Eric Maria Gerets (; born 18 May 1954) is a Belgian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player. As a striker, he started his playing career as an amateur for his local team AA Rekem, before achieving success as a

right-back 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 ...

with

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

and PSV. Nicknamed "The Lion (of Flanders)", Gerets was regarded as one of the top right-backs in Europe at his peak and is considered one of the greatest players in Belgian football history. He is famous for having captained PSV to their first and only

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

win in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. As a coach, Gerets is one of six managers – along with

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

Tomislav Ivić Tomislav Ivić (; 30 June 1933 – 24 June 2011) was a Croatian professional football player and manager. Often described as a brilliant strategist, Ivić is credited with helping develop the modern style of the game. In April 2007, Italian spor ...

and

Ernst Happel Ernst Franz Hermann Happel (29 November 1925 – 14 November 1992) was an Austrian football player and manager. Happel is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, winning both league and domestic cup titles in the Netherlands, Bel ...

– to have won top domestic league championships in at least four countries.

Club career

Gerets began his career playing for amateur side AA Rekem before joining then titleholders

Standard de Liège Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

. Making his debut 16 April 1972 coming on for

Silvester Takač Silvester Takač ( Serbian ; born 8 November 1940) is a Serbian-Yugoslavian former football forward and manager. He was part of the Yugoslav squad that won gold at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Honours Manager OGC Nice * Coupe de France: 1997 ...

against FC Diest. In the

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

season Standard reached the Cup final, manager

Vlatko Marković Vladimir "Vlatko" Marković (; 1 January 1937 – 23 September 2013) was a Croatian professional football manager and player who served as the president of the Croatian Football Federation from 1998 to 2012. Playing career Club He played for: ...

let Gerets start despite not being an established first team member as Standard lost 2–1 to fierce rivals

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

. The following season, Gerets replaced 29-year-old

Jacques Beurlet Jacques Beurlet (21 December 1944 – 26 September 2020) was a Belgian footballer who played as a right-back for Standard Liège and Union SG. He earned three caps for the Belgium national team in qualifying matches for the 1970 FIFA World Cup ...

and became the first choice

for the Rouches. In 1975 Gerets made his debut for the national team. Gerets played for

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

MVV Maastricht Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently ...

and PSV, winning among others the

1987–88 European Cup The 1987–88 European Cup was the 33rd season of the European Cup club football tournament. The competition was won for the first time by PSV Eindhoven, who defeated two-time winners Benfica in the final at Neckarstadion in Stuttgart. PSV becam ...

, two Belgian championships and six Dutch championships. Gerets was an offensively-minded right-back, known for his stamina, tactical discipline, grit and mental toughness. In combination with his physical appearance (hair blowing in the wind, a full but elegant beard, slumped trunk) he was soon nicknamed "The Lion". He was also known for long distance

throw-in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the whole of ball passes over the touchline. It is governed by Law 15 of Laws of the Game (association football), the Laws of the Game. In Scotland it is known a ...

Standard Liège

In the 1980s, a new generation of players emerged at Standard. Noted manager

was hired, and later the club brought

Raymond Goethals Raymond Goethals (, ; 7 October 1921 – 6 December 2004) was a Belgian football coach who led Marseille to victory in the UEFA Champions League final in 1993, becoming the first coach to win a European trophy with a French club. Sometimes nick ...

back to Belgium. Players like

Arie Haan Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team of ...

, Guy Vandersmissen,

Michel Preud'homme Michel Georges Jean Ghislain Preud'homme (born 24 January 1959) is a Belgian retired association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Currently, he is vic ...

Walter Meeuws Walter Meeuws (born 11 July 1951) is a Belgian former football player and manager. Playing career During his career Meeuws played for K. Beerschot V.A.C., Club Brugge, Standard Liège, Ajax, K.V. Mechelen. He earned 46 caps for the Belgium nat ...

