From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Franky Van der Elst (born April 30, 1961 in Ninove) is a former Belgian footballer and a current manager.

A defensive midfielder, he played mainly with Club Brugge, being regarded as a legend there, and was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers, in March 2004.

Football career

Van der Elst started his professional career at R.W.D. Molenbeek, earning his first call-up for Belgium in 1982. Two years later, he moved to Club Brugge KV and stayed there until he finished his career in 1999, going on to total over 500 overall appearances with the side (462 in the league alone). During four seasons, he often partnered in midfield his namesake Leo - no relation.

Van der Elst won the Golden Shoe twice in his career, an accomplishment for an eminently defensive-minded player. He also appeared in four World Cups, from 1986 to 1998. Only having scored once for his country in nearly 90 matches, against Norway, he reacted with astonishment upon its realization.

After his career as a player, Van der Elst was appointed as manager at Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen. After four relatively successful years, he was replaced by Marc Brys, and subsequently joined K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen, however only for one season.

In 2005, Van der Elst returned to 'his' Club Brugge, as an assistant, joining former teammates (both in club and country) Jan Ceulemans, Marc Degryse, Dany Verlinden and René Verheyen. He stayed at Brugge when Verheyen and Ceulemans were fired in 2006, but was eventually shown the door the following year, with head coach Emilio Ferrera.

After a very short spell with FC Brussels,^[1] Van der Elst moved to K.V.S.K. United Overpelt-Lommel, both sides in the second level.

Honours

• Belgian League: 1987-88, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96, 1997-98
• Belgian Cup: 1990-91, 1994-95, 1995-96
• Belgian Supercup: 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998

Club statistics

References

External links

• Club Brugge archives (Dutch)
• NationalFootballTeams data
• Weltfussball profile (German)

Franky Van der Elst - International tournaments Belgium squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Pfaff • 2 Gerets • 3 F. Van der Elst • 4 De Wolf • 5 Renquin • 6 Vercauteren • 7 Vandereycken • 8 Scifo • 9 Vandenbergh • 10 Desmet • 11 Ceulemans • 12 Munaron • 13 Grün • 14 Clijsters • 15 L. Van der Elst • 16 Claesen • 17 Mommens • 18 Veyt • 19 Broos • 20 Bodart • 21 Demol • 22 Vervoort • Coach: Thys Belgium squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Preud'homme • 2 Gerets • 3 Albert • 4 Clijsters • 5 Versavel • 6 Emmers • 7 Demol • 8 Van der Elst • 9 Degryse • 10 Scifo • 11 Ceulemans • 12 Bodart • 13 Grün • 14 Claesen • 15 De Sart • 16 De Wolf • 17 Plovie • 18 Staelens • 19 Van Der Linden • 20 De Wilde • 21 Wilmots • 22 Vervoort • Coach: Thys Belgium squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Preud'homme • 2 Medved • 3 Borkelmans • 4 Albert • 5 Smidts • 6 Staelens • 7 Van der Elst • 8 Nilis • 9 Degryse • 10 Scifo • 11 Czerniatynski • 12 De Wilde • 13 Grün • 14 De Wolf • 15 Emmers • 16 Boffin • 17 Weber • 18 Wilmots • 19 Van Meir • 20 Verlinden • 21 Van Der Heyden • 22 Renier • Coach: Van Himst Belgium squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 De Wilde • 2 Crasson • 3 Staelens • 4 Vidović • 5 Borkelmans • 6 Van der Elst • 7 Wilmots • 8 Oliveira • 9 M. Mpenza • 10 Nilis • 11 Van Kerckhoven • 12 Vande Walle • 13 Verlinden • 14 Scifo • 15 Clement • 16 De Boeck • 17 Verstraeten • 18 Verheyen • 19 Van Meir • 20 E. Mpenza • 21 Boffin • 22 Deflandre • Coach: Leekens