Martin Jol facts for kids

Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and a former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career in the Netherlands, Germany, and England. He also played three times for the Netherlands national team. After his playing days, he became a manager for several clubs, including Roda JC, RKC Waalwijk, and Ajax in his home country. He also managed Hamburger SV in Germany, and English clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham, as well as Al Ahly in Egypt.

Playing Career: Martin Jol on the Field

Jol was born in The Hague, Netherlands. He started playing football with an amateur team before joining his local professional club, ADO Den Haag. He became a professional player with Den Haag in 1973. In 1975, he helped his team win the Dutch Cup by beating Twente.

In the 1978–79 season, he played in Germany's top league, the Bundesliga, for Bayern Munich. After that, he returned to the Dutch top league, the Eredivisie, to play for Twente in 1979. While at Twente, he played his first game for the Netherlands national football team in October 1980.

Jol moved to England in 1981 to join West Bromwich Albion. He reached the semi-finals of two major cup competitions in England during the 1981–82 season. In 1984, he signed with Coventry City. He later returned to Den Haag in 1985. That year, he won the Dutch Footballer of the Year award in the Eerste Divisie league.

At the international level, Jol played many games for youth national teams. He played three times for the senior Netherlands team. He also took part in the 1980 Mundialito tournament in Uruguay.

Coaching Career: Martin Jol as a Manager

Early Coaching Days in the Netherlands

Martin Jol started his coaching journey in 1991 with an amateur team of ADO Den Haag. He led them to the highest amateur league. Then, he moved to another top amateur team, SVV Scheveningen, for one season. There, he won the national non-league championship.

After that, Jol spent two years managing the professional team Roda JC in the Eredivisie. During this time, he won the Dutch Cup in 1997. This was Roda's first trophy in 30 years!

From 1998 to 2004, Jol managed RKC Waalwijk, another Dutch professional team. He took over when they were at the bottom of the league. He helped them avoid being moved down to a lower league in his first year. In the years that followed, he even had them competing for spots in European competitions. He was recognized for his great work, winning the Dutch Football Writers Coach of the Year award in 2001 and the Dutch Players and Coaches Coach of the Year award in 2002.

Tottenham Hotspur: A Big Move to England

In June 2004, Martin Jol became the assistant manager at Tottenham Hotspur in England. He joined under their new coach, Jacques Santini. However, Santini left after only 13 games. So, on 8 November 2004, Jol was announced as the new manager.

In his first season, Jol made the team much better. He changed their playing style to be more attacking. After winning five league games in a row, which was Tottenham's best run since 1992, he won the FA Manager of the Month award in December 2004. Jol led Tottenham close to qualifying for European football, but they finished ninth in the Premier League. In August 2005, he signed a new three-year contract with Tottenham.

Tottenham prepared for the 2005–06 season by winning the Peace Cup, a pre-season tournament. They beat Lyon in the final. In the league, Tottenham stayed in the top six for most of the season and were often in fourth place, which is a spot for the UEFA Champions League. On the last day of the season, many Tottenham players got sick. They lost to West Ham United and finished fifth. This meant they qualified for the UEFA Cup instead of the Champions League. It was their highest league finish since 1990. That season, Tottenham also had a very strong defense, letting in the fewest goals since 1971.

The 2006–07 season saw Jol lead Tottenham to a win against Chelsea, which was their first league victory against them since 1990. They reached the semi-finals of the Football League Cup, losing to their rivals Arsenal. Tottenham also made it to the quarter-finals of both the UEFA Cup and the FA Cup. They finished fifth in the league again, qualifying for the UEFA Cup for a second season in a row. This made Jol the first Tottenham manager since Keith Burkinshaw to achieve this.

In the summer of 2007, Tottenham bought many expensive new players. It was said that some of these players were chosen by the club's director, not by Jol himself. Jol's position at the club became difficult. After Tottenham lost their first two games of the 2007–08 season, there were rumors that the club was looking for a new manager. Martin Jol was eventually let go by Tottenham on 25 October 2007, during a UEFA Cup game against Getafe. The news of his departure was known around the stadium even before the game ended.

