19.02.2008, 03:26
Ryde to leave Viborg

Viborg coach will step down at the end of the season. Ryde explains his decision with family reasons. The club will be looking for a successor.

Ryde to leave Viborg

Viborg HK are going to lose their head coach Tomas Ryde at the end of the season. The 47-year old Swedish coach wanted to quit the job this summer, though he still has two years left of his current contract valid until 30 June 2010.

The club management chose to accept Ryde’s wish and this means that Viborg will have to look for a new head coach for next season.

“I and my wife have made a decision together to move back to Sweden this summer. Our children are in their teens and they are studying in school. We feel that certain things will work out better if we move home to Sweden,” Tomas Ryde said on Tuesday. 

Still determined to win titles

“I love to be in Viborg and I’m going to work with all my energy until then. We are still determined to pursue our aim to win titles for Viborg HK,” said Tomas Ryde who has not yet announced which team he is going to coach in Sweden in the future.

“Tomas is an extremely qualified coach who has contributed to develop Viborg HK in many aspects lately,” Viborg HK’s sports director, Torben Østergaard, said as Ryde’s was announced to leave.

“He is one of the most committed and dedicated people I ever met and his results speak for themselves. The Champions League title in 2006 was his greatest achievement, of course. Therefore, it is sad that we have to say goodbye, but on the other hand, we fully understand and accept the decision of Tomas,” added Østergaard. The manager is going to take some time now to figure out who the new head coach is going to be.

Success in Denmark

Tomas Ryde – a former police officer – arrived in Viborg in the summer of 2005. So far the 2005/06 season was his most successful time with the club winning the Champions League as well as the Danish championship.

He still has a chance to copy that achievement this season as Viborg are way ahead of their closest competitors in the Danish league and still have a chance to win the Champions League.

Tomas Ryde is not unfamiliar with having success in Danish women’s handball as he had some successful seasons in another Danish top club, Ikast/Bording EH too.

Being so far ahead in the Danish league, Viborg still have a great chance to qualify for the Champions League again and that confirms the need of a highly qualified successor of Tomas Ryde.

TEXT: Peter Bruun