Robin van Persie sacked by Dutch giants Feyenoord after just over a year in charge

The 42-year-old replaced Brian Priske as head coach of his boyhood club in February 2025 and won 30 of his 58 games in charge.

Feyenoord, though, finished 19 points behind rivals and champions PSV Eindhoven.

It was a difficult start for Van Persie, who had signed a two-year deal, as he oversaw defeat to Fenerbahce in the final round of UEFA Champions League qualification.

He then only managed two wins in six UEFA Europa League matches, finishing 29th out of 36 teams.

After a season review following the appointment of technical director Devy Rigaux in May, the club decided to make a change.

In a statement, Rigaux paid tribute to Van Persie, saying: "Robin van Persie has given everything for the club in the past one-and-a-half years. He certainly deserves credit for ending a difficult season with second place in the end. With that, Champions League football was secured, which is of course very important.

"We have done a thorough analysis internally. We have included the development of the game delivered and the downward trend in terms of points, both in Europe and in the Eredivisie.

"The conclusion was that it would be better to start next season with a new head coach."

Van Persie made headlines in January when he had a public falling out with midfielder Quinten Timber, brother of Arsenal defender Jurrien.

He also spoke out in defence of former Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea star Raheem Sterling, who joined the club in February but failed to score a goal.

"Personally, I struggle with the cynicism surrounding him. I think respect is more appropriate. In any case, I don't like cynicism. I can't stand the whole atmosphere around him," he said.

"Everyone has to know their place in that. And I think we sometimes go a bit overboard in the Netherlands regarding that.

"He has scored 200 goals in England and played 82 international matches. And that is regardless of whether you think he plays well or not.

"But I think the way we handle this as a footballing nation is really very bad."

Van Persie, who retired from playing in 2019, had previously been an assistant coach at Feyenoord under Dick Advocaat and worked with their youth teams before taking charge of Heerenveen.

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