Ad Zonderland (2 October 1940 – 15 August 2007) was a Dutch football manager and football administrator.[1][2] He worked for several Dutch football clubs, most notably Feyenoord (as assistant and interim manager) and Ajax (as coordinator of their Ghana and South Africa academies).[3][4]
Managerial career
Zonderland started his managerial career with JOS[4] and then moved to De Graafschap, where he became first team manager in 1967.[1] Here, he would become known for "discovering" Guus Hiddink as a player, convincing him to switch from youth coach to professional footballer.[1][5] He also led the club to promotion to the Eerste Divisie by winning the Tweede Divisie in the 1968–69 season.[1] In 1971, he was contracted by Feyenoord as assistant manager.[4] On two occasions, he acted as interim manager: in 1973, after Ernst Happel left the club, and in 1976, when Antoni Brzeżańczyk departed.[1][3]
Zonderland then became manager of Eerste Divisie club FC Den Bosch, a post he fulfilled for two seasons between 1976 and 1978.[1][3] He subsequently became general director, a position he would hold for nine years aside from a temporary return as manager from 1980 to 1981.[3][4]
Later career
In 1990, Zonderland was hired as director of Heracles Almelo.[6] Between 1992 and 1995, he served FC Utrecht in the same capacity.[7] Subsequently, Zonderland was appointed by Ajax to coordinate their new football academy in Ghana.[4][8] As such, he appeared in the 2000 documentary Ajax: Hark the Herald Angel Sings.[9] After four years in Ghana, in 2002, Zonderland was appointed "director of the coaches" at Ajax Cape Town in South Africa.[4]
Zonderland died in Borne on 15 August 2007, aged 66, of a terminal illness.[1][10]