, Jos Daerden and

Simon Tahamata Simon Melkianus Tahamata (born 26 May 1956) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who is the current head of scouting of Indonesia. Throughout his career, he played for multiple Dutch and Belgian clubs. He also played 22 tim ...

became key players, whilst Gerets was the captain of the team. In 1980, Standard finished runners-up in the league, before winning the 1981

National Cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. For most of th ...

with a 4–1 win over Lokeren SC. In 1982, Standard won the title by beating Waterschei SV Thor in the last match of the season. A few days later, they faced

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

final, which they lost 2–1. The influence of Gerets on Standard's success was recognised when he was awarded the 1982

Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe (, , German: ''Goldener Schuh'') is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian Pro League for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the B ...

. The following year he captained Standard to another league title, their ninth overall, which would prove to be their last until 2007–08. With Standard, Gerets eventually won 2 national titles, a National Cup, a

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

and a League Cup.

AC Milan

Gerets signed with Italian giants

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

in 1983. However, his contract was terminated prematurely, but not for sporting reasons. It was discovered that, in order to secure the championship title and to spare players from injuries for the European final against Barcelona, Standard had approached the Waterschei players in 1982 to take it easy in their final league match against Standard. Several Standard players at the time and trainer

were subsequently suspended for this.

MVV

contracted Gerets in 1984, but he would eventually only play four matches for the club. Three of those were against PSV, after which the Eindhoven club was convinced and quickly signed the Belgian to a contract in the summer of 1985.

PSV

In 1985, Gerets joined PSV playing together with

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a former Dutch Association football, footballer and subsequent manager. Regarded among the greatest footballers of all time, he was also noted for his Utility player#Association football, abili ...

Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the director of football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was sporting directo ...

Huub Stevens Hubertus Jozef Margaretha "Huub" Stevens (; born 29 November 1953) is a Dutch former professional Manager (association football), football manager and player. Playing career Stevens was born in Sittard. While active, he played for Fortuna Sittar ...

and

Willy van de Kerkhof Wilhelmus Antonius van de Kerkhof (; born 16 September 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Van de Kerkhof and his twin brother René were squad members of the Netherlands national team that made the Wo ...

followed by Brazilian star

Romário Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a Senator for Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and the presi ...

. In 1986, Gerets won the title with PSV, and after the departure of Gullit in 1987, Gerets became the new captain. Under

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

PSV won the league and cup double three consecutive seasons, Gerets scoring twice in the 1987–88 cup final against

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

. In 1988, PSV reached the

UEFA European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robin ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

after eliminating

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the semi-finals. The score against Benfica was also 0–0 after 120 minutes; PSV eventually won on penalties. In 1990,

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

was appointed as Hiddink's successor. Under Robson, Gerets won another two titles with PSV then he retired at the end of the 1991–1992 season at the age of 38. In his seven seasons at the club, Gerets had won six national titles, three national cups and one European cup. In the following years, Gerets would be regularly honored as a true club icon ("Best PSV team ever", "PSV player of the century", "PSV Walk of Fame").

International career

Gerets registered 86 caps for the Belgium national team. He made his debut for the squad in 1975, and played at four major tournaments: the 1980 European Championship,

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in th ...

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

, and

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

. In 1980, Gerets played in his first

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in Italy. He scored the opening goal in a 2–1 win against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

which ensured Belgium qualified as group winners. The tournament is remembered for the inspired performance of the offensively-minded Belgium (around rising stars such as

Jan Ceulemans Jan Anna Gumaar Ceulemans (; born 28 February 1957) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, Ceulemans was known for his stamina, aerial ability, technique and was also recognized as one of th ...

, Eric Gerets,

Jean-Marie Pfaff Jean-Marie Pfaff (born 4 December 1953) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and spent most of his professional career with Beveren and Bayern Munich. Pfaff was capped 64 times playing for Belgium, and parti ...

and

Erwin Vandenbergh Erwin Vandenbergh (; born 26 January 1959) is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. Between 1979 and 1991, he finished six times as topscorer of the Belgian First Division (a still standing record), with three clu ...

) who unexpectedly reached the final, only losing to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

(1–2) by a Hrubesch goal two minutes from time. At the

, Belgium, captained by Gerets, recorded one of their most famous victories with a 1–0 win over defending champions

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the first game of the tournament held at

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

with a goal by Erwin Vandenbergh, and an excellent defensive display to hold off a young

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

. Four years later, they achieved their best World Cup run at that time in 1986 when they placed fourth under command of players like

and captain Gerets. Belgium surprisingly won against favourites the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

with stars such as Igor Belanov and

Rinat Dasayev Rinat Fayzrakhmanovich Dasayev (, ; born 13 June 1957) is a Russian football coach and a former goalkeeper. Throughout his club career, he played for Volgar Astrakhan, Spartak Moscow and Sevilla. At international level, he played at three Wo ...

