Paul Van Himst
![]() Van Himst in 1973 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Paul Van Himst | ||
Date of birth | 2 October 1943 | ||
Place of birth | Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium | ||
Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
1951–1959 | Anderlecht | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1959–1975 | Anderlecht | 457 | (233) |
1975–1976 | Molenbeek | 21 | (1) |
1976–1977 | Eendracht Aalst | ||
National team | |||
1960–1974 | Belgium | 81 | (30) |
Teams managed | |||
1983–1986 | Anderlecht | ||
1987–1988 | Molenbeek | ||
1991–1996 | Belgium | ||
show
Honours | |||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Paul Van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a Belgian former football player and a football manager who played as a forward, most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht.
Career[]
Van Himst was nicknamed Polle Gazon (Polle is Paul in Brussels dialect, and Gazon means lawn in Dutch and French) due to the large number of fouls committed on him. In 1964, he played in the Belgium-Netherlands match alongside 10 Anderlecht players after the substitution of goalkeeper Delhasse by Jean-Marie Trappeniers.
Van Himst won the Belgian championship eight times, all of them with Anderlecht, the club for which he played his first professional season in 1959–60. With Anderlecht, he scored 233 goals in 457 matches (16 seasons). He then played for RWDM (another Brussels club) in 1975–76 and for Eendracht Aalst (then in the second division) in the following season.
Between 1960 and 1974, Van Himst scored 30 goals (in 81 matches) for the Belgian national team. This performance made him Belgium's second top scorer—along with Bernard Voorhoof—and the tenth most capped player for his country. He made his debut on 19 October 1960 in a match against Sweden and he was part of Belgium's team which qualified for the 1970 World Cup. Van Himst then helped Belgium reach third place at the Euro 1972. As a football manager, Van Himst worked notably for Anderlecht and the national team which he led to the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Awards[]
Van Himst holds the record of most Golden Shoe awards, having won it on four occasions. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was named the Golden Player of Belgium by the Belgian Football Association as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[1]
He has been an ambassador for the Belgian/South-African NGO "Born In Africa" since 2005.
Family[]
His wife, Arlette Neckebroeck, died on 4 December 2013.[2]
Filmography[]
- Escape to Victory (1981) - Michel Fileu - The Players: Belgium
- Max (1994) - Himself
Honours[]
Player[]
- Belgian First Division: 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1973–74
- Belgian Cup: 1964–65, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75
- Belgian League Cup: 1973, 1974
- Tournoi de Paris: 1964, 1966[5]
- Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: runner-up 1969–70
International
- UEFA European Championship: third place 1972[6]
Individual
- Belgian Golden Shoe: 1960, 1961, 1965, 1974[7]
- Belgian First Division top scorer: 1963–64 (26 goals), 1965–66 (25 goals), 1967–68 (20 goals)[8]
- Man of the Season (Belgian First Division): 1970–71[9]
- Former Belgium's Most Capped Player: 1973–1989 (81 caps)[10]
- Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 1974[11]
- Belgian Footballer of the 20th Century (1995)[12]
- Platina Eleven (Best Team in 50 Years of Golden Shoe Winners) (2003)[13]
- The Best Golden Shoe Team Ever (2011)[14]
- Ballon d'Or: 1964 (5th place),[15] 1965 (4th place)[16]
- Ballon d'Or nominations: 1963,[17] 1966,[18] 1967,[19] 1972[20]
- 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification: Group 1 top scorer (5 goals)
- 1966–67 European Cup: top scorer (six goals)[21]
- 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fair Cup: top scorer (ten goals)[21]
- UEFA Jubilee Awards (2003)[22]
Manager[]
Anderlecht[3]
- Belgian First Division: 1984–85
- Belgian Super Cup: 1985
- UEFA Cup: 1982–83; runner-up 1983–84
- Jules Pappaert Cup: 1985[23]
Individual
- Belgian Professional Manager of the Year: 1982–1983[24]
See also[]
- List of UEFA Cup winning managers
References[]
- ^ http://www.uefa.com/uefa/news/Kind=256/newsId=130150.html
- ^ "Paul Van Himste takes leave of his wife". Niewsblad.be. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "RSC Anderlecht | Palmares".
- ^ "Anderlecht | De Geschiedenis Van De Club".
- ^ "Tournois de Paris : une compétition opposant 4 clubs" (in French). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ^ "UEFA Euro 1972".
- ^ "Winnaars Gouden Schoen".
- ^ "Topscorer Eerste Klasse".
- ^ "Homme de la saison belge".
- ^ "Vertonghen wordt zevende recordinternational van de Rode Duivels".
- ^ "Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste".
- ^ "Soulier d'or belge du 20ème siècle".
- ^ UEFA.com (15 January 2004). "Aruna voted Belgium's finest | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- ^ "Het beste Gouden Schoen-elftal ooit".
- ^ "Ballon d'Or 1964".
- ^ "Ballon d'Or 1965".
- ^ "Ballon d'Or 1963".
- ^ "Ballon d'Or 1966".
- ^ "Ballon d'Or 1967".
- ^ "Ballon d'Or 1972".
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Paul Van Himst: 8 Titels, 4 Bekers, een resem goals en vooral ... 75 Jaar!".
- ^ "Belgium still bows to Van Himst".
- ^ "Jules Pappaert Cup".
- ^ "Palmares Profvoetballer van het Jaar".
External links[]
Media related to Paul Van Himst at Wikimedia Commons
- 1943 births
- Living people
- 1970 FIFA World Cup players
- 1994 FIFA World Cup managers
- Belgian football managers
- Belgian First Division A players
- Belgium international footballers
- Belgium national football team managers
- Flemish sportspeople
- People from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw
- R.W.D. Molenbeek managers
- R.W.D. Molenbeek players
- R.S.C. Anderlecht managers
- R.S.C. Anderlecht players
- S.C. Eendracht Aalst players
- UEFA Cup winning managers
- UEFA Euro 1972 players
- UEFA Golden Players
- Association football forwards
- Belgian footballers