Franky Van der Elst (born 30 April 1961) 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 ...

who played as 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 ...

. He later worked as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. During a 21-year professional career he played mainly with Club Brugge, being regarded as a legend there and briefly coaching the team in the 2000s. Also, he was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers, in March 2004. Van der Elst won 86

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Belgium national team, representing the country in four

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and retiring at nearly 40 years of age.

Playing career

Born in

Ninove Ninove () is a city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is situated on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Ninove proper and since the 1976 merger ...

, Van der Elst started his professional career at R.W.D. Molenbeek, earning his first call-up 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 ...

in 1982. Two years later, he moved to

Club Brugge KV (), 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.

and stayed there until he finished his career in 1999, going on to total over 500 overall appearances with the side (466 in

the league ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

alone); during four seasons, he often partnered in midfield his namesake Leo – no relation. Van der Elst won the Golden Shoe twice in his career, an accomplishment for an eminently defensive-minded player. He also appeared in four

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s from

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

to 1998, only scoring once for his country in nearly 90 matches, in a 2–2 friendly draw against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

on 25 March 1998.

Coaching career

After retiring at the age of 38, Van der Elst was appointed as manager at

K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

. After four relatively successful years he was replaced by Marc Brys, and subsequently joined

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 ...

. In 2005, Van der Elst returned to 'his' Club Brugge, as an assistant, joining former teammates – both in club and country –

Jan Ceulemans Jan Anna Gumaar Ceulemans (; born 28 February 1957) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, Ceulemans was known for his stamina, aerial ability and technique. He was also known ...

Marc Degryse Marc Gabriel Degryse (born 4 September 1965), nicknamed ''Le Lutin d'Ardooie'' ("The Imp of Ardooie") and ''The Little One'',Dany Verlinden Daniël 'Dany' Verlinden (born 15 August 1963) is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Often referred to as ''De Muur'' ("the wall"), he spent most of his career at Club Brugge, having played into his 40s. Dany ...

and

René Verheyen René Verheyen (born 20 March 1952) is a retired Belgian football midfielder. Club career During his active career he played for Lokeren (1974–1982), Club Brugge (1983–1987) and K.A.A. Gent (1987–1988). He has since his retirement work ...

. He remained with the team when Verheyen and Ceulemans were fired in 2006, but was eventually shown the door the following year, with head coach

Emilio Ferrera Emilio Ferrera (born 19 June 1967 in Schaerbeek) is a Belgian football manager and former player, who is currently managing the U21 squad of Gent. His last former club was OH Leuven in the Belgian First Division B. Before he also worked at G ...

. After a very short spell with

FC Brussels Racing White Daring Molenbeek Brussels F.C., often simply referred to as RWDM Brussels, F.C. Brussels or simply Brussels was a Belgian association football club based in the municipality of Molenbeek in the Brussels Capital-Region. They last pl ...

, Van der Elst moved to K.V.S.K. United Overpelt-Lommel, both clubs in the second level.

Career statistics

Club

Honours and awards

Club Brugge *

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 ...

: 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1995–96, 1997–98 *

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 ...

: List of Belgian Cup finals, 1985–86, 1990–91 Belgian Cup, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1995–96 * Belgian Supercup: 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 *

Bruges Matins The Matins of Bruges ( nl, Brugse Metten) was the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges and their supporters, a political faction in favour of French rule, on 18 May 1302 by the members of the local Flemish militia. It has been ...

: 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998 *

Amsterdam Tournament The Amsterdam Tournament ( nl, Amsterdam Toernooi) was a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition was hosted by Eredivisie club Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as the A ...

: 1990 *

Jules Pappaert Cup Trophy Jules Pappaert or Pappaert cup is a Belgian football trophy since 1953 and is awarded annually to a club in the first, second or third division of the Belgian Pro League with the longest uninterrupted series of unbeaten games. The award is ...

: 1991, 1995 Belgium *

: fourth place

Individual * FIFA World Cup participations:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, 1998 *

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 ...

: 1990, 1996 * Belgian Fair Play Award: 1997 *

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fo ...

: 2004 * The Best Golden Shoe Team: 2011 * A song ''Oh Franky'' by

Raymond van het Groenewoud Raymond van het Groenewoud (born 14 February 1950) is a Belgian musician. He was born in Schaerbeek, of Dutch descent, and he sings primarily in Dutch. His biggest hits include "Vlaanderen Boven", "Meisjes", "Je Veux de l'Amour", "Zjoske Schone M ...

: 1994 * Honorary citizen of

Roosdaal Roosdaal () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Borchtlombeek, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek, Pamel and Strijtem. It is also situated in the Pajottenland. On January 1, 2016 ...

: 2019

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Der Elst, Franky 1961 births Living people Flemish sportspeople Belgian footballers Association football midfielders Belgian First Division A players R.W.D. Molenbeek players Club Brugge KV players Belgium international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Belgian football managers Beerschot A.C. managers K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen managers K.S.V. Roeselare managers K.V. Oostende managers FIFA 100 Lommel S.K. managers Club Brugge KV non-playing staff