Koen Persoons () (born 12 July 1983) 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 languag ...

former 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 is the Head of Football for the

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.

youth academy outfit

Club NXT Club NXT is the youth academy of Belgian football club Club Brugge. The most senior team of Club NXT acts as Club Brugge's reserve team, and competes in the Challenger Pro League, the second flight of Belgian football. History On 1 July 2020 ...

. He is a defensive

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Persoons made his first team debut with Eendracht Aalst. When the team went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

, he signed for Aalst rivals FC Denderleeuw, who became FCV Dender after their merge with

Verbroedering Denderhoutem Football Club Verbroedering Dender Eendracht Hekelgem, also simply known as Dender or Verbroedering Dender, is a Belgian association football club based in Denderleeuw. From the 2022–23 season, the club will be playing in the Challenger Pro Le ...

. He became popular quite quickly, and was even nicknamed ''

Biglia Biglia is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Biglia (1395–1435), Italian Augustinian humanist * Francesco Biglia (1587–1659), Italian Roman Catholic bishop * Giovanni Battista Biglia (1570–1617), Italian Roman Cath ...

'' by his coach Jean-Pierre Vande Velde. Even though Dender became

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Associa ...

champions in 2007, Persoons chose to sign for KV Mechelen who were also playing in Second Division. As KV Mechelen won the playoffs a few weeks later, they promoted toger with Dender to the highest level of Belgian football. Persoons retired from his playing career at the end of the 2021-22 season.

Post-playing Career

On 5 June 2022,

announced that Persoons had been appointed Head of Football for the club's youth setup,

Honours

Lokeren *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2012 Belgian Cup Final, 2011–12, 2014 Belgian Cup Final, 2013–14

References

External links

Koen Persoons player info at the official KV Mechelen website

Koen Persoons player info at sporza.be
* 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Aalst, Belgium Footballers from East Flanders Belgian men's footballers Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Men's association football midfielders F.C.V. Dender E.H. players K.V. Mechelen players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players K.V.K. Ninove players {{belgium-footy-midfielder-stub