Van Gaal announces retirement

Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has announced his retirement from football.

Out of work since he was sacked by United just days after lifting the FA CUp at the end of last season, the Dutchman has confirmed that he will not be seeking another managerial position for family reasons.

"Last year I said I was going to quit, but later I changed it and I said I would take a sabbatical," Van Gaal told Algemeen Dagblad.

"Now I believe I will not return any more. So many things have happened in my family recently, so that really was a wake up call and it put everything into perspective."

During his playing career, Van Gaal enjoyed spells at Ajax, Royal Antwerp, Telstar, Sparta Rotterdam and AZ Alkmaar before moving into coaching. His first job saw him become assistant at AZ, a role he also held at Ajax until he succeeded Leo Beenhakker as head coach in 1991.

He guided Ajax to three Eredivise titles as well as the 1992 UEFA Cup and the Champions League in 1995.

Success in his native Holland was followed by a move to Barcelona, succeeding Bobby Robson in 1997, and he went on to lead the Spanish giants to two successive La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey.

He was appointed Netherlands coach in 2000 but he was to last less than two years in the position on the back of the country's failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

After a second brief spell at Barcelona, Van Gaal returned to AZ Alkmaar, winning the Eredivisie title, before guiding Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title in 2009-10.

Despite his previous unsuccessful spell in charge, he was appointed Dutch national coach again in 2012 and his tenure was to end with the Netherlands finishing third at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Prior to the World Cup he had been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United and he was finally appointed as David Moyes' successor in May 2014.

However, the FA Cup win in May 2016 was not enough to save him and he was sacked just hours after United's triumph at Wembley.

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