Theo Vonk (born 16 December 1947) is a Dutch former

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 ...

player and manager, most recently in charge of Gibraltar Premier Division side Glacis United, where he also served as technical director.

Career

Vonk was born in

Uitgeest Uitgeest () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Uitgeest consists of the following towns, villages and districts: Topography ''Map of the municipality of ...

. He spent the majority of his playing career at

AZ'67 Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest ...

, playing for them as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for ten years from 1968 to 1978, before spending a year at

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 ...

and subsequently retiring. After retiring from playing, he joined his boyhood club AZ'67 as assistant manager, spending five years at the club before moving to

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 ...

in 1984. After a successful two years at the club, during which he guided them to 4th in his first season, he moved to

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

, finishing third three times over six years. A disastrous spell in Spain with Real Burgos followed in 1992, after which he became something of a journeyman manager, aside from three years in charge of AZ. Five years after leaving his last job at

Sportclub Enschede Sportclub Enschede is a football club from Enschede, Netherlands. ''SC Enschede'' was established in 1910. The club won the national championship in 1926. In 1965 ''SC Enschede'' merged with their rivals Enschedese Boys to form FC Twente (both c ...

, he joined Glacis United as manager and technical director. He left the club on 10 August 2018 for personal reasons.Theo Vonk steps down from role as Glacis Head Coach
Football Gibraltar. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

Personal life

Theo Vonk is the father of Michel Vonk, who notably played for AZ and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

during his playing career. In 2013, while in his second spell at Enschede, he suffered a stroke.

Honours

As a player

AZ'67 *

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 ...

: 1977–78

As a manager

AZ'67/AZ *

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 ...

: 1980–81* *

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 ...

: 1995–96 *

: 1980–81*, 1981–82* *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

runner-up: 1980–81* (* as assistant manager)

References

External links

*
Profiel Theo Vonk op www.sparta-rotterdam.nl
*

Living people 1947 births People from Uitgeest Dutch men's footballers Men's association football defenders FC Volendam players AZ Alkmaar players AZ Alkmaar managers Sparta Rotterdam managers FC Twente managers FC Groningen managers Roda JC Kerkrade managers Heracles Almelo managers Dutch football managers Real Burgos CF managers Footballers from North Holland 20th-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-footy-defender-stub