Rob Alflen (born 7 May 1968) is a Dutch football manager and former player who is the assistant manager of Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

club

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

Playing career

Club

Alflen was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

. He played for

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merg ...

Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the ...

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vit ...

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 compete in the Eredivisie, the top fligh ...

, and

Cambuur Leeuwarden SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2020–21 ...

in the

Managerial career

Since 2004, Alflen has been co-presenter of the TV program Namen & Rugnummer on

RTV Utrecht RTV Utrecht is a regional television and radio broadcaster in the Utrecht Province of the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Ki ...

. Alflen started his coaching career as a youth coach of FC De Bilt, and later became manager of the first team for the 2006–07 season. In the following season, he became assistant manager of

HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 198 ...

but still remained as manager of De Bilt. From 2008 until 2010, he was manager of

FC Breukelen FC Breukelen is a football club from Breukelen, Netherlands. FC Breukelen plays in the 2018–19 Saturday Eerste Klasse A. History The club was founded in 2007 form a merger between VV Nijenrodes in the Eerste Klasse en CSV Vitesse. CSV was ...

. In February 2009, he also took a job at

Jong FC Utrecht Jong FC Utrecht (U23) is a Dutch football team, based in Utrecht. It is the reserve team of FC Utrecht and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2016–17 Eerste Divisie season. Current squad On loan Staff ...

as manager of the team alongside his manager job at Breukelen. When

Erwin Koeman Erwin Koeman (born 20 September 1961) is a Dutch retired professional football player and retired football manager. Personal life He is the son of Dutch international footballer Martin Koeman, and, alongside his younger brother Ronald, has al ...

quit as head coach of FC Utrecht in October 2011, Alflen was assigned as assistant coach of

Jan Wouters Jan Jacobus Wouters (born 17 July 1960) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He played as a defensive midfielder and was Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1990. Career Wouters played for several clubs including PSV, FC Utre ...

for the first team of FC Utrecht. He became head coach after Wouters left the club in June 2014. On 25 March 2015

said that coach Alflen and his advisor

Co Adriaanse Co Adriaanse (born 21 July 1947) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Playing career As a professional player, Adriaanse played for six seasons with (now dissolved) De Volewijckers (from 1964 until 1970) an ...

would step down from their roles with the Dutch club at the end of the season. On 11 January 2016 he became an assistant at

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adopt ...

after Hendrie Krüzen left the club. On 16 April 2018, it was announced that Alflen would take over as the head coach of

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport is a professional association football club based in the city of Helmond, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. The club was founded on 27 June 1967, a ...

on a two-year contract starting next season. On 8 May 2019, Helmond announced, that they had sacked Alflen after a disappointing season, the worst season in the club's history with only four victories in 38 games.

Personal life

Alflen's father was the Dutch wrestling champion

Loek Alflen Loek Alflen (29 August 1933 – 17 August 2015) was a Dutch wrestler, he was Dutch national champion in the flyweight category between 1951 and 1970. He competed at the 1960 Olympics. Alflen was born in Utrecht, he was raised in a family with a to ...

Career statistics

References

1968 births Living people Footballers from Utrecht (city) Dutch footballers Association football midfielders FC Utrecht players AFC Ajax players SBV Vitesse players Sparta Rotterdam players Heracles Almelo players SC Cambuur players UEFA Cup winning players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Dutch football managers FC Utrecht managers Helmond Sport managers Eredivisie managers Eerste Divisie managers Heracles Almelo non-playing staff {{Netherlands-footy-midfielder-stub