HENK TEN CATE

'Henk ten Cate' (born December 9, 1954 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland) is a Dutch football manager, and a former professional player. He is currently the manager of Ajax. In the 2005-06 season, he was the assistant of Frank Rijkaard at FC Barcelona that guided the team to a Champions League Trophy and La Liga title.

Contents

Biography

Playing career

Statistics

Managerial career

External links

References

Biography

Playing career

Henk ten Cate started his football career at amateur side FC Rheden before signing his first professional contract at Go Ahead Eagles. He made his Eredivisie debut in the 1979-80 season and earned himself 27 appearances throughout the season in which he scored 4 goals. These performances earned him a transfer to NASL side Edmonton Drillers in Canada.
After the North American season he returned to Go Ahead Eagles and continued his Eredivisie campaign. He became however unsure of his position and was sent on loan to Eerste Divisie side Telstar where he was one of their key players. After the season at Telstar he returned to Deventer and became a first team regular for Go Ahead Eagles again for three more seasons. In 1985 he switched to SC Heracles where he ended his professional career as a player.

Statistics

Season	Club	Competition	Apps	Goals
1979/80	Go Ahead Eagles	Eredivisie	27	4
1980	Edmonton Drillers	North American Soccer League	21	5
1980/81	Go Ahead Eagles	Eredivisie	19	3
1981/82	Go Ahead Eagles	Eredivisie	1	0
1981/82	Telstar	Eerste Divisie	30	7
1982/83	Go Ahead Eagles	Eredivisie	31	10
1983/84	Go Ahead Eagles	Eredivisie	24	2
1984/85	Go Ahead Eagles	Eredivisie	30	2
1985/86	SC Heracles	Eredivisie	19	1
Total			202	34

Managerial career

After his playing career Ten Cate became assistant manager of Fritz Korbach at Go Ahead Eagles, playing in the Eerste Divisie. When Korbach moved to SC Heerenveen in February 1990 Ten Cate took over as a manager. He managed to win period title, which earned an Eerste Divisie side a place in the promotion play-offs at the end of the season. In these play-offs Go Ahead Eagles placed equal with Korbach's SC Heerenveen, but Heerenveen promoted to the Eredivisie on goal difference.
Ten Cate left Go Ahead Eagles and returned to one of the other teams he was active at during his playing career, SC Heracles where he became the assistant of manager Henk van Brussel. When Van Brussel was unable to finish the season due to health problems in November 1990 Ten Cate became the first team manager and led SC Heracles until 1992, when he was told his contract was no longer extended. He moved to the club where his football career started, amateur side FC Rheden and managed them for one year.
In 1993 Go Ahead Eagles appointed Ten Cate yet again as their manager, this time to replace Jan Versleijen who left the club to manage De Graafschap. In his first year he did well, but when Go Ahead Eagles was at the bottom of the Eerste Divisie during the winter break of the 1994-95 season he was fired. Eredivisie side Sparta Rotterdam offered him a contract and he led the team to a sixth position in the Eredivisie in 1996, they also reached the final of the KNVB Cup that year, which was lost to PSV Eindhoven 5-2.
In the 1997-98 winter break Ten Cate switched to manage Vitesse, which he led to their best Eredivisie ranking in their history, a third position with records in both the number of points won as the number of scored goals. After a disappointing start in the following season he left Vitesse and led KFC Uerdingen 05 until March 1999 without success. In the 1999-00 season he managed Hungarian side MTK Hungária FC to win the Hungarian Cup and a runners-up place in the PNB League. He returned to the Netherlands and became manager of NAC Breda which he led until 2003 earning them a spot in the UEFA Cup for the 2003-04 season.
He joined Frank Rijkaard at FC Barcelona and became his assistant manager. Together they managed Barça to a Champions League Trophy and La Liga title. In 2006 he replaced Danny Blind as manager at Ajax, where he won the Johan Cruijff-schaal in 2006 and 2007 and the KNVB Cup in 2006. Ajax finished equal on points with PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie in 2006, only to be denied the championship by a single goal in goal difference.

External links

★ Voetbal International profile

★ Henk ten Cate is Ajax's head-coach until 2008, Ajax USA

References

★ Voetbal International website and 2007/2008 presentation magazine