Marc Degryse

Marc Gabriel Degryse (born 4 September 1965), nicknamed Le Lutin d'Ardooie ("The Lutin/Imp of Ardooie") and The Little One,^[1] is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a forward.

Marc Degryse

Personal information
Full name	Marc Gabriel Degryse
Date of birth	(1965-09-04) 4 September 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth	Roeselare, Belgium
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	VC Ardooie
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1983–1989	Club Brugge	179	(95)
1989–1995	Anderlecht	170	(66)
1995–1996	Sheffield Wednesday	34	(8)
1996–1998	PSV	31	(4)
1998–1999	Gent	29	(10)
1999–2002	Germinal Beerschot	97	(26)
Total		540	(209)
International career
1981	Belgium U16	10	(2)
1981	Belgium U17	3	(0)
1982–1984	Belgium U18	9	(2)
1983–1984	Belgium U19	7	(6)
1985–1987	Belgium U21	4	(0)
1984–1996	Belgium	63	(23)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

In a 19-year professional career he played mainly for Club Brugge and Anderlecht (six seasons apiece), making his senior debuts at 17 and scoring nearly 200 official goals both clubs combined to win a total of ten major titles. He also competed briefly in England for Sheffield Wednesday.

A Belgium international for 12 years, Degryse represented the nation in two World Cups.

Club career

Born in Roeselare, West Flanders, Degryse played with equal success in the Belgian Pro League with giants Club Brugge and Anderlecht, moving to the latter in 1989 for a then-record €2.25 million^[1] and proceeding to win five national championships combined, three in a row.

He moved for £1.5 million to Sheffield Wednesday in the 1995 summer,^[2] but left after just one season as an important unit in helping the English club's eventual escape from relegation, after a 15th-place finish. During his time in South Yorkshire, he and teammate Orlando Trustfull had a cameo role in Sheffield-based film The Full Monty, but the scenes did not make the final cut.

In the following two campaigns Degryse played in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven, where he often struggled with injuries. He retired in 2002 at the age of nearly 37, after spells back in his country with K.A.A. Gent and Germinal Beerschot, having played 540 professional matches and scored 209 goals.

Degryse returned to Club Brugge as a technical director the following year,^[3][4] before he eventually resigned due to bad results in late January 2007, alongside longtime former teammate, coach Franky Van der Elst.

International career

On the international level, Degryse played 63 matches with the Belgium national team and scored 23 goals. He was summoned for the squads at two FIFA World Cups: 1990 and 1994, netting twice in seven games.^[5]

Degryse's debut came just one day after his 19th birthday, in a friendly with Argentina.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total		Ref
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Club Brugge	1983–84	20	9	2	0	—		—		—		22	9	[6]
	1984–85	34	21	4	0	—		4	1	—		42	22	[6]
	1985–86	31	16	8	4	—		3	0	—		42	20	[6]
	1986–87	32	15	4	0	—		2	0	—		38	15	[6]
	1987–88	34	22	3	2	—		10	0	—		47	24	[6]
	1988–89	28	12	5	1	—		2	0	—		35	13	[6]
	Total	179	95	26	7	—		21	1	—		226	103	[6]
Anderlecht	1989–90	31	18	5	4	—		9	4	—		45	26	[7]
	1990–91	32	12	3	2	—		7	0	—		42	14	[7]
	1991–92	28	5	2	0	—		9	4	—		39	9	[7]
	1992–93	32	11	4	1	—		5	2	—		41	14	[7]
	1993–94	19	9	3	2	—		3	0	—		25	11	[7]
	1994–95	28	11	5	2	—		4	0	—		37	13	[7]
	Total	170	66	22	11	—		37	10	—		229	87	[7]
Sheffield Wednesday	1995–96	34	8	1	0	3	4	—		—		38	12	[8]
PSV	1996–97	23	3	—		—		3	0	1	2	27	5	[9]
	1997–98	8	1	2	0	—		3	0	1	0	14	1	[9]
	Total	31	4	2	0	—		6	0	2	2	41	6	[9]
Gent	1998–99	29	10	—		—		—		—		29	10	[10]
Germinal Beerschot	1999–2000	31	10	—		—		—		—		31	10	[10]
	2000–01	33	8	—		—		—		—		33	8	[10]
	2001–02	33	8	—		—		—		—		33	8	[10]
	Total	97	26	—		—		—		—			26	[10]
Career total		540	209	51	18	3	4	64	11	2	2		244	[10]