(3–4) after extra time. Belgium also beat Spain on penalties, but they lost to eventual champions Argentina in the semi-final (0–2), inspired by Maradona. Argentina v belgica 1986

Despite their defeat, Belgium would end up in fourth place – their best finish in World Cup competition until it was surpassed in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

when they reached third place. 36 year-old Gerets would also captain his nation to the

finals. Belgium failed to convert their chances against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the second round. They lost in the last minute of extra time after a goal by David Platt. After a few qualification matches for the 1992 European championship, Gerets decided to quit international football early 1991 to focus on his club career with PSV Eindhoven. For decades, he was the third-most capped player for the Belgium national team, with 86 appearances and two goals.

Managerial career

As a manager, Gerets worked successively for

RFC Liège Royal Football Club de Liège (more commonly known as RFC Liège) is a professional football club based in Liège, capital of Liège Province, Belgium. The team currently play in Challenger Pro League, the second tier in Belgian football. It ...

, Lierse,

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

, PSV,

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

and

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

before joining

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

at the end of the 2004–05 season. In the 1996–97 season, he won the Belgian championships with Lierse, reprising the feat in the season 1998–99 with Club Brugge. He also won the Dutch championships twice (1999–2000 and 2000–01) with PSV. In the 2005–06 season, Gerets won the

Turkish Premier Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The wo ...

with Galatasaray. In May 2007, he left the club, and on 25 September became

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

's coach. In his first year with Marseille in 2007, he managed to get the team from the bottom of the league up to finish their 2007–08 season in third place. In 2009, Gerets turned down an offer of the

RBFA The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of association football, football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. S ...

to coach the Belgian national team after Rene Vandereycken was sacked. On 29 April 2009, he confirmed that he would not be in charge of Marseille after the summer when his contract expired. On 26 May 2009, he signed a contract to take over as head coach of Saudi club Al-Hilal for two years for an annual fee of €1.8 million. up200px, Gerets after the celebration of Al Hilal in the 2009–10 Saudi Pro League On 6 July 2010, he signed a four-year contract with

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. He would do the job part-time until he completed the Asian Champions League campaign with Al Hilal but stranded in the semi-finals. He was in charge of Morocco for almost two years. He was sacked on 15 September 2012 after a Morocco's 2–0 defeat against Mozambique in the first-leg of the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification was the qualification process for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country. Qualified nation ...

. Less than a month after leaving Morocco, he accepted a contract offer to become the head coach of Qatari defending champions

Lekhwiya Al-Duhail Sports Club (), formerly Lekhwiya SC, is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. The club is based in the Duhail district in the city of Doha and plays its home games at Abdull ...

on 9 October 2012. In the 2013–14 season, he brought another Qatari championship title to Lekhwiya. Gerets departed Lekhwiya and became the head coach of the United Arab Emirates team

Al Jazira Club Al Jazira Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that currently competes in the UAE Pro League. History Al-Jazira was established in 1974 as a merger between ''Khalidiyah'' and ''Al Bateen''. The club struggled ...

on 20 May 2014. He completed his two-year contract and decided to retire as club coach. He did hint that he might only be active as a coach of a country. Gerets was subsequently regularly mentioned as a top candidate for the position of head coach of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. But due to health problems, he would never become it. In 2013, Gerets suffered a brain hemorrhage. Since then, his health has gradually deteriorated and he has difficulty speaking and walking. In 2022, he was diagnosed with cerebral calcification.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Standard Liège *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 1981–82, 1982–83 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

: 1980–81 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

: 1981 *

Belgian League Cup The Belgian League Cup was a Belgian association football cup created in 1973. The competition was held from 1973 by eleven clubs wanting to increase professionalism in Belgian football but lasted only three seasons before being disbanded. The tourn ...

