Lee-Roy Echteld

Lee-Roy Echteld

Personal information
Date of birth	(1968-09-30) 30 September 1968 (age 57)
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Position	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	AZ (caretaker)
Youth career
1981–198?	Ajax
198?–1988	DWS
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1992	HFC Haarlem	70	(6)
1992–1997	Heerenveen	151	(22)
1997–1998	Cannes	5	(0)
1998	AZ	11	(2)
1998–1999	RKC Waalwijk	27	(3)
1999–2001	Austria Lustenau	20	(0)
2000–2001	→ Heracles Almelo (loan)	8	(0)
Managerial career
2009–2011	Blauw-Wit Amsterdam
2013	DVW
2015	Zeeburgia
2018–2019	Paris Saint-Germain B
2022–2024	De Treffers
2023–	Netherlands U21 (assistant)
2024–2026	Jong AZ
2026–	AZ (caretaker)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lee-Roy Echteld (born 30 September 1968) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is caretaker manager of Eredivisie club AZ. He most notably played for Heerenveen as a midfielder.

Playing career

Echteld started playing football in youth departments of Ajax and DWS in Amsterdam. ^[1] He broke through to senior football in 1988 at HFC Haarlem and then played for Heerenveen during a five-year spell. He also played briefly abroad with the French Ligue 1 club Cannes and the Austrian club Austria Lustenau. In 2001, he retired from football at Heracles Almelo. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Echteld also played with the Suriprofs, where he was allowed to participate because of his Surinamese descent. Because his father is of Chinese Surinamese descent, and this was also clearly visible when Echteld was a baby, the Chinese name 'Lee' was added with a dash before 'Roy', which his parents originally wanted to call him. ^[1]

Managerial career

Echteld became a coach after his playing career and began managing the amateur branch of FC Omniworld. He did an internship at Ajax for the KNVB diploma. In the 2006–07 season he was a youth coach at DoCoS. From 2007, he became active at Blauw-Wit Amsterdam, first as a youth coach and in 2009 as head coach. He then took over as manager of DWV in January 2013. ^[5] In 2014, he started working as a youth coach at AZ. He took over as manager of Zeeburgia in January 2015, ^[6] but left that position at the end of 2015, when he was appointed assistant coach of the first team where succeeded Marco van Basten in that position. In the summer of 2018, Echteld left for Paris Saint-Germain to become manager of the reserves competing in the Championnat National 2. ^[7] In 2019, however, PSG decided to dissolve the second team and Echteld's contract was not renewed. ^[8]

Echteld was added to the staff of PEC Zwolle in July 2020, where he became responsible for coaching the first-team strikers as well as overseeing the transition of players from under-21 team to first team. ^[2]

On 5 July 2022, Echteld was appointed the new head coach of Tweede Divisie club De Treffers. ^[9] On 14 July 2023, he was appointed assistant coach to Michael Reiziger for the Netherlands U21 team, while continuing as head coach of De Treffers. ^[10]

On 20 January 2024, Echteld was appointed head coach of Jong AZ. ^[11] On 18 January 2026, he was appointed as head coach of AZ's first team for the remainder of the season, following the dismissal of Maarten Martens. ^[12]

Career statistics

Managerial

As of match played 7 March 2026

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Paris Saint-Germain B	1 July 2018	30 June 2019	33	8	10	15	024.24
De Treffers	5 July 2022	19 January 2024	58	33	9	16	056.90
Jong AZ	20 January 2024	17 January 2026	69	25	13	31	036.23
AZ (caretaker)	1 July 2018	Present	12	6	2	4	050.00
Total			172	72	34	66	041.86

Honours

AZ

• Eerste Divisie: 1997–98 ^[13]

References

1. Varkamman, Matty (14 August 1993). "'Speler die in Heerenveen woont, heeft amper een privéleven'". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 February 2021.
2. Inan, Johan (24 July 2020). "PEC Zwolle voegt veelzijdige Leeroy Echteld toe aan technische staf". De Stentor (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 February 2021.
3. "Vluchtoord voor vergeten voetballers". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 29 February 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
4. "L'inconnu qui entraîne l'équipe réserve du PSG". Le Parisien (in French). 27 February 2019. Archived from the original on 22 February 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
5. "DWV in zee met Echteld". Het Amsterdamsche Voetbal (in Dutch). 6 January 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
6. Boegborn, Jurgen (28 January 2015). "Echteld blij om terug te zijn op Zeeburgia". Het Amsterdamsche Voetbal (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 February 2021.
7. "Voormalig AZ-assistent Echteld aan de slag als trainer PSG-beloften". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 10 July 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
8. "'AZ heeft het in de jeugdopleiding beter voor elkaar dan PSG'". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 18 July 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
9. "Lee-Roy Echteld nieuwe hoofdtrainer". De Treffers (Press release) (in Dutch). 5 July 2022. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
10. "Leeroy Echteld assistent bij Jong Oranje" [Leeroy Echteld assistant at Jong Oranje]. Ons Oranje (in Dutch). 14 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
11. "Echteld nieuwe trainer Jong AZ" [Echteld new coach of Jong AZ]. AZ Alkmaar (in Dutch). 20 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
12. "AZ en Martens nemen afscheid, Echteld maakt seizoen af als hoofdtrainer" [AZ and Martens say goodbye, Echteld finishes the season as head coach]. AZ Alkmaar (in Dutch). 18 January 2026. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
13. "Over Ons". az.nl (in Dutch). AZ Alkmaar . Retrieved 9 February 2021. AZ werd in 1996 kampioen, degradeerde een jaar later, maar keerde in 1998 weer terug onder leiding van trainer Willem van Hanegem.