 Despite being born in Ireland, van Zanten has played his entire senior career in Scotland after signing for Celtic in 1999 from Tolka Rovers.After leaving Celtic at the age of 21, van Zanten signed for St Mirren; he made almost 200 appearances for the Paisley side.He subsequently played for Hibernian, Greenock Morton and Hamilton Academical, before returning to St Mirren in 2010.