Han Berger is a Dutch football coach and former football player.

Biography

Han Berger is the youngest head coach ever in the history of professional football in The Netherlands. After suffering a severe knee injury, his playing career ended at the age of 22 and he was appointed youth and assistant coach at his hometown side FC Utrecht. When the then head coach Jan Rab was dismissed in January 1976, Han Berger was appointed head coach of FC Utrecht at the age of 25.

After that he coached the amazing number of 637 games in the Dutch 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....

 being particularly successful with FC Utrecht and FC Groningen, leading them to a number of spectacular 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...

 campaigns. Under his management Cambuur Leeuwarden

Cambuur Leeuwarden

SC Cambuur , formed on June 19, 1964, is a Dutch football club from Leeuwarden, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home ground is the 10,250 seater Cambuur Stadion and they play in yellow shirts and blue shorts. The club's emblem originates from the coat of arms of the House of...

 in 1998 won the 1st division play-offs for promotion to the Eredivisie.

From 1998 till August 2000 Han Berger was in charge of the national youth teams program of the Royal Dutch Football Association

Royal Dutch Football Association

The Royal Dutch Football Association is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues , the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch national football team. It is based in the municipality of Zeist.The KNVB came into being on 8 December 1889...

 (KNVB) and head coach of The Netherlands U/21 and Olympic Team and in 2004 he coached Oita Trinita

Oita Trinita

is a J. League Division 2 team. The team name Trinita can be considered either a combination of the English word trinity and Ōita, or the Italian word trinità. The dual meaning expresses the will of the citizens, companies, and local governments to support the team.The team's home town is Ōita...

 in the Japanese J1-League who have since been relegated to the J2-League.

The last decade he held the position of director of football at FC Utrecht and 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 which role he acquired a reputation for implementing successful technical strategies, particularly in the field of youth development.