Philippe De Ridder

Ridder had set up two academies of excellence in Belgium (Lions soccer Academy and 360 Foot) which were specialized in the individual development of skills, power and speed as well as goal scoring abilities. He also traveled for 13 years around the world, exchanging knowledge and working with several French, Dutch, Spanish, Ecuadorian, Brazilian, Argentinian and American coaches, youth coordinators and presidents around the world, to be able to put together a successful and creative training methodology. Many players participated for several years in these elite training centres, such as Faris Haroun (Blackpool), Arnor Angeli (Mons), Rosario Saporito (Diegem Sport), Fabio Tonini (FC Brussels), and Bernard Malanda-Adje (Wolfsburg). They all came to de Ridder when they had problems in their club to sustain their position in the first eleven and when all were normal and unknown players and they all became international players after receiving De Ridder’s 360 CFT training and football philosophy. In India, De Ridder successfully implemented the 360 CFT method on a full professional team with East Bengal and gave some unknown Indian players a chance to express their talent. He has demonstrated his 360 CFT method at different places around the globe like Planet Football Academy (Togo) and IFA-CFS Soccer Academy (India).

At Reitlang FC, De Ridder developed players like Cho Chering Lepcha and Lalruatthara. Ridder trained Lalruatthara with the 360 method, got him a trial in Thailand - BEC Tero Sasana, now known as Police Tero F.C. when not one person talked or detected him in the Mizoram Premier League. He is now elected as the best youth player of Super league 2018. He made his debut for India on 27 March 2018 against Kyrgyzstan in 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. In July 2017, he was selected in final India U23 squad which travelled to Qatar to play 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification.

During the 2018 FIFA World Cup he drew some cartoons for India's leading Bengali Newspaper, Anandabazar Patrika. He also wrote several articles during the tournament as a football expert. He also worked as an expert for the biggest sports newspaper in Dakar, Senegal.

On November, 2013, De Ridder was confirmed as the Technical Director cum player of the club Mizoram premier league. The team was in a disastrous last position in the Mizoram Premier League with only 3 points after 7 matches. Under his coaching, Reitlang FC was saved from relegation with a total of 13 points, taking 10 points in the remaining 7 matches. Making several appearances as a player during the league, he became also the oldest player ever to have participated in the Mizoram Premier league.

Ridder had the chance to learn marketing and management skills from a very young age due to the injury which ended his playing career. He followed many high level professional courses like Lateral Thinking for Management by Edward De Bono, In search of Excellence by Tom Peters, Management and Motivation by E. Sulliman, Marketing and Management by Kotler-Dubois and Advanced Direct Marketing, Creative Thinking by R Van Oeck, at reputed institutes such as Management Centre Europe (Brussels) and Advanced Direct Marketing – Chamber of Commerce (Brussels). He also exercised his management skills in public relations, press group DH, at the FIFA World Cup, 1994 and with professional organizations as general manager at 360 Foot and the U19 Togo National team's European tour in Belgium.

On December 3, 2011, De Ridder was confirmed as manager of I-League 2nd Division club United Sikkim. Under his coaching, United Sikkim F.C. became the champions of I-League 2nd Division and were promoted to play in I-League for the 2012-13 season. After being manager of the team for some part of I-League, De Ridder decided to move to a different role of football director for United Sikkim.

In 2009, he signed with East Bengal again during the mid phase of the I-League, when East Bengal was having the most disastrous season of their entire history. De Ridder then patched up the team from their miserable condition and went into the national level tournament Federation Cup as underdogs. De Ridder and his men defied all odds to return as champions of the tournament. East Bengal also defeated their arch rivals, Mohun Bagan, 2-0 on the way. This also provided East Bengal a ticket for the AFC Cup, a second tier club tournament of the Asian Continent. He then left the club again due to complications with the board.

Ridder is a very popular figure in the city of Kolkata and in the media. He wrote a book in 2006 titled, Kolkata by Ridder, based on the "City of Joy", Kolkata, which was well received by the Kolkatans, especially the football lovers. In India, he worked for the Times of India and Bartaman as an expert guest journalist as well as a football expert on a Channel 10 television show and as a cartoonist for the Bengal Post during the 2010 FIFA World cup.

In 2005, he became the manager of one of the most successful clubs in Indian football, East Bengal, in mid-season. Under his coaching, East Bengal became the runners-up of the now defunct National Football League. His most notable event while with East Bengal was the victory against arch rivals Mohun Bagan in the biggest derby in Indian Football in front of 90,000 people. East Bengal then won the Super Cup in a one match face-off tournament against the 2005-06 NFL Premier Division champions, Mahindra United, beating them by a solitary goal.

After the 2005-06 season, De Ridder signed with Chirag United (now Prayag United) after resigning with East Bengal. His stay was short, as De Ridder could not qualify Chirag for the I-League 2nd Division.

De Ridder played his professional football career in Belgium with the club RWD Molenbeek and he was part of the team which became Division 2 champions in 1985. He then played for RWD Molenbeek in the Belgium Premiership the next season. In 1985, a serious injury to both his knee and ankle stalled his playing career and forced him to retire.

Philippe De Ridder (born 6 August 1964 in Brussels, Belgium) is a Belgian coach, football administrator and a former football player. He is currently the co-owner and CEO of Chevsa Sports Marketing & Management, a Kolkata based sports marketing and management agency. His latest assignment was serving as the International Football Development Manager for Spanish Club, CD Marino. De Ridder is highly regarded for his specialty in discovering young, unknown talent, and his ability to revive teams from troublesome situation. He has discovered a lot of new players in India and is also known for giving a fresh start to older players with the 360 method like Bhaichung Bhutia, Harmanjot Khabra and Mehtab Hossain. He is known for identifying talents at a very young age, like Sandesh Jhingan and Lalruatthara. Jhingan has gone on to become one of the most expensive players in Indian football, while Lalruatthara has won accolades for being the emerging player of the year 2018. Besides being a football coach, he is an eminent art director, designer and musician.