Nicky Hayen (born 16 August 1980) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player, who is the head coach of EFL Championship club Burnley.
Career Playing Career and Player coaching
From 1999 on, Hayen played nine seasons at the highest level of Belgian professional football with Sint-Truiden, before moving to RBC Roosendaal in the second division in the Netherlands for two seasons. He returned to Belgium in 2010 by joining Oud-Heverlee Leuven and was part of the team achieving promotion to the Belgian Pro League. In the summer of 2012, he was loaned out for one season to Antwerp, but when the season ended he was released and became player-coach at Dender EH in the Belgian Third Division In February 2014, he was relieved of his coaching duties at Dender EH due to poor results, but stayed with the team as a player.
Haverfordwest County
On 31 December 2021, Hayen was announced as manager of Cymru Premier club Haverfordwest County on an initial 18-month contract. This was extended for a further 12 months upon confirmation of safety towards the end of the 2021–22 season, after an excellent run of form. Hayen was the first Belgian manager to work in the Cymru Premier. He left the club in June 2022 to return to Belgium to take up a position as manager of Club Brugge's under-23 team, Club NXT.
Club Brugge
On 18 March 2024, he was appointed as caretaker manager of Club Brugge, following the dismissal of Ronny Deila. Hayen turned Brugge's fortunes around, and won the Belgian championship after a 0–0 draw against Cercle Brugge. He signed a permanent deal as coach of Club Brugge on 3 June 2024. Hayen was dismissed on 8 December 2025.
Burnley
On 10 July 2026, Hayen signed with EFL Championship club Burnley on a 3-year deal.
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure Team Nat From ToRecordASV Geel1 July 201616 October 2017Berchem Sport15 November 201724 January 2018Sint-Truiden25 November 20192 January 2020Waasland-Beveren1 July 202030 June 2021Haverfordwest County31 December 20211 May 2022Club Brugge18 March 20248 December 2025Genk22 December 202510 July 2026Burnley10 July 2026present Career total
Honours Player Oud-Heverlee Leuven Belgian Second Division: 2010–11
Manager Club Brugge Belgian Pro League: 2023–24 Belgian Cup: 2024–25 Belgian Super Cup: 2025
Individual Raymond Goethals Trophy: 2024 Belgian Golden Shoe Coach of the Year: 2024
References