Henk ten Cate
Encyclopedia
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Noord-Holland) is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
manager and a former professional player.
In the 2005–06 season, he was the assistant of Frank Rijkaard
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch football manager of Dutch and Surinamese descent and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side,...
at Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
that guided the team to a Champions League Trophy
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
and La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
title. He then served as manager of Ajax until October 2007, when he was released by mutual consent, allowing him to begin talks with Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
. Ten Cate joined the London club on 11 October 2007, as assistant manager but was sacked on 29 May 2008 just 5 days after the departure of manager Avram Grant.
Playing career
Henk ten Cate started his football career at amateur side FC Rheden before signing his first professional contract at Go Ahead EaglesGo Ahead Eagles
The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times...
. He made his Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
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
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
side Edmonton Drillers in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
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
Eerste Divisie
The Eerste Divisie is the second-highest division of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via a promotion/relegation system. It is also known as the Jupiler League due to sponsorship, which is the same name as the top league in Belgium...
side Telstar
Stormvogels Telstar
Telstar is a Dutch football club based in Velsen. The club was established after the merger of two football clubs in the town of Velsen.- History :...
where he was one of their key players. After the season at Telstar he returned to Deventer
Deventer
Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in...
and became a first team regular for Go Ahead Eagles again for three more seasons. In 1985 he switched to SC Heracles
Heracles Almelo
Heracles Almelo is a football club from Almelo, Netherlands.Heracles Almelo were founded on May 3, 1903 as Heracles, after the demigod son of Zeus. They changed their name on July 1, 1974 to SC Heracles '74 and finally settled on the current name in 1998. The club has won the Dutch national title...
where he ended his professional career as a player.
Managerial career
After his playing career Ten Cate became assistant manager of Fritz KorbachFritz Korbach
Fritz Korbach was a German professional football player and manager, active primarily in the Netherlands, where he died in 2011....
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
Henk van Brussel
Henk van Brussel was a footballer and football manager from the Netherlands, who worked for Go Ahead Eagles, Rohda Raalte , SC Heerenveen, De Graafschap, FC Groningen and SC Heracles....
. 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
Jan Versleijen
Johannes Martinus Maria Versleijen is a Dutch professional association football coach who currently manages the Australian under-20 national team.-Career:...
who left the club to manage De Graafschap
De Graafschap
De Graafschap is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the "De Vijverberg" stadium. Their current home ground stands on where the old pitch used to be located and was opened on 12 August 2000...
. 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
Sparta Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands, established on April 1, 1888. Sparta is one of three professional football clubs from Rotterdam, the others being Excelsior and Feyenoord , the latter playing in the Eredivisie.-History:Sparta was first founded in 1887....
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
KNVB Cup
The KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch 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
KFC Uerdingen 05
KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German association football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The one time Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s, but most recently has been part of fifth and sixth tier competition.-History:The club was...
until March 1999 without success. In the 1999–00 season he managed Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
side MTK Hungária FC
MTK Hungária FC
MTK Budapest FC or just MTK is a football club from Budapest, Hungary. The team plays in the second division of the Hungarian League. The club's colours are blue and white. As one of the most successful Hungarian football clubs, MTK has won the Hungarian League 23 times and the Hungarian Cup 12...
to win the Hungarian Cup and a runners-up place in the PNB League
Hungarian League
The Nemzeti Bajnokság is a Hungarian professional league for association football clubs. The league is currently known as the OTP Bank Liga for sponsorship reasons, and it is the highest level of professional league since its inception in 1901. UEFA currently ranks the league 35th in Europe.Sixteen...
. He returned to the Netherlands and became manager of NAC Breda
NAC Breda
NAC Breda , simply often known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Dutch Eredivisie and are known by the fierce and fanatic support of...
which he led until 2003 earning them a spot in the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
for the 2003–04 season.
He joined Frank Rijkaard
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch football manager of Dutch and Surinamese descent and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side,...
at FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
and became his assistant manager. Together they managed Barça to a Champions League Trophy
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
and two La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
titles. In 2006 he replaced Danny Blind
Danny Blind
Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind is a football coach and former Dutch international player. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, AFC Ajax and the Dutch national team.Blind was born in Oost-Souburg, Netherlands...
as manager at Ajax, where he won the Johan Cruijff-schaal
Johan Cruijff-schaal
The Johan Cruijff Schaal is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after legendary Dutch football player Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national football league and the winner of the national...
in 2006 and 2007 and the KNVB Cup
KNVB Cup
The KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...
in 2007. 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
Goal difference
In sports such as ice hockey and association football, goal difference is often the first tiebreaker used to rank teams which finish a league competition with an equal number of points....
.
In early October 2007, Ten Cate was strongly linked to taking over as assistant manager to Avram Grant at Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
. On 8 October 2007 Ajax announced on their website to have reached an agreement with Chelsea about Ten Cate's immediate transfer to the London side, noting also the deal was still to be finalized. Ten Cate officially joined Chelsea on 11 October 2007 as assistant first team coach. He was appointed assistant manager alongside club and fan favourite Steve Clarke
Steve Clarke
Stephen "Steve" Clarke is a Scottish association football player and coach, currently the assistant manager at Liverpool. He played for St. Mirren, Chelsea and Scotland, winning three major trophies with Chelsea towards the end of his career...
