Bob Peeters (born 10 January 1974) is a Belgian football manager and former player currently manager of

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as t ...

club

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport is a professional association football club based in the city of Helmond, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. The club was founded on 27 June 1967, as ...

Club career

Lierse

Noted for his large stature, measuring 1.96 m, Peeters grew up in

Wommelgem Wommelgem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. Wit ...

Antwerp Province ) , native_name_lang = nl , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Antwerp.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van de provincie Antwerpen.svg , shield_size ...

and joined Ternesse VV Wommelgem at a young age. He moved to the Lierse academy at the age of eight, progressing through the youth teams before making his senior debut in 1992 under head coach Herman Helleputte. In 1994, after the arrival of

Eric Gerets Eric Maria Gerets (, born 18 May 1954) is a Belgian football manager and former player who played as a right back. He started his playing career as an amateur for his local team AA Rekem, before achieving success with Standard Liège and PSV. ...

as manager, Peeters experienced his breakthrough. The striker scored eight goals and formed a striking duo with Dirk Huysmans, in a Lierse-team counting profiles such as Nico Van Kerckhoven, Philip Haagdoren, Eric Van Meir and David Brocken which won the Belgian First Division A title in the 1996–97 season. In January 1997, Peeters was in contract negotiations with the Lierse board, but chose to leave, according to him because he was seen as a "tall, clumsy" striker.

Roda JC

After winning the league title with Lierse, Peeters signed with Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisi ...

under the Bosman ruling. There, he was united with fellow countrymen Joos Valgaeren, Gregory Delwarte and Peter Van Houdt. In his first season, the club from

Kerkrade Kerkrade ( Ripuarian: ; li, Kirkraoj; german: Kerkrade or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a municipality in the southeast of Limburg; the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. Kerkrade is the ...

finished fourteenth, but after the arrival of manager Sef Vergoossen, Roda returned to mid-table. In 2000, Peeters also reached the KNVB Cup final with the club. In

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, Roda beat

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

2–0 to claim their second ever cup win. Peeters opened the score after 18 minutes after heading in a free kick from Eric van der Luer. During the celebrations after the game, Peeters damaged the trophy which caused a dent still visible to this day.

Vitesse

In August 2000, Peeters signed with Vitesse for a fee of BEF 252 million – around €6.25 million – which made him the second most expensive Belgian transfer ever, only surpassed by

Émile Mpenza Eka Basunga Lokonda "Émile" Mpenza (born 4 July 1978) is a Belgian former footballer who played as a striker. He has been capped at international level by Belgium. His older brother, Mbo, also represented Belgium. Club career Belgium, Germa ...

. Earlier, Roda had rejected an offer from

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. Under manager

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

, Peeters impressed. Seen in Belgium as a technically limited footballer, was known in the Netherlands as an intelligent player with overview and strength. With Vitesse, he finished above mid-table two seasons in a row. In the 2002–03 season, Peeters and his teammates dropped far in the rankings. The club was in financial turmoil and many high-earning were allowed to leave.

Millwall

Peeters signed a three-year contract with English Football League First Division club

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

on 20 August 2003, where he was set to replace regular target-man Mark McCammon. He struggled with injuries during his spell in England.

Genk

In 2005, Peeters was poised for a return to Belgium, and after negotiating with

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

, he eventually signed with

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

after being convinced by technical director Ariël Jacobs. Peeters had to compete with fellow strikers Kevin Vandenbergh,

Paul Kpaka Paul Kpaka (born 7 August 1981) is a former Sierre Leonean footballer who played as a striker. Early life Paul Kpaka was born into the Sherbro Rogers family in Kenema, the third largest city in Sierra Leone. He is a member of the famous Sher ...

and Nenad Stojanović. He scored nine goals for Genk, who finished the season in fifth place.

Return to Lierse

Peeters was set for a return to childhood club Lierse after one season with Genk. Initially, Genk chairman Jos Vaessen was willing to let him leave on a free transfer, but this offer was withdrawn afterwards. In the end, 32-year-old Peeters was involved in an trade with Oleksandr Yakovenko, who was then playing for Lierse. Peeters did make many appearances for Lierse. The club finished second to last in the 2006–07 league table and suffered relegation to the Belgian Second Division via the play-offs. In October 2008, he announced his retirement from professional football after suffering an achilles tendon injury.

International career

Peeters made his debut for the Belgium national team on 25 February 1998 in a friendly against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, which was won 2–0 thanks to a brace by Nico Van Kerckhoven. Peeters came on as a substitute for

Luc Nilis Luc Gilbert Cyrille Nilis (born 25 May 1967) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Belgian Division 2 club Belisia Bilzen. He enjoyed a successful career in his native Belgium and, in particular, ...

after 84 minutes. He participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification but did not make the final squad for

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

main tournament. On 28 February 2001, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

at the King Baudouin Stadium.

Managerial career

He became manager of

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch language, Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghen ...

one week after being released by

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisi ...

in October 2012 but was fired in January 2013. Peeters was appointed as manager of English side,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

, in May 2014 on a 12-month contract. In January 2015 after only 25 games in charge he was dismissed. His Senior Professional Development Coach Patrick Van Houdt and Performance Analyst Guy Kiala were also fired. At the time Charlton had won once in the previous 12 games and had slipped to 14th in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

table. In 2015, Bob Peeters got a new chance at Lokeren, replacing

Peter Maes Peter Maes () (born 1 June 1964) is a Belgian retired footballer turned coach. He is currently unemployed after most recently managing Beerschot VA in the Belgian First Division A. Prior to Lokeren, he also managed KV Mechelen and Genk. unt ...

who left to

K.R.C. Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk, Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four cham ...

. After 12 league games, with only 3 victories, he got sacked by the owner of the club, in spite of just winning away at

Media career

During the

2000 UEFA European Football Championship The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, during which he was injured, he worked as a journalist who interviewed people for VRT. Presenter Mark Uytterhoeven regularly sent him on the road for the program. Peeters' search for a Romanian in particular became a well-known segment. In addition, for a while he was an analyst during

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

matches and as

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

for Belgacom TV. In 2001 Peeters was a guest in the talk show ''Men on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown''. In 2009, he became the presenter of the Belgian version of '' Wipeout'' alongside

Walter Grootaers Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

. When he became the youth coach of Gent, he stopped presenting.

Career statistics

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Lierse *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...

: 1996–97 Roda JC * KNVB Cup: 1999–2000

Manager

Westerlo * Belgian First Division B: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peeters, Bob 1974 births Living people Belgian footballers Association football forwards Roda JC Kerkrade players SBV Vitesse players Millwall F.C. players K.R.C. Genk players Lierse S.K. players Belgian First Division A players Eredivisie players English Football League players Belgian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in England Belgium international footballers People from Lier, Belgium Cercle Brugge K.S.V. managers K.A.A. Gent managers Charlton Athletic F.C. managers K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen managers K.V.C. Westerlo managers TOP Oss managers English Football League managers Expatriate football managers in England Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate football managers Belgian football managers Footballers from Antwerp Province