Paul Simonis

Paul Simonis (born 14 February 1985) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of VfL Wolfsburg.

Simonis had his first managerial role in charge of Go Ahead Eagles in 2024, and won the KNVB Cup in his first season. He was subsequently appointed manager of VfL Wolfsburg in June 2025.

Managerial career Go Ahead Eagles Before becoming head coach of Go Ahead Eagles in 2024, Paul Simonis spent 15 years (2005–2020) as a youth coach at Sparta Rotterdam, followed by assistant coaching roles at Go Ahead Eagles (2020–2022) and Heerenveen (2022–2024) under Kees van Wonderen. The team finished seventh in the Eredivisie.

VfL Wolfsburg Simonis was appointed head coach of Wolfsburg on 12 June 2025 on a two-year contract, succeeding Ralph Hasenhüttl, who had been dismissed in early May. He arrived having just led Go Ahead Eagles to their first major trophy in over 90 years, winning the KNVB Cup in his debut season as head coach by defeating AZ 4–2 on penalties in the final, while also guiding the Deventer side to seventh place in the Eredivisie—their highest finish since 1970–71. Managing director Peter Christiansen said that Simonis "fits our requirement profile perfectly", sharing "the same ideas and concepts in terms of content and structure for how we want to present ourselves on the pitch and realign VfL Wolfsburg with fresh impetus". Six defeats in seven Bundesliga games left the club two points outside the relegation zone after ten rounds. The final straw came on 7 November, when Wolfsburg led at Werder Bremen until the 83rd minute only for the hosts to score twice late and win 2–1.

Managerial statistics

Honours Go Ahead Eagles KNVB Cup: 2024–25