Golden

James Kelly

Description

In 2018, the Belgian national football team finished third in the FIFA World Cup and reached number one in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's Rankings. With a squad boasting the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku they possess some of the world's best players. However, such success is more than a flash in the pan. This generation is just the latest wave of talent the nation has produced. The first book of its kind in English, Golden: Why Belgian Football is More Than One Generation is the definitive story of football in Belgium. It relives the sport's growth and the European glories of Belgian clubs, charting their untold triumphs against the biggest names. It dives into the recent production of world-class players in its academies, amid the murkiness of financial irregularities and match-fixing. It tells the tale of how a nation with a population of under 12 million has continued to make its mark on world football.

Sujets

• Belgium

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 23 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801502696
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2022
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
James Kelly, 2022
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Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801501057
eBook ISBN 9781801502696
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Contents
Acknowledgements
The English Football Pub
1. Origins
2. Purple
3. Le Football Champagne
4. Roger the Shame
5. Elvis
6. The Austrian
7. The Mystic and the Snake
8. Bewildered
9. Tainted Glory
10. Heysel
11. A Summer in Toluca
12. Malinwa
13. Enzo
14. Que Sera, Sera
15. Jean-Marc
16. The Fall
17. A New Approach
18. Failure?
Appendix
Bibliography
Photos
For my parents. To Mum, for enduring hours of me attempting to read Mr Big and the flat tyre , and to Dad, for constantly reminding me he wrote a book when he was my age. Granted, this one isn t about industrial democracy, but I hope it ll do.
Belgium is divided into three regions: bilingual Brussels-Capital, Dutch speaking Flanders (Antwerp, East West Flanders, Flemish Brabant and Limburg) and French speaking Wallonia (Hainaut, Li ge, Luxembourg, Namur and Walloon Brabant).
Acknowledgements
THERE ARE many people without whom this book would simply not have been possible.
First off, I have to thank Jane Camillin, and all the team at Pitch who backed the project and have helped it become the tangible copy you re holding in your hands today. Also a massive thanks to Duncan Olner for the front cover and coping with my pedantic requests.
A big thank you to all the players and coaches who took time to speak with me. In alphabetical order they are Bob Browaeys, Bob Peeters, Eddy Snelders, Filip De Wilde, Georges Leekens, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Koen Daerden, Lee Martin, Michel Sablon and Piet den Boer. I also extend warm gratitude to Dieter Peeters and Stefan Van Loock from the Royal Belgian FA, and Joost Hendrickx from Standard Li ge s academy.
Next to the journalists who regaled me with their rich anecdotes and experiences of Belgian football across the decades, in particular Fran ois Colin, Yves Taildeman, Patrick Stein, Jarno Bertho, Sven Claes, Michael Van Vaerenbergh and John Chapman.
I m also grateful to the many fans and club officials (in many cases who morphed into one) who enlightened me with such passion and knowledge that I found infectious. It is impossible to list them all, but a special thanks to: David Steegen (Anderlecht), Bob Dejongh, Hans Bressinck, Joost Houtman and Thomas Slembrouck (Antwerp), Danny Geerts and Koen Frans (Beerschot), Robin Beck (Beveren), Glenn Bogaert and Karel De Meester (Club Brugge), Arne Geusens and Tim-Oliver Metz (Genk), Carlo Schoeters (Lierse), Davy Vandevinne, Mark Uytterhoeven and Nicolas Vlaeminck (KV Mechelen), Fred Willems (Racing Mechelen), Marc Coudijzer and Mario Bronckaerts (Standard Li ge) and Nick Van Honste (STVV).
Next I extend my special gratitude to Zulte-Waregem fan Jerry Lagaisse for his hospitality, Jan-Willem Bult for his Dutch perspective, and to Mitchell. Adrian Killen, Paul Moran and Steven Scragg were also a massive help regarding matches of Belgian clubs against Liverpool, as was Rob Francis with his stories from following the Red Devils across Europe.
A massive thank you is reserved for Kurt Deswert, without whom the initial two chapters would not have been possible. Similarly to Professor Jean-Michel De Waele for taking the time to explain the history of Belgium, despite its complexities.
On a personal level, thanks to Ben, Joris and Scott at The Belgian Football Podcast , who soundtracked many a train journey while I was living in the Lowlands.
I d also like to pay tribute to all my friends who have shown patience in enduring my truly dreadful correspondence over the period of writing this. A special thanks to those who came to keep me company in Ghent, namely Alex, Doug, Elliot and Henry for that Lebanese meal, Jack for accompanying me through a rainstorm in Ostend and Saul for enlightening me on the life of B la Bartok.
