Victor Mees (26 January 1927 – 11 November 2012), nicknamed Vic or Vicky, was 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 ...

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 all of his career at

Royal 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 ...

Club career

Mees was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. He made his first team debut at the age of 17, just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Mees, who had become a leader of the team, won its first

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

title in 1957, having won the

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 ...

two years before.

International career

Known as a gentleman footballer, Mees was at the time a pillar of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

. In total, Mees made 68 appearances and he played in the 1954 World Cup.

Awards

He won the

Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...

in 1956 while at Antwerp. In 2002, he was voted Antwerp player of the century.Ex-Rode Duivel Vic Mees (85) overleden
- Gazet van Antwerpen

Honours

Player

Royal Antwerp *

Belgian First Division 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 ...

: 1956–57 *

: List of Belgian Cup finals, 1954–55

Individual

: 1956 * Royal Antwerp Player of the Century (2002) * Belgium national football team records and statistics#General, Former Belgium's Most Capped Player: 1958–1973 (68 caps)

References

External links

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Profile
- FC Antwerp 1927 births 2012 deaths Footballers from Antwerp Belgian footballers Belgium international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Belgian Pro League players Association football midfielders {{Belgium-footy-midfielder-stub