Glen De Boeck
|
De Boeck with Anderlecht in 2001 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 22 August 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Boom, Belgium | ||
| Date of death | 7 December 2025 (aged 54) | ||
| Place of death | Antwerp, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1979–1990 | FC Boom | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1992 | FC Boom | 35 | (1) |
| 1992–1995 | Mechelen | 93 | (5) |
| 1995–2005 | Anderlecht | 207 | (15) |
| Total | 335 | (20) | |
| International career | |||
| 1993–2002 | Belgium | 36 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2005–2007 | Anderlecht (assistant manager) | ||
| 2007–2010 | Cercle Brugge | ||
| 2010 | Germinal Beerschot | ||
| 2011 | VVV-Venlo | ||
| 2012–2013 | Waasland-Beveren | ||
| 2016 | Mouscron-Péruwelz | ||
| 2017–2018 | KV Kortrijk | ||
| 2019 | Lokeren | ||
| 2023 | KV Kortrijk | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Glen De Boeck (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣlɛn də ˈbuk]) (22 August 1971 – 7 December 2025) was a Belgian football manager and player. He was most recently in charge of Kortrijk in the Belgian Pro League after previously managing Cercle Brugge and Waasland-Beveren in the top flight, and Lokeren in the Belgian First Division B. During his career, he played as a central defender, mostly on the books of Anderlecht, with whom he won several league titles, and later was an assistant coach. De Boeck was part of the Belgian squad at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.[1]
Club career
De Boeck was born in Boom. He was trained as a player at the local FC Boom, where he made his debut at the age of 19 and immediately promoted with the team to the Belgian first division. After that promotion, he moved to KV Mechelen, where he would play 109 matches in three seasons.[2]
In the summer of 1995, he moved to Anderlecht. In the late 1990s, he was criticized by pundits, who claimed he was not good enough for Anderlecht. He eventually increased his technical performances to become one of the best defenders in the Belgian First Division in the early 2000s.[3]
Manager Aimé Antheunis was convinced of his intelligence and leadership abilities and appointed him captain of the team in 2001. With Anderlecht, he would ultimately win three national championships, the final one in 2004.[4]
In February 2005, De Boeck decided to end his career due to heavy knee injury. By then, Anderlecht had found another articulate player with leadership qualities, Vincent Kompany.[5]
Style of play
De Boeck was a rather static libero. His nickname among journalists was “the cathedral”. However, he was also intelligent, tactically and organizationally strong, and had good positional play.[3]
International career
De Boeck made his international debut with Belgium on 6 October 1993, against Gabon (a friendly), going on to represent his country at two World Cups, with three appearances combined. Although he had become a regular in the squad, he had to miss two matches at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea due to injuries. In total, he would play 36 matches for Belgium.[6]
Coaching career
De Boeck was directly snapped up by his last club Anderlecht to become an assistant manager, together with Daniel Renders.[7]
On 23 April 2007, it was revealed that De Boeck would become manager of first division side Cercle Brugge at the end of the 2006–07 season. He succeeded Harm Van Veldhoven, who had already chosen to leave for Germinal Beerschot. On 1 February 2008, the board of directors at Cercle declared De Boeck had signed a new contract until 2011, as he also became the football section's technical director, being made responsible for the further development of the football team. In March 2009, De Boeck denied K.R.C. Genk in signing him as their new coach. Instead he chose to stay with his current club Cercle Brugge.[8] He left Cercle in June 2010 and was named the manager of Germinal Beerschot who were looking for a successor to Jos Daerden who left to become an assistant coach at Dutch club Twente.[9]
On 30 November 2010, after continuous bad results and disagreements on the management board, he was fired as coach from Germinal Beerschot.[10]
At the start of the 2011–12 season De Boeck was appointed the new manager of VVV-Venlo, but halfway through the season on 6 December 2011, following a 7–0 defeat to Heracles Almelo, he resigned as manager of VVV-Venlo. In November 2012 he signed for Waasland-Beveren, but was released one year later.[11]
After spells at Mouscron-Péruwelz, Kortrijk and Lokeren, De Boeck became a prominent expert on Belgian television before being re-appointed Kortrijk coach on 26 September 2023 in place of Edward Still, with the club lying bottom of the Belgian Pro League, without a win in their first eight games in the season.[12]
Death