: 1975 *

runner-up: 1981–82 *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

group winner:

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

PSV *

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, runner-up: 1989–90 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 1987–88, 1988–89 1989–90 *

: 1987–88 *

Teresa Herrera Trophy The Teresa Herrera Trophy () is an annual pre-season football tournament hosted by Deportivo La Coruña at the Estadio Riazor. Established in 1946, the tournament is usually held in August, and since 1990 it always features local club Deportivo. ...

: 1988 Belgium *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

fourth place:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

* Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1980 Individual *

: 1982 * Bronze Shoe: 1981 *

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Conceived ...

nominations:

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Don Balón ''Don Balón'' is a Spanish weekly sports magazine specializing in Spanish and international football. The magazine was published in Barcelona between 1975 and 2011. It was distributed on five continents. Since 2011 ''Don Balón'' has been a ful ...

World Cup All-Star team:

* Onze de Onze: 1982, 1983, 1988 * Guerin Sportivo All-Star Team: 1982, 1983 *

France Football ''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

World Cup All-Star team:

* Belgian Golden Shoe of the 20th Century 8th place: 1995 *

Voetbal International ''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running. History and profile ''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM. It l ...

's 50 World Stars by Raf Willems: 1999 * PSV Player of the Century: 1999 * Platina 11 (Best Team in 50 Years Golden Shoe Winners): 2003 * UEFA Jubilee Poll (2004): #81 * The Best Golden Shoe Team Ever: 2011 *

125 Years Icons Team: 2020 * AD The Best PSV Team Ever: 2020 * DH The Best Standard Liège Team Ever: 2020 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

All Time Belgium Dream Team: 2021 * Standard Liège Hall of Fame: 2024 *

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

Hall of Fame: 2024 * PSV Walk of Fame: 2024

Manager

Lierse *

: 1996–97 Club Brugge * Belgian First Division: 1997–98 *

runner-up: 1997–98 *

: 1998 PSV *

: 1999–2000, 2000–01, runner-up: 2001–02 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

runner-up: 2000–01 1. FC Kaiserslautern *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

runner-up: 2002–03 Galatasaray *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

: 2005–06 Marseille *

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

runner up: 2008–09 Al Hilal *

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

: 2009–10 *

Saudi Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup () was the oldest Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. History The cup was the oldest and first domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia; the first edition was held in 1956–57; five editions were played betwe ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* King's Cup of Champions runner-up:

Morocco *

Arab Cup The FIFA Arab Cup (), or Arab Cup, is an international association football competition organized by FIFA. It is held every four years with the participation of senior men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Lekhwiya * Qatar Stars League: 2013–14 Qatar Stars League, 2013–14, runner-up: 2012–13 Qatar Stars League, 2012–13 * Qatar Crown Prince Cup, Crown Prince Cup: 2013 Qatar Crown Prince Cup, 2013, runner-up: 2014 Qatar Crown Prince Cup, 2014 Al-Jazira *UAE Pro League runner-up: 2014–15 UAE Pro League, 2014–15 Individual * Belgian professional football awards#Professional Manager of the Year, Belgian Professional Manager of the Year: 1996–97, 1997–98 * Trophées UNFP du football, Ligue 1 Manager of the Year: 2008–09 Ligue 1#Annual awards, 2008–09 * : 2011

Notes

References

External links

* * *
CV Eric Gerets
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerets, Eric 1954 births Living people People from Lanaken Footballers from Limburg (Belgium) Belgian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Standard Liège players AC Milan players MVV Maastricht players PSV Eindhoven players UEFA Champions League–winning players Belgian Pro League players Serie A players Eredivisie players Belgium men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1980 players 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Belgian football managers RFC Liège managers Lierse S.K. managers Club Brugge KV managers PSV Eindhoven managers 1. FC Kaiserslautern managers VfL Wolfsburg managers Galatasaray S.K. (football) managers Olympique de Marseille managers Al-Hilal Saudi FC managers Morocco national football team managers Lekhwiya SC managers Al Jazira Club managers Belgian Pro League managers Eredivisie managers Bundesliga managers Süper Lig managers Ligue 1 managers Saudi Pro League managers Qatar Stars League managers UAE Pro League managers 2012 Africa Cup of Nations managers Belgian expatriate football managers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Morocco Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in Germany Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Morocco Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates 20th-century Belgian sportsmen