Martin Jol: underrated in Holland

Decades ago, the director of the Federation of Pro Football clubs predicted that Martin Jol would become a top coach. Today, Martin Jol has his sights on the title in the Bundesliga and is still in the running for the UEFA Cup. They love him in England and in Germany, but in Holland people can’t seem to appreciate his achievements.

He worked for Roda JC and reached spectacular results with tiny RKC. The top clubs never called him. Feyenoord seriously considered him, but chairman Van den Herik thought Jol was too fat and the board wanted a coach with more charisma. Enter Ruud Gullit… PSV wanted to sign Jol a tad too early after his sacking at the Spurs, and Jol couldn’t sign then. Today, he works in Germany where he’s revered and adored by the masses.

Maarten Jol was born ands raised in Scheveningen. His dad was a fisher man. Jol’s lineage can be traced back to none other than Admiral Cornelis Jol, the infamous pirate and the pest of the Spanish fleet, in the 17th century. Admiral Jol attacked 43 Spanish ships with only 6 of his own and won, killing 6.000 Spanish mariners. He died in 1641 of a malaria attack.

This descendent of an actual pirate is one of the most remarkable coaches we have. Jol is a charismatic guy, who talks easily and has a profound opinion.

Martin and brother Cock Jol wanted to play for Scheveningen amateur club SV 35 when they were young but decided to move to JAC in Wassenaar, because they liked the orange jerseys and white shorts more. As a 14 year old, Martin played his first game at Wembley with the Dutch youth team. When he was 15, youth coach Rob Baan (currently technical director in Australia) signed him for ADO Den Haag. As a semi pro. His payment? A bus subscription to get to the Zuiderpark stadium from Scheveningen.

A year later, when 16 years old, Jol got a real deal at ADO and again one year later Jol made his debut against Ajax. Jol’s mother managed his affairs and told Martin to start buying real estate when ever he could. As a result, Jol became one the first millionairs in Dutch football, not because of his big contracts, but because of his real estate investments. Today, he is the proud owner of at least 40 prestigious buildings in Den Haag.

In 1978, Jol expected Ernst Happel to select him for the WC1978 in Argentina. Happel decided to pick the more experienced Wim Suurbier of Ajax and Jol would have to wait till 1980 before he wore the Oranje jersey. The friendly against West Germany ended 1-1. He also played the mini Mundial in Uruguay but got stuck on three internationals in total.

Jol had made a move to Bayern Munich by then, but failed there. Homesick. He moved to FC Twente and he was able to be on the beach of Scheveningen in two hours if he wanted to. He moved back to Scheveningen to live and made the journey to Twente every day. Arsenal wanted to sign Jol but he refused. He dreaded another international adventure, but when Bobby Robson of Ipswich tipped West Brom’s mananger Ron Allen to sign Jol, he bluffed. Jol asked a tremendous salary and when Allen agreed, Jol was stuck with the deal.

Jol had a tough time in England, but he played well. He spend his days in his motel room, playing board games with team mate Romeo Zondervan. He was bamboozled by the lifestyle of his English colleagues who’d go to the pub the evening before the game. When Johnny Giles took over at West Brom, Jol moved to Coventry City.

Jol moved back to ADO Den Haag later but clashed with young coach Co Adriaanse. Jol said Adriaanse didn’t like players who voiced their opinions. Adriaanse even banned Jol from the team picture, because the skipper wore Adidas while ADO had a sponsor deal with Cruyff Sports. He retired soon after and became ADO Den Haag’s business manager. But the love for the grass was too strong and Jol decided to coach the ADO amateurs. He moved to the biggest amateur club in the region, Scheveningen, and made the club the champs of Holland. He moved to Roda JC, but clashed with influential sponsor Hendriks, who’d love to determine who would play and who would be signed.

Jol would then move to RKC where he performed extraordinarely with almost no real means to speak of. Feyenoord ignored Jol and Manchester United wanted to sign him as their field trainer. When that opportunity passed, Tottenham Hotspur decided to sign him as their assistant coach. Frank Arnesen was technical manager at the Spurs and he knew Jol well enough.

The French head coach at Spurs got into trouble physically and Jol took the main job, with quite some success. In his fourth season at White Hart Lane, the magic was gone and Jol was sacked. With a huge sum of money and Jol had a number of options. Rob Baan wanted Jol as team manager of Australia, PSV wanted him as successor to Koeman and there were contracts ready for five English clubs. But Jol chose Hamburger SV.

HSV’s last title was in 1983. But with Martin Jol, the old days have returned. And, a title with HSV will guarantee the Scheveningen-man a top job with a big German club. But, despite having conquered his homesickness, Jol still longs for Scheveningen. In his biography he said that, as soon as 7.000 fans chant his name in the Zuiderpark stadium, Jol will return to ADO Den Haag as their head coach.