Patrick van Leeuwen (born 8 August 1969) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is currently the coach for Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih.
Playing career Van Leeuwen joined Dutch top flight outfit Sparta Rotterdam aged 16.MEGA INTERVIEW: Patrick van Leeuwen about Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Academy philosphy! . www.pl-football.com. 2 February 2019 Growing up was receiving a lot of injuries and decided to obtain a coaching certification. Aged 21 Leeuwen obtained his A License at the Sports Academy in Holland. His professional playing career with Sparta, where he made 16 league appearances.
In 1994, van Leeuwen signed for Helmond Sport in the Dutch lower leagues.
At the age of 27, he retired.
Managerial career After retirement, van Leeuwen was appointed youth manager of Feyenoord, one of the Netherlands' most successful clubs. After that, van Leeuwen was appointed youth manager of Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine via Henk van Stee, before being appointed director of Kazakhstani side Kairat.
In 2020, van Leeuwen was appointed manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv, the most successful club in Israel. In 2020–21, under his management, the team finished in second place in the Israeli Premier League and won the Israel State Cup.
On 26 October 2021 van Leeuwen was sacked due to a poor start to the regular season.
On 28 June 2022, he was appointed as a manager for Ukrainian club Zorya Luhansk which temporarily plays out of Zaporizhzhia due to the Russo-Ukrainian War. During the 2022–23 season, Van Leeuwen won the manager of the month award for October 2022. Zorya Luhansk placed 3rd in the 2022–23 Ukrainian Premier League season and qualified to the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League play-off round of the competition. van Leeuwen was recognized as the best manager of the 2022–23 season by the Ukrainian Premier League.
Following his performance with Zorya, van Leeuwen was invited to Shakhtar Donetsk during the inter-season summer break.Ukraine champion Shakhtar Donetsk hires Dutch coach Patrick van Leeuwen. apnews.com. 3 July 2023 He somewhat struggled from the beginning with five wins and three draws in the first eight games of the 2023–24 Ukrainian Premier League season. Many of the wins came with only a goal advantage, and the team earned their draws against mediocre opponents. The 2–1 loss to Vorskla Poltava was the first of the season, but it became the last game for van Leeuwen in the UPL as the Shakhtar head coach.Ukrainian champion Shakhtar Donetsk parts ways with coach Patrick van Leeuwen after 3 months. apnews.com. 16 October 2023
On 20 August 2024, van Leeuwen became the head coach of Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, playing the Ukrainian First League. He signed a three-year contract.Екстренер Шахтаря очолив Металіст 1925 (in Ukrainian) Van Leeuwen was tasked with leading the club to the Ukrainian Premier League promotion. On 18 May 2025 he was "suspended" from performing his duties as the head coach.
On 9 June 2025, the Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih announced that they had hired van Leeuwen as their head coach, to replace Yuriy Vernydub who left the team after the 2024–25 season.
Managerial statistics
TeamNatFromToRecordGWDLWin %Maccabi Tel Aviv (Caretaker Manager) 21 July 202021 August 2020Maccabi Tel Aviv (Caretaker Manager) 24 December 202021 June 2021Maccabi Tel Aviv1 June 202126 October 2021Zorya28 June 20222 July 2023Shakhtar3 July 202316 October 2023Total
Honours Maccabi Tel Aviv Israel State Cup: 2020–21
Individual Ukrainian Premier League Manager of the Month: October 2022, April 2023
References
External links
Artur Valerko. He had won the UPL medals, but could make it in the Persha Liha. What van Leeuwen was not able to accoplish in the richest club of the PFL (Вигравав медалі УПЛ, але провалився в Першій лізі: що не вийшло в ван Леувена в найбагатшому клубі ПФЛ). ukrfootball.ua. 20 May 2025