Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been reappointed as Feyenoord head coach on a two-year contract with an option to extend for a further year, returning to the club where his entire footballing life began.
The 51-year-old takes over from Robin van Persie, who was sacked after just 16 months in charge of the Eredivisie club, according to the BBC. Van Bronckhorst had most recently been working as one of Arne Slot’s first-team assistants at Liverpool, but left the Premier League club earlier this month when Slot was dismissed.
Van Bronckhorst previously managed Feyenoord between 2015 and 2019, a period in which he won back-to-back KNVB Cups and delivered the club’s first Eredivisie title in 18 years in 2017. His last managerial role came at Besiktas in 2024, where he led the Turkish club to the Super Cup before being sacked after five months following a poor run of results. He had also managed Rangers from 2021, reaching the Europa League final in 2022, before leaving in December of that year.
His connection to Feyenoord runs far deeper than management alone. He came through the club’s youth academy and spent five years as a player from 1993 to 1998 before returning for a final three-year spell from 2007 to 2010 at the end of his playing career as a Netherlands international. “When you’ve been part of the club since you were seven years old… yes, Feyenoord is a big part of my life,” he said on his return.
