Julien Cools (born 13 February 1947) is a
Belgian former
footballer who won the
Belgian Golden Shoe in 1977 while at
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. . He was discovered as a junior at SK Retie Branddonk of Antwerp and made his name with
Beringen FC
Koninklijke Beringen Football Club was a Belgian football club from the municipality of Beringen, Limburg (Belgium). It existed between 1924 and 2002.
History
The club was founded in 1924 as Cercle Sportif Kleine Heide and it became a member of ...
. He was signed by FC Bruges in 1973 where his reputation for non-stop runner in the midfield made him an international regular. Cools helped FC Bruges to win the Belgian league titles in 1975–76, 76–77 and 77–78 plus the Belgian Cup in 1977. In Europe, Cools was a runner-up in the 1976 U.E.F.A.Cup Final and 1978 European Cup Final, Bruges losing both finals to Liverpool. He was rated by World Soccer Magazine as Bruges' best player in that 1978 Final.
At 32 Cools left Bruges to join
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 ...
where he enjoyed a new lease of life, becoming Captain of the national team. At the
1980 European Championship in Italy Cools played in all four of Belgium's games including the Final where they lost to West Germany. He was capped 35 times and scored two goals for the
Belgian national team
The Belgium national football teamfrench: Équipe nationale belge de footballgerman: Belgische Fußballnationalmannschaft officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the ...
.
In April 2008, he accepted an offer to become the Assistant coach of the
Brunei national football team.
Honours
Player
Club Brugge
*
Belgian First Division A
The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...
:
1975–76,
1976–77,
1977–78
*
Belgian Cup:
1976–77 (winners), 1978-79 (runners-up)
*
UEFA Cup:
1975-1976 (
runners-up)
*
European Champion Clubs' Cup:
1977–78 (
runners-up)
International
Belgium
*
UEFA European Championship:
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
(
runners-up)
*
Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1980
Individual
*
Belgian Golden Shoe: 1977
References
1947 births
Living people
Belgian footballers
Belgium international footballers
Club Brugge KV players
UEFA Euro 1980 players
K.F.C. Dessel Sport players
K. Beringen F.C. players
K. Beerschot V.A.C. players
K.V.C. Westerlo players
People from Retie
Association football midfielders
Footballers from Antwerp Province
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