Rick Kruys

Rick Kruys (; born 9 May 1985) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. His father, Gert Kruys is also a former professional footballer and current manager.

Club career

Utrecht Kruys started his professional career in Utrecht in 2003. He played in Utrecht for five years and played over 100 league games. In 2008, Dutch media reported that Kruys would sign a -year contract with Malmö FF, and he eventually joined the team in July 2008.

Malmö FF Due to injury problems, Kruys would only play four games for his first season at the club. In 2009, Kruys played 13 games for the club in his best season so far at the club, although he was still battling injuries. For the 2010 league-winning season, Kruys once again faced numerous injuries and played only four games. In early 2011 Malmö FF gave Kruys permission to look for a new club to restart his career.

Loan to Volendam Kruys was eventually loaned to Volendam until 1 June 2011. When the loan deal expired Kruys returned to Malmö, but was not included in the squad as the club was awaiting eventual bids from clubs in the Netherlands. On 19 July it was announced that Kruys would continue to play for Volendam on loan until the end of the season.

Excelsior Kruys signed a two-year contract with Excelsior on 13 July 2012. He was part of Excelsior's promotion to the Eredivisie in the 2013–14 season. He made 122 appearances for the club, scoring five goals, and he announced his retirement from professional football on 7 February 2016.

International career Kruys has represented the Netherlands under-21 team in 16 games, in which he scored one goal.

Coaching career During the 2013–14 season, Kruys was working as an individual coach for Utrecht's academy alongside his playing career at Excelsior. He then left the position in 2014 and started working as a youth coach and assistant manager at VV De Meern, still playing for SBV Excelsior beside. Kruys left Excelsior in 2016 and continued at De Meern, now also as player and he was later also hired as a youth coach at Utrecht again.

Retiring from playing football at the end of 2017, Kruys became an assistant coach at Utrecht in January 2018, alongside his former coach Marinus Dijkhuizen and under head coach Jean-Paul de Jong. In May 2018, Kruys signed a new deal until the summer 2023 with Utrecht. After de Jong was fired in September 2018, Kruys and Dijkhuizen were appointed joint-caretaker managers. They were replaced later on the month and Kruys continued as an assistant manager.

Managerial career On 16 June 2022, VVV-Venlo appointed Kruys as head coach on a two-year deal, effective from 1 July 2022, replacing Jos Luhukay. In March 2024, he announced his decision not to renew his expiring contract at the end of the season, stating, "It was a very difficult choice, but I feel it's time for a new challenge."

Volendam On 4 June 2024, Kruys was announced as head coach of newly relegated Eerste Divisie club Volendam, a club he had also represented during his playing career, signing a two-year contract.

In his first season, Kruys led Volendam to the 2024–25 Eerste Divisie title and immediate promotion to the Eredivisie, the club setting a record of 82 points; he was named coach of the season in the division, receiving the Rinus Michels Award. His contract was subsequently extended to 2028.

Volendam began their return to the top flight strongly but faded late in the 2025–26 season; a final-day home defeat to Telstar left them 16th and consigned them to the relegation play-offs, where they lost to Willem II on penalties and were relegated.

Managerial statistics

Honours Utrecht Johan Cruyff Shield: 2004

Footnotes