Bram Vandenbussche (born 1 February 1981 in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

) is a retired

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

.Ex-Cercle-speler Bram Vandenbussche (41) stopt als voetballer: “En nu een jaar zonder voetbal”
kw.be, 18 May 2022 He usually plays as

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, although he is sometimes fielded as

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

in times of need. His heading is his strongest point.

Career

Vandenbussche started his career at

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

, where he made his first team debut on 17 December 2000, in a 1–2 home loss against

Maasland Maasland (population: 6,844) is a village in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It lies in the municipality (''gemeente'') of Midden-Delfland and covers an area of 24.42 km2 (of which 0.64 km2 water). It is located ...

. His last match was against

SV Roeselare Koninklijke Sport Vereniging Roeselare, abbreviated to KSV Roeselare (), also known in French as KSV Roulers, was a Belgian football club from the city of Roeselare in West Flanders. Its matricule was 134. It last played at the highest level ...

, his new team. Cercle won 1–2. In 2002, Bram Vandenbussche won the ''Cercle Brugge Pop Poll''. In the 2005-2006 season, Vandenbussche startled the Belgian football competition when he failed a doping test. Traces of

corticosteroids Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are invol ...

were found. Luckily for Vandenbussche, he could prove that he had suffered from his

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

. The

medical staff had given him an injection for this, so they also took responsibility for Vandenbussche's positive doping test. After becoming a back-up player for Cercle, Bram Vandenbussche signed a contract for 3 years with

. He will meet his former coach

Dennis Van Wijk Dennis Johannes van Wijk (; born 16 December 1962) is a Dutch association football, football coach and former football player. Van Wijk was a left-back who began his career in the youth system of Ajax Amsterdam. He was unable to break into the ...

there. Vandenbussche played more than 22 years for the green and black side.

Trivia

* Bram Vandenbussche holds an

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

. * His father has a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

Assebroek Assebroek () is a sub-municipality of the city of Bruges located in the province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1971. On 1 January 1971, it was merged into Bruges. On 31 December 2014, Assebroek h ...

, a municipality of Bruges.

References

External links

Bram Vandenbussche player info at the official Cercle Brugge site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandenbussche, Bram Living people 1981 births Footballers from Bruges Belgian men's footballers Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players Men's association football defenders Ghent University alumni Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Men's association football utility players K.S.V. Roeselare players 21st-century Belgian sportsmen