Franky Van Der Elst

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See also François Van Der Elst, another Belgian footballer.

Personal information
Franky Van Der Elst
Date of birth	April 30, 1961 (age 45)
Place of birth	Opwijk, Belgium
Nickname	Fox
Playing position	Manager
Club information
Current club	none
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1978-1984 1984-1999	RWDM Club Brugge	104 (5) 465 (15)
National team
1982-1998	Belgium	86(1)
Teams managed
1999-2003 2003-2004	Germinal Beerschot Lokeren
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Franky Van Der Elst (born April 30, 1961 in Opwijk, Belgium) is a former football player and now manager. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Van Der Elst started his professional career at RWDM playing as a defensive midfielder. In 1982 he earned his first call up for Belgium. In 1984 he moved to Club Brugge and stayed there until he finished his career in 1999. He won the Golden Shoe twice in his career, which is quite remarkable for a defensive midfielder. He also appeared in four World Cups from 1986 to 1998. Van Der Elst never scored many goals, when he scored his scored his first and only goal for Belgium against Norway he could hardly believe it.

After his career as a player he was appointed as manager at Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen. After 4 relatively succesfull years he was replaced by Marc Brys. He joined Lokeren but only stayed one season. In 2005 he finally return to 'his' Club Brugge as an assistant. He joined his former teammates and good friends Jan Ceulemans, Marc Degryse, Dany Verlinden and Rene Verheyen. Van Der Elst stayed at Brugge when Verheyen and Ceulemans were fired in 2006. He eventually was fired in 2007 together with coach Emilio Ferrera.

He is viewed by many as one of Belgium's greatest football players ever and is a club legend with Club Brugge.

[edit] Trivia

Jean-Marie Pfaff once said about Van Der Elst: "If he controls the ball on his chest, the number on his back falls off", referring to Van Der Elst's physical appearance.

Preceded by Michel Preud'homme	Belgian Golden Shoe 1990	Succeeded by Marc Degryse
Preceded by Paul Okon	Belgian Golden Shoe 1996	Succeeded by Pär Zetterberg

	Belgium squad - 1986 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place
1 Pfaff \| 2 Gerets \| 3 F. Van Der Elst \| 4 De Wolf \| 5 Renquin \| 6 Vercauteren \| 7 Vandereycken \| 8 Scifo \| 9 Vandenbergh \| 10 Desmet \| 11 Ceulemans \| 12 Munaron \| 13 Grün \| 14 Clijsters \| 15 L. Van Der Elst \| 16 Claesen \| 17 Mommens \| 18 Veyt \| 19 Broos \| 20 Bodart \| 21 Demol \| 22 Vervoort \| Coach: Thys

	Belgium squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup
1 Preud'homme \| 2 Gerets \| 3 Albert \| 4 Clijsters \| 5 Versavel \| 6 Emmers \| 7 Demol \| 8 Van Der Elst \| 9 Degryse \| 10 Scifo \| 11 Ceulemans \| 12 Bodart \| 13 Grün \| 14 Claesen \| 15 De Sart \| 16 De Wolf \| 17 Plovie \| 18 Staelens \| 19 Van Der Linden \| 20 De Wilde \| 21 Wilmots \| 22 Vervoort \| Coach: Thys

	Belgium squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup
1 Preud'homme \| 2 Medved \| 3 Borkelmans \| 4 Albert \| 5 Smidts \| 6 Staelens \| 7 Van Der Elst \| 8 Nilis \| 9 Degryse \| 10 Scifo \| 11 Czerniatynski \| 12 De Wilde \| 13 Grün \| 14 De Wolf \| 15 Emmers \| 16 Boffin \| 17 Weber \| 18 Wilmots \| 19 Van Meir \| 20 Verlinden \| 21 Van Der Heyden \| 22 Renier \| Coach: Van Himst

	Belgium squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 De Wilde \| 2 Crasson \| 3 Staelens \| 4 Vidović \| 5 Borkelmans \| 6 Van Der Elst \| 7 Wilmots \| 8 Oliveira \| 9 M. Mpenza \| 10 Nilis \| 11 Van Kerckhoven \| 12 Vande Walle \| 13 Verlinden \| 14 Scifo \| 15 Clement \| 16 De Boeck \| 17 Verstraeten \| 18 Verheyen \| 19 Van Meir \| 20 E. Mpenza \| 21 Boffin \| 22 Deflandre \| Coach: Leekens