There is a real chance that Beerschot will have to look for a new CEO after this season. Frédéric Van den Steen is the main candidate to become Peter Willems’ successor at OH Leuven. He resigned from Den Dreef at the beginning of September and is now director of the Professional Referee Department at the Belgian Football Association.
Six months ago, Peter Willems resigned as CEO of OH Leuven. At the end of February he was introduced as the new director of the Professional Referee Department at the Belgian Football Association. Since Willems’ departure, Chris Vandebroeck took on the role of interim CEO at OHL. But they want to appoint a full general manager again at Den Dreef towards next season. The club has a list of possible candidates. And Frédéric Van den Steen, currently general manager at Beerschot, is at the very top of that list.
53-year-old Van den Steen has been working at Kiel for almost three years. He previously had no experience as an employee of a professional club. The Flemish Brabander has a history with several major sports brands such as Jako, Joma, Jartazi and Masita. In that capacity he concluded sponsorship deals with almost all Belgian professional clubs, including the then Germinal Beerschot. As a footballer, Van den Steen reached the second division and subsequently was also a coach and technical director at Londerzeel in the second amateur division.
Excellent results on a limited budget
In recent years – despite relegation and limited financial resources – he has done excellent work at Beerschot. Under his reign, Beerschot is at the top of the extremely unpredictable Challenger Pro League for the second year in a row. The bad thing is that the club is there without a transfer budget to attract new players, while strong players such as Thibo Baeten, Jan Van den Bergh and Nökkvi Thórisson were sold. Together with technical director Gyorgy Csepregi, Van den Steen has performed half-miracles in the past two mercatos.
After the resignation of coach Andreas Wieland, Van den Steen’s departure would also mean a major loss for Beerschot. Van den Steen has been the club’s spokesperson in recent months and also has an important role in the takeover negotiations. In addition, after the relegation, he quickly got everyone working in the same direction again among Beerschot’s extra-sporty staff. The fact that no concrete buyer has yet been found and the financial and sporting ambitions therefore remain limited, suggests that Van den Steen is open to OH Leuven’s proposal. Although it is of course still highly uncertain whether OHL will play in the first division next season.
