‘Everything you do is under a magnifying glass’

It is not a big deal, and yet it is – at least to the outside world – a marking moment. Two female directors, Natascha van Grinsven-Admiraal and Laura van Leeuwen, at the head of a professional soccer club in the first division.

Van Leeuwen officially starts at MVV on July 1. Van Grinsven-Admiraal started as general manager at ADO Den Haag last Monday.

They are not the first women to head professional soccer. Nicole Edelenbos was director of general affairs at Feyenoord between 1995 and 1998. Marianne van Leeuwen has been managing the KNVB since 2021.

What are both directors getting into? At ADO, the past few years have been turbulent, to say the least. Changes of owner, of coach, of technical director. The Hague club just missed out on promotion to the premier league in the playoffs last season. This season ADO, led by coach Dick Advocaat, finished twelfth.

Will it be a tough job for Van Grinsven-Admiraal? She hopes not. “It’s time for calm and stability at ADO. I’m looking forward to bringing that.”

Van Grinsven-Admiraal has worked for marketing agencies and was commercial director at Telstar.

“Everything you do is under a magnifying glass, I learned at Telstar. Most directors leave after a year and three months, while you need a year to get to know the company. We want to prevent that now with a mentoring program. I am being mentored by Joost de Wit, former director of Vitesse and RKC Waalwijk.”

Then MVV, another interesting job Van Leeuwen thinks. She is looking forward to “being creative.” Because MVV does not have much room to get expensive players. The club has to make do with the lowest player budget (750,000 euros) of the entire Keuken Kampioen Divisie.

A former international, Van Leeuwen worked first for the KNVB and for the last six years for Ajax, supporting soccer clubs worldwide from the Amsterdam club. “I wanted to develop further. Ajax supported me very much in this step.”

Ambition was in the former professional soccer player from a young age. “In 1999 I watched the Women’s World Cup in America, I was 14 at the time and said: mom, one day I’m going to play soccer in America myself. That happened. So apparently that’s how it works. I set an intention, my dream comes true and I pack my things. Just like now, to Maastricht.”

Van Leeuwen has secretly already started. For example, she recently had to appear before the disciplinary committee in Zeist because of supporter riots. “It would be nice if we could move toward the English model, which would allow us to keep hooligans better under our thumb,” she said.

ADO Den Haag finished this season in twelfth place, MVV – against all odds – in fifth. “Then you are really competing, also for promotion,” Van Leeuwen says. But she is also realistic, the goal is not to be promoted after this season. ADO does see its main task as returning to the premier league.

Who will be the first of the two clubs to promote? “ADO,” Van Leeuwen says soberly then. “Then we agree on that,” laughs Van Grinsven-Admiraal.