Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Wilfried van Moer | ||
Date of birth | 1 March 1945 | ||
Place of birth | Beveren, Belgium | ||
Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||
Playing position | Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1964–1965 | Beveren | ||
1965–1968 | Antwerp | 77 | (14) |
1968–1976 | Standard de Liège | 170 | (24) |
1976–1980 | Beringen | 53 | (7) |
1980–1982 | Beveren | 50 | (6) |
1982–1984 | Sint-Truiden | ||
National team | |||
1966–1982 | Belgium | 57 | (9) |
Teams managed | |||
1996 | Belgium | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Wilfried van Moer (born 1 March 1945, Beveren-Waas) is a former Belgian football player who won the Belgian Golden Shoe three times, first in 1966 while at Antwerp then in 1969 and in 1970 while at Standard Liège.
Prior to 1966 Van Moer played with Beveren. He went back to his first club after a spell at Beringen in the early 1980s.
He played 57 times and scored 9 goals for the national team between 1966 and 1982, starting in a 1-0 friendly win against Switzerland on 22 October 1966. Van Moer was in the team for the 1970 and 1982 World Cups and for the Euro 1980 in which Belgium finished second.
Van Moer began with home town club (Beveren-Waas), then in the third tier of the Belgian League. A move to Royal Antwerp in 1965 was influenced not only by a chance to play in the 1st Division, but by the fact he was already working in that city as an electrician. He made his debut for the club in August 1965 against Union Saint-Gilloise. At the end of '66 he won his first Golden Shoe Award, having won his first international cap earlier that year.
It was during his 3 years at Antwerp under the guidance of coach Harry Game, that Van Moer, against his wishes, was moved from a wide right role to central midfield, preparing him to eventually succeed to another of Belgium's most celebrated players Jef Jurion, in the national team.
Following relegation for Antwerp in 1968, a protracted move to Standard Liège ensued, Van Moer resisting the interest of 1. FC Köln to remain in Belgium, and also Club Brugge KV, with whom he had made a personal agreement. The 150,000 Euros fee for the now established international was at the time a Belgian record.