Jean-Michel Vandamme

Jean-Michel Vandamme (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ miʃɛl vɑ̃dam]; born 10 November 1959) is a French football executive, and former professional player and coach, who is currently the academy general manager of French Ligue 1 club Lille.

Jean-Michel Vandamme

Personal information
Date of birth	(1959-11-10) 10 November 1959 (age 64)
Place of birth	Sedan, France
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)^[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Lille (Academy general manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974–1984	Lille
Managerial career
1984–1989	Lille (assistant)
1989–1992	Lens (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

After retiring from professional football, Jean-Michel Vandamme became Lille first-team assistant coach in 1984. In 1989, he then left the club for Derby du Nord rivals Lens and joined the first-team coaching staff as assistant coach.^[2]

In 1993, after this short experience, he returned to Lille and was appointed as academy general manager of the Northmen. He was then appointed as technical advisor of president Michel Seydoux in 2009, and as head of recruitment in 2011.^[2]

Vandamme left his longtime club in 2018 with Luis Campos' arrival as Lille new technical advisor under Gérard Lopez presidency. As a consequence, he signed with Saint-Étienne, being appointed as head of recruitment in 2019, and worked for Club Brugge as well.^[3]

On 20 April 2021, he returned to Lille and was appointed again as academy general manager.^[4]

Under his watch as academy general manager, Lille renowned youth programme has produced many talents over the years. Eden Hazard, Yohan Cabaye, Mathieu Debuchy, Idrissa Gueye, Lucas Digne, Divock Origi, Benjamin Pavard or Martin Terrier have come through the ranks and are just some of the talents who have played for the club.^[5]

Honours

Player

Lille

• Division 2: 1977–78

References

1. Jean-Michel Vandamme at WorldFootball.net
2. Da Rocha, Joseph (26 April 2021). "Portrait : Jean-Michel Vandamme, l'homme aux multiples casquettes". Le Petit Lillois (in French). Retrieved 18 October 2022.
3. "LOSC : Jean-Michel Vandamme de retour au centre de formation". La Voix du Nord (in French). 14 April 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
4. "Jean-Michel Vandamme nommé Manager Général du centre de formation". LOSC.fr (in French). 20 April 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
5. Hémard, Adrien; Brasy, Clément (22 May 2021). "Doublé du LOSC en 2011 : Dix ans après, ils racontent". So Foot (in French). Retrieved 18 October 2022.

External links

• Jean-Michel Vandamme at FootballDatabase.eu
• Jean-Michel Vandamme at SoFoot.com