.
Following the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final
2008 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2008 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match that took place on Wednesday, 21 May 2008 at 20:45 CEST . The match was played at the Luzhniki Stadium, in Moscow, Russia, to determine the winner of the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League...
, Ten Cate expressed his disappointment with Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...
for his sending-off (if Drogba had not been sent off, he would have taken the fifth penalty). Drogba's expulsion led to John Terry
John Terry
John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...
taking Chelsea's fifth penalty, which he failed to convert as he slipped on the rain-soaked turf. Had he scored, Chelsea would have secured their first Champions League Title.
Ten Cate was sacked from his role at Chelsea on 29 May 2008, two days after being told the sacking of Avram Grant would not affect his position.
On 13 June 2008, Ten Cate signed a two-year deal with a Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Superleague
Super League Greece
The Superleague Greece is the highest professional football league in Greece. It was formed on July 16, 2006 and replaced Alpha Ethniki at the top of the Greek football league system. The league consists of 16 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each...
team, Panathinaikos FC
Panathinaikos FC
Panathinaikos Football Club is a Greek professional football club based in Athens. Founded in 1908, they play in the Super League Greece and are one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Greek football history. They have won 20 Greek Championships and 17 Greek Cups.Panathinaikos is the most...
. Ten Cate gave the following statement on his appointment:
"Panathinaikos' history, ambition and attitude towards football in general match those of the greatest football clubs in Europe. "I've been used to working at the highest level and that's why I consider this a great challenge."
Ten Cate's Panathinaikos managed to qualify to the "16" Phase of UEFA Champions' League in 2008–2009 season,where Panathinaikos was eliminated by Villarreal CF
Villarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. , usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or just Villarreal, is a Spanish Primera División football club based in Vila-real, a city in the province of Castellón within the Valencian Community...
. In the Greek Superleague, Panathinaikos has suffered many bad referees decisions who was the reason for finishing 3rd in the league. However, they won the Europe Cups Play Offs, winning the second seed for the next year's Champions League Play offs. In his first year to the club, Ten Cate built Panathinaikos to play an attacking style of play based on possession, direct game, and the use of full backs in 4–2–3–1 and 4–3–2–1 formations, and finally they had the most goals in the league.
The board acknowledge his great job, and kept him in his position for a second year, in which the club managed to achieve its best start in the League since 1996, with 9 wins and 2 draws in 11 matches. Meanwhile this great run, journalists influenced by the old board of the club, didn't want the club to grow, and they continually criticized him for having bad attitude to some players, influencing the fans to criticize him too, beside the great run to the league and the attractive football, and after the first bad result against rivals Olympiakos, the board decided to fire him. However the club, having as a base his great job making Panathinaikos the most well drilled club in Greece both physically and tactical, Panathinaikos won a few months later the Championship after 6 years.
On 6 February 2010 it was announced that Ten Cate signed a 6 month contract with the UAE champions Al-Ahli Club (Dubai) and only one month later the former manager of Panathinaikos quits Al-Ahli, after the defeat against Al-Sadd with 5–0.
In April 2010 Umm Salal hired the Dutch coach as a replacement of Gerard Gili. Henk ten Cate worked as a manager of Umm Salal until 07/02/2011
Statistics
| Season | Club | Competition | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979/80 | Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times... |
 EredivisieEredivisie The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA.... |
27 | 4 | |
| 1980 | Edmonton Drillers |   North American Soccer LeagueNorth American Soccer League North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:... |
21 | 5 | |
| 1980/81 | Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times... |
Eredivisie Eredivisie The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA.... |
19 | 3 | |
| 1981/82 | Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times... |
Eredivisie Eredivisie The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA.... |
1 | 0 | |
| 1981/82 | Telstar Stormvogels Telstar Telstar is a Dutch football club based in Velsen. The club was established after the merger of two football clubs in the town of Velsen.- History :... |
Eerste Divisie Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie is the second-highest division of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via a promotion/relegation system. It is also known as the Jupiler League due to sponsorship, which is the same name as the top league in Belgium... |
30 | 7 | |
| 1982/83 | Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times... |
Eredivisie Eredivisie The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA.... |
31 | 10 | |
| 1983/84 | Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times... |
Eredivisie Eredivisie The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA.... |
24 | 2 | |
| 1984/85 | Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times... |
Eredivisie Eredivisie The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA.... |
30 | 2 | |
| 1985/86 | SC Heracles Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a football club from Almelo, Netherlands.Heracles Almelo were founded on May 3, 1903 as Heracles, after the demigod son of Zeus. They changed their name on July 1, 1974 to SC Heracles '74 and finally settled on the current name in 1998. The club has won the Dutch national title... |
Eredivisie Eredivisie The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA.... |
19 | 1 | |
| | Total | 202 | 34 | |||
As manager
With MTK Budapest- Hungarian Cup: 1999–2000
With AFC Ajax
- KNVB CupKNVB CupThe KNVB Cup is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association since 1899. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside of the Netherlands, it is often referred to as the Dutch Cup...
: 2005–06, 2006–07 - Johan Cruijff Shield: 2006–07