John Moelaert (14 January 1943 – 8 March 2023) was a Belgian footballer who played as a left-back.

Career

Moelaert made his debut for hometown club Cercle Brugge on 23 December 1962 against

FC Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

. In 1966, Cercle were relegated to second division. But more disastrous were the corruption rumours spread by

Lierse Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six Be ...

player Bogaerts, who said he had been approached by someone of Cercle. Although Cercle formally denied these rumours, they were sentenced to play in third division, back to where they were five years ago. Even though Cercle's vice-president won a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

against the

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, which declared him innocent in the corruption case, the damage had been done and Cercle remained at the third level of Belgian football. This caused Cercle to lose important players, a.o. Moelaert. He chose to leave Cercle for city rivals

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

alongside Gilbert Bailliu, a much-discussed transfer. He ended up playing 92 matches for Cercle in all competitions. He also became a regular at Club Brugge, totalling 141 matches for them. He won the Belgian Cup with them in 1968, after defeating

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen, or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the second-tier First Division B after relegating from the top tier in the 2021–22 season. In 201 ...

with

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

and in 1970.

Personal life and death

After his playing career he worked as a representative in medical and physio equipment. Moelaert married Liliane Rosseel after his first wife died of an illness; with Rosseel he had two sons and a daughter. They lived in Jabbeke. He died of heart failure in the AZ Sint Jan Hospital in Bruges in March 2023, aged 80.John Moelaert (80), gedurende tien jaar linksback in eerste klasse bij Cercle én Club Brugge, overleden
- PZC

Honours

Club Brugge * Belgian Cup: 1968, 1970

References

External links

Cerclemuseum.be

Profile
- Club Brugge {{DEFAULTSORT:Moelaert, John 1943 births 2023 deaths Belgian men's footballers Footballers from Bruges Men's association football defenders Belgian Pro League players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players Club Brugge KV players K.R.C. Zuid-West-Vlaanderen players