Mark de Vries

Early career

De Vries was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, but when he was six months old his mother took him to live in Den Helder in the Netherlands. The towering striker played youth football for local side WGW Den Helder. In 1994, De Vries was recruited by FC Volendam where he gained four seasons experience at the top level in the Dutch Eredivisie. De Vries spent the 1998–99 season in the French Division 2 with Chamois Niortais and then the Dutch first division club Dordrecht '90 acquired his services in 1999. In his second season with the club, De Vries scored 11 times and netted 16 times the following season.

Heart of Midlothian

His services were now in demand and Heart of Midlothian manager Craig Levein was successful in securing his transfer to the Scottish club in July 2002. De Vries played a massive part in helping Hearts reach the League Cup semi-final in February 2003 and also to secure third place in the Premier League and UEFA Cup football in successive seasons. He scored 29 goals in 72 league matches for the Edinburgh club. He is well remembered by Hearts fans for scoring four goals on his first start against fierce city rivals Hibernian in a 5–1 victory in August 2002. On 6 November 2003, de Vries scored the winning goal which gave Hearts a shock victory over Bordeaux, producing one of the club's best ever away results in European competition. Hearts rejected an offer from Queens Park Rangers for de Vries on 21 December 2004, while Sheffield…

After leaving Cambuur, de Vries played for ONS Sneek before returning to Den Helder to play and coach. He has since worked in the Faroe Islands for TB/FC Suðuroy/Royn and in Hungary for Budapest Honvéd. On 23 March 2023 it was announced de Vries had taken over AZ Alkmaar women as manager.

Dundee United

Scottish League Cup runner-up: 2007–08