was defeated by

in the first play-off round. On 24 April 2022, Fraser resigned after Sparta told him about their intention to fire assistant manager

Aleksandar Ranković Aleksandar Ranković (nom de guerre Marko, nicknamed Leka; sr-Cyrl, Александар Ранковић Лека; 28 November 1909 – 19 August 1983) was a Serbian and Yugoslav communist politician, considered to be the third most powerful ...

. At the time of his resignation Sparta was in the 18th place of the Eredivisie with 4 matches remaining.

Utrecht

In April 2022,

announced that Fraser would become the club's new coach for the new season, signing a contract for three seasons. On 14 December 2022, after a training accident with Amin Younes, he left the club.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Feyenoord *

: 1992–93, 1998–99 *

: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95 * Dutch Supercup:

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Manager

Vitesse *

: 2016–17 *

runner-up:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

External links

CV Henk Fraser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Henk 1966 births Living people Surinamese emigrants to the Netherlands Footballers from Paramaribo Dutch men's footballers Surinamese men's footballers Men's association football defenders Netherlands men's international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players Eredivisie players Sparta Rotterdam players FC Utrecht players Roda JC Kerkrade players Feyenoord players Dutch football managers Surinamese football managers 20th-century Dutch sportsmen