Introduction
The English Football Pub
SO, WHAT is the point in Belgium?
In retrospect, the question I posed to the young woman from Waterloo was rather poorly phrased.
Had this conversation taken place at a different time and place, rather than during happy hour in Milan s English Football Pub , I would definitely have put it more eloquently. From what I now understand, Belgians get this a lot. Given I grew up on the English-Welsh border, I should have known better. I appreciate how irritating persistent questions about sheep can become.
However, crudeness aside, my intrigue was genuine. Belgium has always struck me as an odd country. It s bordered by both France and the Netherlands, and it speaks French and Dutch. Why does it exist?
My choice to live in Ghent and Li ge in the process of writing this book did little to answer that question. Dutch is the spoken language in Ghent, and yet it is closer to Lille than Amsterdam. Meanwhile, Li ge is the cultural centre of the French area, despite being just 20km from the border with the Netherlands. It is all rather confusing.
In extremely simple modern terms, Belgium first came to exist in 1790 after the Brabant Revolution of the previous year against Austrian rule. Creating the United States of Belgium, such autonomy was short-lived as within 12 months it had been brought back under the control of the Austrian Netherlands. Continuing a tumultuous decade, it was then invaded by Napoleon Bonaparte and annexed into the French Republic in 1795.
After Napoleon s defeat at Waterloo in 1815, the Austrian Netherlands became part of the newly formed United Kingdom of the Netherlands. However, this failed to stem the issues. Dutch king Willem I s despotic attempts to make Dutch the language of government annoyed French speakers. Furthermore, the king was a Protestant, while the vast majority of people in the south were Catholic. In 1830 a revolution led to the creation of an independent Belgium, which encompasses most of the country we know today.
This nation is divided into three regions: Flanders in the north, Brussels-Capital in the middle and Wallonia to the south. There are also three communities, which roughly correlate to the regions. The Flemish community live in Flanders, the French community in Wallonia, and there is also a small German-speaking area in the far east of Wallonia, which is a by-product of the Treaty of Versailles.
Speaking of languages, Belgium officially has three, split into four language areas . In Flanders they speak Dutch, French is the vernacular in Wallonia, while in the German-speaking community they unsurprisingly speak German. Brussels-Capital is officially bilingual; however, you hear far more French spoken than Dutch as you wander around.
Historically, Wallonia was the more economically powerful area of Belgium, being home to huge reserves of coal and steel. One of the first places in Europe to industrialise, it was once described by Karl Marx as the paradise of capitalism . Unsurprisingly, French influence translated into the government.
During the research of this book I spoke to Professor Jean-Michel De Waele of Universit libre de Bruxelles, and felt it essential to include this extract of our conversation, as it explains a lot about Belgium in a short summary.
He told me, French-speaking people governed the country for 100 years, 150 years, totally. You had no Flemish university; the law was not translated in Flemish. In Flanders it was small peasants and the church. You had a working class in Wallonia, you also had a labour party in Wallonia. And then you have two countries.
Step by step after the First World War, the Flemish government grew up and you have a university, bilingual translation of the law, etc. Flanders, they have the majority of the country, that is the crazy situation; the majority is poor and has no power. In the elite, nobody speaks Flemish [Dutch spoken within Flanders], Flemish is a language for peasants, for people without any importance in the society.
But after the Second World War, the old industry begins to decline, and we built new industry in Flanders. Then we have a very quick change, the old poor became very rich, and the old rich became very poor. Now Wallonia is very poor, the unemployment is incredible. Today Flanders is one of the richest regions in Europe. Step by step Flemish elite arrived into power and governed the country. They are rich, they are the majority, they know the history, and they feel they must take revenge against French-speaking people.
Now [today] you have a very strong independence movement in Flanders, also and very importantly an extreme right movement. It is not racist but it is very populist because they say, OK, independence for Flanders will resolve everything for our people, French-speaking people don t like work, they take drugs. It s an absolutely incredible view but they win elections.
When you see the electoral votes, Wallonia vote on the left, and when you see the liberals in the French-speaking party, it is a centre-left party. The north, the Flemish, vote for the right, and sometimes the extreme right. And if you see their li