Anthony Portier (; born 1 June 1982 in

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who plays for Beerschot Wilrijk. His best position is central in defence. Portier started playing football at Gold Star Middelkerk, where he was discovered by a neighbouring

Belgian coast Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German * Ancient Belgian language, an extinct langua ...

team,

KV Oostende Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende () or KVO, is a Belgian football club from the city of Ostend, West Flanders in Belgium. The team was founded in 1904 as ''VG Oostende'' and has the matricule No. 31. History In 1911, an ...

where he eventually made it to the first team. Portier then moved on to

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

. He was transferred to the

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

side a half season after his previous team KV Oostende had relegated from the First division.

Trivia

* Anthony Portier has a Cercle Brugge fan club named after him, ''De Portiervrienden'' (English: ''The Friends of Portier''). The fan club is located in

Middelkerke Middelkerke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, on the North Sea, west of Ostend. The municipality comprises the villages of Leffinge, Lombardsijde, Mannekensvere, Middelkerke proper, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapell ...

, where Portier grew up.Supportersverenigingen
/ref>

References

Anthony Portier player info at the official Cercle Brugge site

Cerclemuseum.be
;Notes

External links

* Living people 1982 births Belgian footballers Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players K.V. Oostende players Royale Union Saint-Gilloise players Association football defenders Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Sportspeople from Ostend Footballers from West Flanders K Beerschot VA players {{Belgium-footy-defender-stub