Queen’s Park Football Club is proud to announce a hugely exciting appointment which will see one of European football’s most highly regarded leaders in player development bring his renowned expertise to Scottish football. Marijn Beuker will be appointed Director of Football Operations at Queen’s Park FC. The 37-year-old Dutchman will arrive from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar, where he previously worked in the role of Sport Development Director.
Renowned as a long-term, innovative thinker and disrupter, Marijn Beuker has led the extraordinary player development work at top Dutch side AZ Alkmaar for the past fifteen years. During this period, AZ has grown into a leading development institute in Europe. In the last 6 years, the first team consisted for an average of 47.8% of all official minutes from home-grown players and the club grew into one of the most attractive young teams in the Dutch Eredivisie and UEFA competitions.
He was responsible for developing the long-term vision at AZ, for creating a performance culture and for the development of coaching staff dedicated to excelling in the development of high potentials. Marijn is seen as an individual who understands how a club needs to perform and structure itself in terms of talent recruitment and player / coach development.
Beuker: wonderful challenge
“I am very proud to be able to take this new step in my career at one of the oldest clubs in the world. The ambition of the club to create sustainable success and the well-thought-out plan to make an impact in modern football in the coming years appeals to me enormously. I see a lot of opportunities to help Queen’s Park reach these goals and can’t wait to start a new future for the development programs and recruitment process of the club, together with all the staff.”
New leadership team
In a real coup, he is leaving Dutch football to join the Scottish League 1 side to work with Chief Executive Leeann Dempster who has led both Motherwell and Hibernian to great success in Scotland’s top-flight. The new leadership team highlights the determination of Queen’s Park to gain success both on and off the pitch, to become Scotland’s leading club for player development, and to create a new model club deeply rooted in its community. And it also highlights the enormous appeal of the work being undertaken at Queen’s Park to create a Club which will excel in player development as a foundation of achieving success both on and off the pitch.
Dempster: exciting appointment
“This is a truly exciting appointment for us. We have the ambition to become a top club at developing young footballers, and in Marijn we have someone who thinks deeply about how best to do this, who constantly innovates, and who is enormously regarded within European football. Everyone at the Club looks forward to working with, and learning from, one of Europe’s most influential developers of young talent. I am looking forward to working with Marijn very much.“
David Hunter: fit with the club
“In the discussions we had, I learned that Marijn feels entirely in tune with the values and aims we are creating at Queen’s Park – rooted in community; determined to grow and succeed in innovative and sustainable ways; becoming Scotland’s premier club in developing talented young footballers. We are excited about what this appointment will bring, and it would simply not have been possible without our key sponsors and supporters, in particular Lord Haughey.”
Beuker: pioneer
“In the meetings I had with Leeann Dempster and Lord Willie Haughey I quickly learned the important role Queen’s Park played in pioneering in the early stages of club football. It’s very impressive to understand the impact the club made, and I am very grateful I can be a part of this new era for us all. I will respect the legacy of the club, but I am also ready to put a new dent in the universe.”