‘When you have proud moments, you’re happy but you think: ‘I wish Dad was here”: Jan Paul van Hecke has overcome family heartache and is now happy to be bossing it for Brighton as they take on Manchester United

You leave the Brighton training complex where you interviewed Jan Paul van Hecke with the urge to call your father, because you realise how lucky you are that you still can.

This 24-year-old from the small Dutch town of Arnemuiden wishes he could. Talk about football. Talk about family. Talk about anything. His father, Guus, died two years ago and it was devastating to lose that reassuring voice who sadly didn’t get to see his son become one of the Premier League’s most reliable defensive linchpins.

“He was my best friend,” says Van Hecke. “When he wasn’t there, it was hard. I talked to myself more. After a while, I found my way. In football, there’s a lot of mental health, so you always have to talk to someone. But when there’s no one there?

“Of course my mother was there. My brothers. It’s a different relationship, also a very good one. But I found my way. Now I’m doing well. I think I’m more mature than ever.”

Van Hecke’s father died in September 2022 when Brighton were under a new manager. Graham Potter left and Roberto De Zerbi came in. Today he feels strong enough to discuss his loss in his first meeting with the newspaper since his arrival in England.

“Before every game I tell myself that he’s watching and that I have to play my best,” the 1.88-meter colossus continues. “That helps me. I’m not sure if it is, but it helps me a lot.

“Sometimes it’s tough. When you have proud moments, you’re happy, but you think, ‘I wish he was here.’ But then in the bad moments, you think, ‘It could always be worse.’ And it is. It’s made me stronger. It took a while, but now I’m doing well.”

Van Hecke, or ‘JP’ as he is known by colleagues, signed for Brighton from NAC Breda in 2020 after scouts in the Dutch second division had noticed him.

He spent his first season on loan at Heerenveen in the Eredivisie, and his second season on loan at Blackburn in the Championship, becoming the only player of the season ever to win the club’s player of the season award. His third season was spent largely watching from the Brighton bench. His fourth season saw his breakthrough into the team. Now in his fifth season, he partners Lewis Dunk.

That timeline wasn’t a coincidence, though, as Van Hecke explains in his deep, booming voice: ‘That was the plan. I’m not sure if it always works like that in football, but maybe the plan was perfect for me. I remember when I was 18, they said, “First to the Dutch league, then to the championship, then a year in the Premier League to get used to it, and then be a regular starter for us.” I thought, “Yeah, nice story bro.” How can you plan for four years? But it worked.

‘That’s why I always say to young players now: “Go to a club with a good plan and a good vision.” They can show you if they’ve done it before. When I was that age, it was with Ben White.

‘He went down to the lower divisions (Newport in League Two, Peterborough in League One, Leeds in the Championship) and then back to Brighton and then to Arsenal. They showed me his plan.’

Now Brighton can show the starlets the plan they have drawn up for Van Hecke, the nephew of former 1978 World Cup finalist Jan Poortvilet. ‘He was modest, so he didn’t really show us (his memorabilia),’ Van Hecke recalls. ‘He had nice stories about other players, not about himself. The only thing he said to me was: “I once played against Johan Cruyff and he had a tough game!”‘

Van Hecke follows in his uncle’s footsteps after being named in the Netherlands’ provisional squad for next month’s Nations League matches, but so too are Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Micky van de Ven, Stefan de Vrij and more. ‘I see the names,’ he says. ‘I can be there. They are good players, but I think I am too. Hopefully he (Ronald Koeman) will pick me.’

When Brighton host Nottingham Forest at the Amex Stadium on September 22, there will be two coaches carrying 100 residents from his hometown of Arnemuiden. With a population of 5,000, this modest corner of the Netherlands is now a hub of Seagulls supporters.

When Brighton are televised – as will be the case with Manchester United in Saturday’s lunchtime service – the city gathers to watch. Van Hecke says he will try to give them a “great fight” when he takes on his former Netherlands Under-21 team-mate Joshua Zirkzee.

Now working alongside Fabian Hurzeler, the 31-year-old Premier League manager, Van Hecke feels he is the perfect addition. For him as a playing centre-back, and for the team who are aiming for European qualification this season. With the German tactician’s guidance, it is only a matter of time before Match of the Day dedicates an analytical segment to his skills.

“It’s an appointment for Brighton, for sure, brave,” Van Hecke says. “It’s more dynamic, the way we play. Maybe it’s strange for others (that he’s so young), but for me the manager is the “gaffer”. He’s a good guy, but I know he’s the boss, so I’ll listen to him. We respect him.

‘I knew who he was when they called his name because he had been here a few times last year. He watched our games. Pascal (Gross) said he was doing really well in the second Bundesliga, so I googled him and I knew. But I didn’t know he would come a year later!’

Van Hecke has tried his hand at being a boss himself – in the video game Football Manager. He enjoys leading teams from the bottom up, which he did with Bradford City, from League Two to the Premier League, and Sunderland, leading them to the Champions League.

‘I just try to follow clubs with a good history,’ he explains. ‘I just love football.’ The problem is that he can no longer afford to sign himself to these smaller teams, although he does change the settings to follow Brighton’s philosophy of passing from the back. ‘I try, but sometimes you don’t win games and you change it! Sometimes it’s good – kick the ball long and let the strikers deal with it!’

Dennis Bergkamp was his idol, Van Hecke started life as number 10 and then, in his own words, he went ‘down, and down, and down’ in the team. He says laughing: ‘Then they said: “We have a good goalkeeper, so you can stay in central defence!” When I was 15, I sometimes went from number 10 to central defence in the same game. It was weird.’

It helped him in a way, now that he’s been told the ball should never reach such dizzying heights that it comes down with icicles on it. “It’s the Dutch school,” he says. “When I was younger, I wasn’t allowed to kick the ball forward. They said you had to play from the back. ‘Don’t kick and rush, or you’ll be substituted.’ Now I’m good and comfortable with the ball.”

Brighton fans love Van Hecke, so much so that they have created a new chant for him. ‘Crofty (Andrew Crofts, Brighton assistant manager) came up to me and started singing it.’ So according to their proclamations, is it true that you are better than Fabio Cannavaro? ‘I’m not sure!’ And the most handsome Dutchman they know? ‘Hopefully!’

The cheers rang out from the away end of Goodison Park last Saturday as Brighton won 3-0 to take top of the Premier League after the opening weekend.

If only Guus was around to see how far his son has come. Van Hecke agrees with Mail Sport that his father would be proud of him today, and if you haven’t done so yet, I’d give your old man a call.

Jan Paul van Hecke has volunteered to help the Brighton Foundation, who have produced a new special video to highlight their work featuring local fan and hip hop artist Mac Perry. Visit for more information.