Former Kerala Blasters assistant coach Patrick Van Kets passes away at 55

The Belgian native worked as part of Ivan Vukomanovic's coaching staff last season.

Former Kerala Blasters assistant coach Patrick Van Kets has passed away at the age of 55, the ISL club announced on Monday. Patrick, a native of Belgium, was part of the KBFC coaching staff last season under Ivan Vukomanovic. However, he parted ways with the club before the ISL 2021-22 season commenced due to a personal emergency.

According to Belgian daily Le Soir, the 55-year-old was suffering from Charcot's disease, a muscle disorder. The newspaper also states that he had been placed under palliative care since the end of August.

Patrick joined Kerala Blasters as their assistant coach following the appointment of Ivan Vukomanovic. He had previously worked with Vukomanovic at Belgian club Standard Liege. The former striker joined Kerala Blasters in June but left just four months later in October due to a personal emergency.

About Patrick Van Kets

Patrick started his professional career as a striker for Belgian club K.R.C Mechelen in 1983 and debuted for their senior team five years later. From there he moved to Saint Trond and spent three seasons there. His breakthrough performance was with Le Mans, a Fench Ligue club, where Patrick scored 53 goals in 136 matches.

At Le Mans, he played for four years from 1993 to 1997 and was also the second highest scorer in 1995 and 1996 in Ligue 2. In 2002 he ended his playing career last appearing for the US Albi.

Post his playing career, he took a break and then returned to coaching vertical. Patrick in 2014 started as an assistant manager for the Standard Ligue U-21 side in the Belgian League. He then moved back to his previous club Sint-Truidense, where he played as a striker from 1989 to 1991.

After a four-year stint at Sint-Truidense in his native Belgium, Patrick moved to Asia and was the assistant manager of UAE club Al Ain FC. In June 2021, he joined Ivan Vukomanovic at Kerala Blasters and worked with the club for four months.