International

^[11]

Country	Season	Competitive		Friendlies		Total		Ref
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Belgium	1984–85	1	0	1	0	2	0
	1985–86	1	0	—		1	0
	1986–87	—		—		—
	1987–88	3	1	4	1	7	2
	1988–89	3	2	2	1	5	3
	1989–90	7	2	6	3	13	5
	1990–91	3	1	2	0	5	1
	1991–92	4	1	2	0	6	1
	1992–93	6	1	—		6	1
	1993–94	3	1	3	4	6	5
	1994–95	6	4	—		6	4
	1995–96	2	0	1	0	3	0
	1996–97	3	1	—		3	1
Career total		42	14	21	9	63	23

Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Degryse goal.

List of international goals scored by Marc Degryse

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	11 November 1987	Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Luxembourg	2–0	3–0	Euro 1988 qualifying
2	19 January 1988	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	Israel	1–0	3–2	Friendly
3	29 April 1989	Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Czechoslovakia	1–0	2–1	1990 World Cup qualification
4				2–1
5	8 June 1989	Terry Fox, Ottawa, Canada	Canada	2–0	2–0	Friendly
6	23 August 1989	Olympiastadion, Bruges, Belgium	Denmark	1–0	3–0	Friendly
7	11 October 1989	St. Jakob, Basel, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–1	2–2	1990 World Cup qualification	[12]
8	2 June 1990	Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Mexico	1–0	3–0	Friendly	[13]
9				2–0
10	12 June 1990	Marcantonio Bentegodi, Verona, Italy	South Korea	1–0	2–0	1990 FIFA World Cup	[14]
11	27 March 1991	Constant Vanden Stock, Brussels, Belgium	Wales	1–0	1–1	Euro 1992 qualifying
12	11 September 1991	Neie Stadium, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2–0	2–0	Euro 1992 qualifying
13	18 November 1992	Constant Vanden Stock, Brussels, Belgium	Wales	2–0	2–0	1994 World Cup qualification
14	4 June 1994	Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Zambia	3–0	9–0	Friendly	[15]
15				4–0
16				8–0
17	8 June 1994	Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Hungary	2–0	3–1	Friendly
18	19 June 1994	Citrus Bowl, Orlando, United States	Morocco	1–0	1–0	1994 World Cup	[16]
19	7 September 1994	Constant Vanden Stock, Brussels, Belgium	Armenia	2–0	2–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
20	12 October 1994	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1–0	1–3	Euro 1996 qualifying
21	17 December 1994	Constant Vanden Stock, Brussels, Belgium	Spain	1–0	1–4	Euro 1996 qualifying	[17]
22	29 March 1995	Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Spain	1–1	1–1	Euro 1996 qualifying	[18]
23	31 August 1996	King Baudouin, Brussels, Belgium	Turkey	1–0	2–1	1998 World Cup qualification	[19]

Honours

Club Brugge^[20]

• Belgian First Division: 1987–88
• Belgian Cup: 1985–86
• Belgian Super Cup: 1986
• Bruges Matins: 1984^[21]

Anderlecht^[22]

• Belgian First Division: 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95
• Belgian Cup: 1993–94
• Belgian Super Cup: 1993
• European Cup Winners' Cup: runner-up 1989–90^[23]

PSV^[24]

• Eredivisie: 1996–97
• Johan Cruyff Shield: 1996, 1997
• KNVB Cup: runner-up 1997–98^[25]

Individual

• Man of the Season (Belgian First Division): 1987–88, 2000–01^[26]
• Belgian Golden Shoe: 1991^[27]
• Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 1987–88, 1989–90, 1994–95, 1999–2000^[28]
• Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Player of the Year: 1995–96^[29]
• Belgian Fair Play Award: 2000–01, 2001–02^[28]
• Goal of the Season: 2000
• Golden Shoe Lifetime Achievement Award: 2001^[30]
• Platina Eleven (Best Team in 50 Years of Golden Shoe Winners) (2003)^[31]