Oranje coach Ronald Koeman to receive Eredivisie award for impact on Dutch football

Dutch men’s football team manager Ronald Koeman will be given the Eredivisie Ouvre Award on Thursday in recognition of his contribution to Dutch football. “For more than four decades, he has played a major role in shaping the face of Dutch football, both at home and abroad,” explained Eredivisie CV director Jan de Jong.

The award ceremony will take place in Utrecht on Thursday, a day before the Eredivisie 2025-26 season kicks off. Former goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar received the award last year, and former national team coach Louis van Gaal the year before. Former internationals Arjen Robben and Wim Jansen were the two earlier recipients.

“With 30 trophies won as a player and coach, and still counting, there was no question that Ronald Koeman would receive an Eredivisie Lifetime Achievement Award. The only question was when. In the canon of Dutch football history, the cannon himself simply cannot be left out,” said De Jong.

Koeman (62) made his debut in 1980 for FC Groningen and went on to play for Ajax, Feyenoord, and PSV in the Netherlands. He also managed these clubs after his playing career, which made him the first person who played for and managed the traditional top three. He played a total of 342 matches in the Eredivisie and managed 336 games.

“Ronald made his name in the Eredivisie, and the Eredivisie grew because of Ronald. He holds countless records, but I’ll mention just two: the highest-scoring defender of all time, not just in the Netherlands but worldwide. And the most converted penalties in Dutch football: 44. Failure was never an option for him,” said De Jong.