Jurgen Vandeurzen

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 nameJurgen Vandeurzen[1]
Date of birth (1974-01-26) 26 January 1974 (age 50)[1]
Place of birthGenk, Belgium[1]
Position(s)Midfielder
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1991–1996Genk100(3)
1996–1997Overpelt-Fabriek33(9)
1997–1998RFC Liège29(6)
1998–2001Turnhout113(8)
2001–2003Stoke City52(5)
2003Dessel Sport10(0)
2003–2004Patro Maasmechelen51(6)
2004–2006Beringen-Heusden-Zolder28(2)
2006–2008Patro Eisden Maasmechelen68(9)
2008–2009KS Kermt-Hasselt21(0)
2009–2011Bregel Sport
Total505(48)
Managerial career
2017–2020Eendracht Louwel
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

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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

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

Career statistics

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Source:[8][2]

ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Genk1991–92Belgian First Division13200132
1992–93Belgian First Division15010160
1993–94Belgian First Division25010260
1994–95Belgian Second Division20100201
1995–96Belgian Second Division27010280
Total1003301033
Overpelt-Fabriek1996–97Belgian Second Division339113410
RFC Liège1997–98Belgian Second Division2961010316
Turnhout1998–99Belgian Second Division3521000362
1999–2000Belgian Second Division3932000413
2000–01Belgian Second Division3933000423
Total113860001198
Stoke City2001–02Second Division40440103[a]0484
2002–03First Division1210000121
Total525401030605
Dessel Sport2002–03Belgian Second Division10000100
Patro Maasmechelen2003–04Belgian Second Division32410331
2004–05Belgian Second Division19231223
Total51641557
Beringen-Heusden-Zolder2004–05Belgian Second Division12200122
2005–06Belgian Second Division16010170
Total28210292
Patro Eisden Maasmechelen2005–06Belgian Promotion Division13200132
2006–07Belgian Promotion Division27331304
2007–08Belgian Promotion Division28440324
Total689717510
KS Kermt-Hasselt2008–09Belgian Promotion Division21043253
Career total50548316203054154

Honours

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Stoke City

References

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  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)