Erwin Lemmens (born 12 May 1976) is a Belgian retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, and is the goalkeeper coach of the Belgium national team. Lemmens won two caps for

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, both in 2004. On 24 January 2013, Lemmens was named the goalkeeping coach of the Red Devils.

Club career

Born in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Lemmens started his career at K.S.K. Beveren in 1995, and was a regular in his last two years after which he signed for

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

in Spain. After four seasons and 49

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

matches for the

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

ns (adding 33 appearances in a 2002 promotion) he joined

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

also in the country, being first-choice during the 2003–04 campaign. The arrival of

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

international

Carlos Kameni Idriss Carlos Kameni (born 18 February 1984) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays for Andorran club UE Santa Coloma as a goalkeeper. He spent the vast majority of his career in Spain, mainly with Espanyol for whom he appeared in 22 ...

the following season meant Lemmens was confined to bench duty, with just one

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

match to his tally. Subsequently, he signed with

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σ.Φ.Π. ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, Attica. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP ('' ...

in the summer of 2005, competing with young Kleopas Giannou for the substitute role behind regular

Antonios Nikopolidis Antonis Nikopolidis ( el, Αντώνης Νικοπολίδης; born 14 January 1971) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and former manager of the Greece under-21 national team. He is regarded among the best ...

. Lemmens did not manage to play one single game with the Greek, being demoted to third-choice in 2006–07 upon the signing of

Tomislav Butina Tomislav Butina (; born 30 March 1974) is a Croatian former footballer who played as goalkeeper for Dinamo Zagreb, Club Brugge and Olympiacos. He was also capped 28 times for the Croatia national team in the period from 2001 to 2006, and was me ...

. On 31 January 2007, he was finally released by the club, quickly joining Dutch club

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

on a free transfer; on 10 February he played his first

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

game, against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

. Lemmens moved to newly promoted F. C. Verbroedering Dender E.H. for 2007–08, and won the competition for first-choice with former

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

's Jan Van Steenberghe. After a

hip In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region is ...

injury, however, his season came to an end. After one year out of football, 33-year-old Lemmens signed with first professional club Beveren, now in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He helped the team finish comfortably in mid-table, but they would be relegated due to financial irregularities and he retired shortly after, going on to work as a goalkeeper coach with

K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (; often simply called Sporting Lokeren or Lokeren) was a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Lokeren, in the province of East Flanders. The club was founded in 1923 but cease ...

and

K.R.C. Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk, Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four champ ...

International career

Courtesy of his early solid performances for Espanyol, Lemmens won two caps for

, both in 2004. His debut came on 31 March, as he featured 32 minutes in a 3–0 friendly loss in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. On 24 January 2013, Lemmens was named the new goalkeeping coach of the Red Devils, replacing the departed

Philippe Vande Walle Philippe "Nic" vande Walle (born 22 December 1961) is a former Belgian football goalkeeper. His former clubs include FC Bruges, K.F.C. Germinal Ekeren, K.S.K. Lierse and Eendracht Aalst. Vande Walle was part of the Belgium national team fo ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemmens, Erwin 1976 births Living people Footballers from Brussels Belgian footballers Association football goalkeepers Belgium international footballers Belgian Pro League players Belgian First Division B players K.S.K. Beveren players F.C.V. Dender E.H. players La Liga players Segunda División players Racing de Santander players RCD Espanyol footballers Olympiacos F.C. players Eredivisie players RKC Waalwijk players Belgian expatriate footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Greece Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Association football goalkeeping coaches