The 49-year-old trainer played professional football for ADO Den Haag and NAC Breda. With NAC Breda he promoted to the Eredivisie in 2000. Steijn began his trainer career at ADO Den Haag where he became assistant trainer and ultimately head coach of the first team from 2011-2014. From 2014 till 2019 he was at the helm of VVV-Venlo as head coach and with the club from Limburg he became champion of the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. In that same year he won the Gouden Stier for best trainer and was even rewarded the Rinus Michels Award.
In 2019 he left for the United Arabic Emirates to join Al-Wahda FC, the following year he joined NAC Breda. At the end of April 2022, he signed for Sparta Rotterdam, where he prevented the club from relegating in the final matches of that season. Last season Steijn finished on a surprising sixth place with Sparta in the Eredivisie and even reached the play-off final for European football.
Director of Football Sven Mislintat: "Maurice is now roughly 20 years active as a trainer in professional football, of which 10 years as head coach. With all the clubs he worked for, the results exceeded the expectations. So, he has shown multiple times with his teams that he is a real overperformer. He is ready for a step up, I'm sure of that. Furthermore, we are carefully composing the technical staff surrounding Maurice to a complementary whole. At the end of June, the first players will report at Sportpark de Toekomst and the preparation for the new season will begin. I'm happy that the most important trainer position is now filled."
Said Bakkati will join the technical staff as assistant trainer. Bakkati has a history at Ajax. During the 2015/2016 season he served as assistant trainer in Amsterdam to coaches Andries Ulderink and Jaap Stam for Ajax' second team. Bakkati (Groningen, 23 March 1982) continued his career as assistant for Reading FC, PEC Zwolle, Feyenoord, and FC Cincinnati. From November 2022, the former player was assistant trainer to Dick Advocaat at ADO Den Haag.
Following head coach Steijn, Bakkati will sign a three-year contract, from 1 July 2023 through 30 June 2026. The 28-year-old German Max Lesser will join from VfB Stuttgart as head analyzer for the first team. The technical staff further consists of Richard Witschge, Anton Scheutjens (keeper trainer), and Alessandro Schoenmaker (performance coach).
Ajax is still searching for an assistant to complete the trainer staff for Steijn.