Jol during his time as Tottenham manager.

Hamburg: A New Challenge in Germany

For the 2008–09 season, Martin Jol became the coach of the German club Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga. Hamburg started the season at the top of the league. They ended up finishing in fifth place, which qualified them for the UEFA Europa League for the next season. Hamburg also reached the semi-finals of both the UEFA Cup and the German League Cup. They lost both semi-finals to Werder Bremen. This was the first time since the 1980s that Hamburg had reached the semi-finals in both competitions.

Ajax: Back Home to the Netherlands

On 26 May 2009, it was announced that Jol would be the new head coach of Ajax, one of the biggest clubs in the Netherlands. He took over from Marco van Basten. Jol was very happy to return to his home country. He officially signed a three-year contract on 28 May 2009.

Ajax had a strong season under Jol. They ended the season with the best defense in the league, letting in the fewest goals of any Dutch team in five years. They only conceded four goals at home all season. Even more impressively, they scored 106 league goals, which is more than three goals per game! This was the most goals scored by any Dutch team since the 1997–98 season. Ajax finished the season with a goal difference of +86, which was much higher than any other team.

Jol's team did not lose any points after January, winning their final 14 games of the season. They finished with 85 points, a big improvement from the previous season. However, they were beaten to the league title by just one point by Twente, who won their first-ever Eredivisie title.

Jol did win a trophy that season: the Dutch Cup. This was his first trophy since winning the same competition 13 years earlier with Roda JC. They beat Feyenoord 6–1 over two games in the final. In the summer of 2010, Fulham tried to hire Jol as their new manager, but Ajax did not let him leave. In the same month, Jol led Ajax to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2005–06 season. On 6 December 2010, Jol resigned as manager of Ajax. This happened after a 1–1 home draw that left the club in fourth place, five points behind the top of the league. Ajax later went on to win the Eredivisie championship under their new manager, Frank de Boer.

Fulham: Another Spell in the Premier League

On 7 June 2011, it was announced that Martin Jol had signed a two-year contract to become the manager of Premier League side Fulham. He had almost joined them a year earlier. Jol said he was "very happy to join Fulham" and looked forward to being part of the "Fulham family."

Jol's first game in charge of Fulham was a UEFA Europa League match against a team from the Faroe Islands. Fulham won that game 3–0. His first Premier League game was a 0–0 draw against Aston Villa on 13 August 2011. In his first season, he led Fulham to ninth place in the Premier League, collecting 52 points. They had some impressive wins against teams like Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Liverpool. They also drew 2–2 with eventual champions Manchester City and had two good draws against Chelsea. They also beat local rivals Queens Park Rangers 6–0 at home and 1–0 away.

Overall, it was a successful first season for Jol at Fulham. In his second season, Fulham finished in 12th place. Jol extended his contract for another year. However, Jol was sacked as Fulham manager on 1 December 2013. This happened after the team had lost six games in a row in all competitions.

Al Ahly: A New Continent

On 24 February 2016, Jol was appointed as the new coach of Al-Ahly, a club in the Egyptian Premier League. On 19 August 2016, Jol was let go from his job because of the team's performance in the 2016 CAF Champions League competition. The next day, Al Ahly held a farewell party to thank Jol and celebrate their league championship win.

Managerial Statistics

Honours: Trophies and Awards

As a Player

ADO Den Haag

• Eerste Divisie: 1985–86
• KNVB Cup: 1974–75

Individual Awards

• Player of the year, KNVB second division (Eerste Divisie) 1985

As a Manager

SVV Scheveningen

• Overall Amateur League National Champion: 1995–96

Roda JC

• KNVB Cup: 1996–97

Ajax

• KNVB Cup: 2009–10

Al Ahly

• Egyptian Premier League: 2015–16

Individual Awards

• Eredivisie Manager of the Year: 2000–01
• Premier League Manager of the Month: December 2004

See also

In Spanish: Martin Jol para niños