Paul Matthijs (born 5 October 1976) is a Dutch professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who is the head coach of

Vierde Divisie The Vierde Divisie (; "Fourth Division"), formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league was divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunda ...

club

Be Quick 1887 Be Quick 1887 is a football club based in Groningen, Netherlands. Currently members of the Vierde Divisie, the fifth tier of the Dutch football league system, the club was established in 1887, and the first team play their home matches at the ...

Playing career

Matthijs started his football career with VV Actief, before joining

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...

. On 20 August 1997, Matthijs made his debut against

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024 ...

as a substitute in the 80th minute. Then, he was only 20 years old. After three seasons playing regularly for FC Groningen,

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

signed him. His time at AZ was not successful, and after a disappointing season, he returned to Groningen. In the 2005–06 Eredivisie season, he also reached European football with his side. He left Groningen in 2009 to join

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 ...

team

BV Veendam Sportclub Veendam () was a Dutch professional association football club based in Veendam, province of Groningen. Founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out, it became P.J. Veendam in 1909, Veendam in 1910, SC Veendam in 1974, BV Veendam in 1997 ...

. On 6 May 2010 Matthijs signed a contract for

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

, a new club preparing to enter the North American second division in 2011. After playing for the team during its 2010 exhibition season he signed a new contract with Edmonton for the 2011 season, its first in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

, on 28 February 2011. He made his debut for Edmonton on 7 May 2011, in a game against the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

. The club released Matthijis on 12 October 2011 after the conclusion of the 2011 season.

Coaching career

Matthijs became a youth coach for

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

after retiring from playing, coaching various youth levels between 2013 and 2022. As coach of the under-17 team, he led them to the national title in 2019. On 1 February 2023, Matthijs was appointed manager of

club

, starting from the 2023–24 season.

References

External links

Paul Matthijs
at

.com
Paul Matthijs
at ''

Voetbal International ''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running. History and profile ''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM. It l ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthijs, Paul 1976 births Living people People from Tynaarlo Dutch men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers FC Groningen players AZ Alkmaar players SC Veendam players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players FC Edmonton players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Men's association football midfielders Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Canada Footballers from Drenthe Dutch football managers Dutch football coaches FC Groningen non-playing staff Be Quick 1887 managers