De Boeck died in Antwerp on 7 December 2025, at the age of 54. He had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage at home on 6 December, after which he went into a deep coma, from which he did not recover.[13] The following weekend, an impressive tribute was paid in various Belgian stadiums for the suddenly deceased former international.[14]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Other[b] | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Boom | 1990–91 | Belgian Second Division | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1991–92 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 35 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 37 | 1 | ||||
| KV Mechelen | 1992–93 | Belgian First Division | 33 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | 4[c] | 1 | 39 | 5 | |
| 1993–94 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 6[c] | 1 | 39 | 2 | |||
| 1994–95 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 93 | 4 | 6 | 1 | – | 10 | 2 | 109 | 7 | |||
| Anderlecht | 1995–96 | Belgian First Division | 21 | 2 | 3 | 1 | – | 0[d] | 0 | 24 | 3 | |
| 1996–97 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 3[c] | 0 | 14 | 0 | |||
| 1997–98 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 4[c] | 1 | 36 | 5 | ||
| 1998–99 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 4[c] | 1 | 31 | 3 | |||
| 1999–2000 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 5[c] | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2000–01 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 14[g] | 0 | 44 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 9[g] | 4 | 33 | 5 | ||
| 2002–03 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 0 | – | 8[c] | 0 | 36 | 3 | |||
| 2003–04 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 2[g] | 0 | 16 | 2 | |||
| 2004–05 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 3[g] | 0 | 11 | 1 | |||
| Total | 207 | 15 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 6 | 281 | 23 | ||
| Career total | 335 | 20 | 26 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 62 | 8 | 427 | 31 | ||
- ^ Includes Belgian Cup
- ^ Includes Belgian League Cup, Belgian Super Cup
- ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in UEFA Cup
- ^ UEFA Champions League qualification
- ^ a b Appearances in Belgian League Cup
- ^ a b Appearances in Belgian Super Cup
- ^ a b c d Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 1993 | 1 | 0 |
| 1995 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 7 | 1 | |
| Total | 36 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 May 2002 | Parc des Princes, Paris | France | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
Honours
Player
Anderlecht[18]
- Belgian First Division: 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04
- Belgian Cup: runners-up 1996–97[19]
- Belgian Super Cup: 2000, 2001
- Belgian League Cup: 2000[20]
- Belgian Sports Team of the Year: 2000[21]
- Jules Pappaert Cup: 2000, 2001[22]
Belgium
Manager
Cercle Brugge
- Belgian Cup: runners-up 2009–10[24]
References
- ^ Ex-voetballer en -trainer Glen De Boeck (54) onverwacht overleden na hersenbloeding (in Dutch)
- ^ "In memoriam: Glen De Boeck — Een donderslag bij heldere hemel". rsca.be/ (in Dutch). 8 December 2025.
- ^ a b Collin, François (8 December 2025). "Glen De Boeck (54) overleden". dewitteduivel.com (in Dutch).
- ^ "Vooral het jaar 2000 was een Grand Cru: het palmares van Glen De Boeck". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 8 December 2025.
- ^ "De Boeck: het Belgische voetbal in rouw". goldenpalacenews.be (in Dutch). 8 December 2025.
- ^ "IN MEMORIAM GLEN DE BOECK (1971–2025)". rbfa.be (in Dutch). 8 December 2025.
- ^ "Glen De Boeck, succesvolle voetballer en omstreden trainer met een woelig privéleven". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 8 December 2025.
- ^ "Glen de Boeck: "Ik zie me nog vijf jaar bij Cercle Brugge"".
- ^ "Rust zacht, Glen De Boeck". cerclebrugge.be. 8 December 2025.
- ^ "Glen De Boeck op 54-jarige leeftijd overleden". beerschot.be (in Dutch). 8 December 2025.
- ^ "Voormalig VVV-Venlo-trainer Glen de Boeck op 54-jarige leeftijd overleden". vvv-venlo.nl/ (in Dutch). 8 December 2025.
- ^ "Het laatste HUMO-interview met Glen De Boeck: 'Ik had geen lichaam voor topsport. Mijn lijf is versleten, ik leef elke dag met pijn'". HUMO (in Dutch). 6 December 2023.
- ^ "Voormalig Rode Duivel en trainer Glen De Boeck (54) overleden na hersenbloeding". De Standaard (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 December 2025.
- ^ "Indrukwekkend eerbetoon voor plotseling overleden voormalig international Glen De Boeck (54) in België". telegraaf.nl (in Dutch). 14 December 2025.
- ^ "Glen De Boeck " Club matches". national-football-teams.net.
- ^ "De Boeck". anderlechtshirts.com (in Dutch). 12 August 2023.
- ^ "Glen DE BOECK - Footballer stats by year". eu-football.info. 11 January 2024.
- ^ "RSC Anderlecht | Palmares".
- ^ "Anderlecht en de beker: geen successtory".
- ^ "Anderlecht wint de Ligabeker".
- ^ "Rode Duivels Ploeg van het Jaar".
- ^ "Jules Pappaert Cup". October 2018.
- ^ FIFA.com. "Belgium honoured with the FIFA Fair Play Award". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "De Vereniging | Geschiedenis". Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
External links
- Cercle Brugge profile Archived 4 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch)
- Glen De Boeck at IMDb