PEC Zwolle has a new assistant coach | The Swollenaer

PEC Zwolle is the new assistant to head coach Dick Schreuder. The 34-year-old coach and former club player comes from FC Volendam, where he managed Jong FC Volendam. Plat signs a contract at Zwolle for a year and a half with an option for another season.

Plat made his professional football debut for FC Volendam in 2007 as a professional football player, having played in Ajax’s youth academy for several seasons. After that, Plat played a season for FC Zwolle, for which he played 24 matches and scored two goals. He went on to play for FC Dordrecht, FC Oss, Telstar, German Hansa Rostock, Roda JC and finally for Katwijk before an injury ended his football career.

Plat then opted for the coaching profession and between 2016 and 2018 he was assistant in the Katwijk training of Dick Schreuder. After Schreuder left for the United States, Plat temporarily moved ahead of the squad as interim coach. Since the 2019-2020 season, Plat has been the head coach of Jong FC Volendam.

“In recent years, after my football career, I made a conscious decision to enter the coaching profession,” says Plat. “I was able to learn a lot from other coaches, including Dick. I was able to develop in Katwijk, RKAV Volendam and FC Volendam. Now I have the opportunity to improve myself and the club in a different environment. PEC Zwolle has a clear vision of football and, like FC Volendam, attaches great importance to its own youth academy. It suits me well, I want to be a bridge between the first team and the young people and I also want to make the players better individually. Together with my new colleagues, I will do everything I can this season to keep the club for the Eredivisie, “said the new right-hand man of head coach Schreuder.

“Johan is a talented coach with enormous motivation and ambition,” says technical director Mike Willems. “You hear this both in Katwijk and in Volendam. With the arrival of Johan, Dick now has a staff who complement each other in terms of characters and each with their own expertise.

The PEC coaching team also includes Henry van der Vegt, Leeroy Echteld and Diederik Boer.