Paul Van Himst

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.

Paul Van Himst
Van Himst with Anderlecht in 1973
Personal information
Full name Paul Van Himst
Date of birth (1943-10-02) 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
International career
1960–1974 Belgium 81 (30)
Managerial career
1983–1986 Anderlecht
1987–1988 Molenbeek
1991–1996 Belgium
Honours
Representing  Belgium
UEFA European Championship
Bronze medal – third place1972 Belgium
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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.

Van Himst on a Ras al-Khaimah stamp, 1972

Family

His wife, Arlette Neckebroeck, died on 4 December 2013.[1]

Van Himst in 2016

Filmography

Honours and 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.[2]

He has been an ambassador for the Belgian/South-African NGO "Born In Africa" since 2005.

In 2009, Van Himst became honorary citizen of Dilbeek.[3]

Player

Anderlecht[4][5]

International

Individual

Manager

Anderlecht[4]

Individual

See also

References
  1. "Paul Van Himste takes leave of his wife". Niewsblad.be. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  2. "uefa.com-UEFA-News & Features-News Specific". Archived from the original on 12 March 2004.
  3. "Kums in de voetsporen van Van Himst". Sport.be (in Dutch). 5 March 2016.
  4. "RSC Anderlecht | Palmares".
  5. "Anderlecht | De Geschiedenis Van De Club".
  6. "Tournois de Paris : une compétition opposant 4 clubs" (in French). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  7. "UEFA Euro 1972".
  8. "Winnaars Gouden Schoen".
  9. "Topscorer Eerste Klasse".
  10. "Ballon d'Or 1964".
  11. "Ballon d'Or 1965".
  12. "Ballon d'Or 1963".
  13. "Ballon d'Or 1966".
  14. "Ballon d'Or 1967".
  15. "Ballon d'Or 1972".
  16. "Paul Van Himst: 8 Titels, 4 Bekers, een resem goals en vooral ... 75 Jaar!".
  17. "Homme de la saison belge".
  18. "Vertonghen wordt zevende recordinternational van de Rode Duivels".
  19. "Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste".
  20. "Soulier d'or belge du 20ème siècle".
  21. "The Best x Players of the Century/All-Time". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  22. "IFFHS History: Europe - The Player of the Century (1900-1999)". www.iffhs.com.
  23. UEFA.com (15 January 2004). "Aruna voted Belgium's finest | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  24. "Belgium still bows to Van Himst".
  25. "Het beste Gouden Schoen-elftal ooit".
  26. "La Dernière Heure | Het Beste Elftal Aller Tijden".
  27. "IFFHS All Time Belgium Dream Team". www.iffhs.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  28. "Jules Pappaert Cup".
  29. "Palmares Profvoetballer van het Jaar".

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