Jurgen Vandeurzen (born 26 January 1974) is a former Belgian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Belgium apart from a two-year spell playing in England for Stoke City.[1]

Jurgen Vandeurzen
Personal information
Full name Jurgen Vandeurzen[1]
Date of birth (1974-01-26) 26 January 1974 (age 50)[1]
Place of birth Genk, Belgium[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1996 Genk 100 (3)
1996–1997 Overpelt-Fabriek 33 (9)
1997–1998 RFC Liège 29 (6)
1998–2001 Turnhout 113 (8)
2001–2003 Stoke City 52 (5)
2003 Dessel Sport 10 (0)
2003–2004 Patro Maasmechelen 51 (6)
2004–2006 Beringen-Heusden-Zolder 28 (2)
2006–2008 Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 68 (9)
2008–2009 KS Kermt-Hasselt 21 (0)
2009–2011 Bregel Sport
Total 505 (48)
Managerial career
2017–2020 Eendracht Louwel
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career edit

Vandeurzen made his debut for his local club Genk on 24 November 1991. A product of the club's youth teams, he is most often a replacement but nevertheless plays around thirty games during his first two seasons in professional football. From the 1993–94 season, Vandeurzen became a regular player in the Genk midfield.[2] Unfortunately for him and for his team, Genk finished in last position and was relegated to the Belgian Second Division.[3]

Vandeurzen remained loyal to his club after relegation but after one season, he lost his place in the Genk first team and, once promotion back to the Belgian First Division was achieved in 1995–96, he had to leave the club. He signed up with Second Division side Overpelt-Fabriek. After a catastrophic 1996–97 season, the club was relegated to the Belgian Third Division and Vandeurzen left for RFC Liège, where he has the tough task of succeeding Benoît Thans, who left for KVC Westerlo.[2] He spent the 1997–98 season with RFC Liège, playing 29 times, scoring six goals as the team finished in seventh position and at the end of the campaign he joined Turnhout.[2] Vandeurzen had three full seasons at Turnhout, playing over a hundred league games. Turnhout qualified each time for the promotion play-offs but were unable to secure a place in the First Division and were then relegated to the Third Division in 2000–01 after failing to secure a licence.[3]

Vandeurzen moved to English Second Division club Stoke City in the summer of 2001 becoming the club's first Belgian footballer.[4][1] He played a key role in 2001–02 playing in 48 matches scoring four goals as Stoke gained promotion to the second tier after beating Brentford 2–0 in the 2002 play-off final.[1] He played in 12 matches in 2002–03, scoring once in a 1–1 draw against Reading before being released in January 2003 where he returned to Belgium with Dessel Sport.[5][1]

He stayed six months in Dessel playing ten matches. At the end of the season, he signed a contract with Patro Maasmechelen, another second-tier side. Vandeurzen became a regular member of the team and missed only one match during the 2003–04 season.[2] He continued at the club but, because of his financial difficulties, he decided to leave in January 2005 and joined Beringen-Heusden-Zolder.[3] Unfortunately, the club was also experiencing financial problems the following season and a year after moving from Maasmechelen to Heusden, Vandeurzen goes the other way and returned to his old club, now renamed Patro Eisden Maasmechelen and relegated to the Belgian Fourth Division.[3] He remained two and a half years in the border town, without managing to go up to the Third Division. In September 2008, he joined KS Kermt-Hasselt and retired from playing semi-professional football at the end of the 2008–09 season.[2] He played at amateur level with Bregel Sport whilst also doing coaching at the club from 2009 to 2011.

Managerial career edit

Vandeurzen was head coach at Limburg Provincial League side Eendracht Louwel from November 2017 until February 2020.[6][7]

Career statistics edit

Source:[8][2]

Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Genk 1991–92 Belgian First Division 13 2 0 0 13 2
1992–93 Belgian First Division 15 0 1 0 16 0
1993–94 Belgian First Division 25 0 1 0 26 0
1994–95 Belgian Second Division 20 1 0 0 20 1
1995–96 Belgian Second Division 27 0 1 0 28 0
Total 100 3 3 0 103 3
Overpelt-Fabriek 1996–97 Belgian Second Division 33 9 1 1 34 10
RFC Liège 1997–98 Belgian Second Division 29 6 1 0 1 0 31 6
Turnhout 1998–99 Belgian Second Division 35 2 1 0 0 0 36 2
1999–2000 Belgian Second Division 39 3 2 0 0 0 41 3
2000–01 Belgian Second Division 39 3 3 0 0 0 42 3
Total 113 8 6 0 0 0 119 8
Stoke City 2001–02 Second Division 40 4 4 0 1 0 3[a] 0 48 4
2002–03 First Division 12 1 0 0 0 0 12 1
Total 52 5 4 0 1 0 3 0 60 5
Dessel Sport 2002–03 Belgian Second Division 10 0 0 0 10 0
Patro Maasmechelen 2003–04 Belgian Second Division 32 4 1 0 33 1
2004–05 Belgian Second Division 19 2 3 1 22 3
Total 51 6 4 1 55 7
Beringen-Heusden-Zolder 2004–05 Belgian Second Division 12 2 0 0 12 2
2005–06 Belgian Second Division 16 0 1 0 17 0
Total 28 2 1 0 29 2
Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 2005–06 Belgian Promotion Division 13 2 0 0 13 2
2006–07 Belgian Promotion Division 27 3 3 1 30 4
2007–08 Belgian Promotion Division 28 4 4 0 32 4
Total 68 9 7 1 75 10
KS Kermt-Hasselt 2008–09 Belgian Promotion Division 21 0 4 3 25 3
Career total 505 48 31 6 2 0 3 0 541 54
  1. ^ Appearances in Second Division play-offs

Honours edit

Stoke City

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Stoke City season review 2001–02 third time lucky for Stoke". The Sentinel. 31 May 2002.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Jurgen Vandeurzen". Belgian Soccer Database. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Belgium - Final Tables 1895-2008". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Jurgen stays at Stoke". BBC Sport. 20 November 2001. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Reading 1–1 Stoke". BBC Sport. 28 September 2002. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  6. ^ ""I'm really looking forward to it"". nieuwsblad.be. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Trainer left Eendacht Louwel". internetgazet.be. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  8. ^ Jurgen Vandeurzen at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)