Michel Vonk

Michel Vonk (born 28 October 1968) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current manager.

Michel Vonk
Personal information
Full name Michel Vonk
Date of birth (1968-10-28) 28 October 1968
Place of birth Alkmaar, Netherlands]
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1991 AZ 111 (8)
1991–1992 SVV Dordrecht 51 (1)
1992–1995 Manchester City 91 (3)
1995 Oldham Athletic 5 (1)
1995–1998 Sheffield United 37 (2)
1998–2001 MVV Maastricht 47 (0)
Total 342 (15)
Teams managed
2011–2013 Sparta Rotterdam
2014–2017 Telstar
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player, he was a defender from 1986 to 2001, notably playing in the Premier League for Manchester City. He also played in England for Oldham Athletic and Sheffield United, as well as also playing in his native land for AZ, SVV Dordrecht and MVV Maastricht.

Playing career

Vonk played as centre back and began his career in 1986 with AZ '67 for whom he played 111 times and scored 8 goals. He transferred to SVV Dordrecht in 1991 and played 51 times for the team scoring 1 goal. Then in 1992 he transferred to Manchester City F.C. where he enjoyed three successful seasons playing a total of 91 league games for the club, scoring 4 times.[1] He had been brought in by then City manager Peter Reid costing £500,000. He formed a successful partnership with Keith Curle in the centre of the City defence. In 1995, he criticised then City manager Brian Horton in the News of the World which earned him a suspension and being fined 2 weeks wages.

Subsequent City manager Alan Ball sold the player to Oldham Athletic for £350,000, where he played 5 times and scored 1 goal. He was then transferred to Sheffield United where he played until 1998.[2] He played 37 times for the Blades scoring twice. His time with the club was hampered by injuries. In 1998, he returned to the Netherlands and began playing for MVV Maastricht. His injuries continued however and he was released by the club when they were relegated.

Coaching career

After retiring from active football, Vonk became a youth coach for PSV. He successively served as assistant to Wiljan Vloet at Sparta Rotterdam for two seasons.[3]

In April 2011 Vonk agreed to return at Sparta as head coach for the 2011–12 season under supervision of newly appointed technical director Wiljan Vloet, who accepted to return at the Rotterdam club after two seasons as trainer of NEC Nijmegen.[3]He was fired after one season. In July 2014, he started working for Telstar.

References
  1. Michel Vonk Statistics Soccerbase. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  2. Sheffield United Newcastlefans. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  3. "Michel Vonk nieuwe trainer Sparta" [Michel Vonk new Sparta trainer] (in Dutch). Trouw. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
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