Dutch gaffer Eelco Schattorie has been appointed as the Head Coach of East Bengal Club, the Kolkata outfit confirmed through a press release on Thursday.
The statement comes hours after the club announced parting of ways with Goan coach Armando Colaco, who was last seen on the sidelines during his team’s high-intensity game with Mohun Bagan AC in the Kolkata Derby on Tuesday.
Schattorie, who became a household name in India following his stint with United SC until some part of the last season, started his coaching career at Dutch side VVV-Venlo where he worked on all the possible levels within the club. He started with being a Youth Coach and worked further more as an Assistant Coach, Head of Youth Department and subsequently a Head Coach.
At the age of 28 he was awarded with the UEFA PRO Licence, and he continued his work at VVV-Venlo for eleven years.
In 2002 he started a new adventure in the Middle East and followed his friend and former colleague Jan Versleijen to the United Arab Emirates and joined a cooperation at Al Jazeera Club in Abu Dhabi. They stayed together for three more years and worked in Saudi Arabia at Al Ettifaq and in the UAE at Al-Shaab CSC. This collaboration ended and Eelco started as a Head Coach at Al Riffa SC in Bahrain.
Further more he worked the following years at Muscat FC (Oman), Fanja Club (Oman) and Al-Khaleej Club (Saudi Arabia). He also worked for Red Bull Ghana in Ghana where he was the Head Coach of the academy first team, before coming over to India to coach the Purple Brigade for two seasons.
(Report & Picture courtesy I-League Media)