Frederik Vanderbiest

Born in Vilvoorde, Belgium, Vanderbiest began playing football in R.W.D. Molenbeek's youth system before he joined the senior side. He played for K.S.V. Roeselare from 2001 to 2007, where he was twice voted player of the year by the club's supporters. In 2013, he guided K.V. Oostende into the quarter-finals of the Belgian Cup and won promotion to the Belgian Pro League by winning the 2012–13 Belgian Second Division.

He started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Roeselare, where he worked as assistant coach to Dennis van Wijk. He was head coach of Oostende, Cercle Brugge, Antwerp, Limassol and Lierse, but describes those managerial stints as stints that "went badly". In 2019, he joined RWDM Brussels as manager at request of Thierry Dailly. He has a close friendship with Besnik Hasi, who wanted Vanderbiest to join him at R.S.C. Anderlecht, but Vanderbiest's negotiations with Mechelen had progressed too far. After Besnik Hasi was sacked from Mechelen in March 2025, Vanderbiest took over as caretaker manager. On 15 March 2026, Vanderbiest led K.V. Mechelen to the Champions Playoffs for the first time in the club's history.