Gilles De Bilde (born 9 June 1971) is a Belgian former 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 ...
, sports pundit and television personality.
As a player, he was a
striker who notably played in the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
for
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
and
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
, and in the
Eredivise
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 ...
for
PSV. He also played in his home country for
Eendracht Aalst
SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst, East Flanders. The club currently play in Belgian Division 2 where they are the defending champions in their region.
History
During World War I, citizens from Aalst played footbal ...
,
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 ...
and
Lierse, before retiring with a brief spell with Belgian amateurs Willebroek-Meerhof
He was
capped
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...
by
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 ...
at international level, making 25 appearances and scoring three goals. He was part of the
Euro 2000
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 ...
squad.
Club career
At
Eendracht Aalst
SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst, East Flanders. The club currently play in Belgian Division 2 where they are the defending champions in their region.
History
During World War I, citizens from Aalst played footbal ...
, he won the 1994 Belgian Player of the Year, and scored 21 goals in 33 league games during the 1994–95 season.
He joined
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 ...
in the summer of 1995 and managed a further 22 goals in 46
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– ...
matches. In a match between Anderlecht and Aalst in December 1996, he punched
Krist Porte in the face, which broke his nose and injured his eye.
Previously, De Bilde received a suspended two-year prison sentence in 1992 for head-butting two boy scout leaders and, four months before the Porte incident, he head-butted one nurse and punched another when he was denied access to a hospital room his father was in, having suffered a brain haemorrhage.
Johan Boskamp
Johannes "Johan/Jan" Boskamp (born 21 October 1948) is a Dutch former football player and manager.
He played the majority of his career for hometown club Feyenoord and Belgian side RWDM, and managed primarily in the Belgian leagues. Currently, ...
, Anderlecht's head coach, suggested that De Bilde should see a
psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...
.
In January 1997, De Bilde was transferred to Dutch side
PSV for £3 million. During his time in
Eindhoven
Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...
, he scored 24 goals in 49
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 ...
matches.
His seven goals in eight league matches during the second half of the
1996–97 season helped PSV become Dutch champions. He joined
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
in August 1999 and scored ten league goals in his
first season with the club, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated from the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
. In October 2000, he joined
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
on loan for three months. He made four league appearances for the club, without scoring, and returned to Sheffield Wednesday in January 2001, where he stayed for the remainder of the season, after a number of potential transfers failed to materialise. He returned to Anderlecht in July 2001 on a free transfer, having signed a three-year contract. Two years later, De Bilde joined
Lierse, where he finished his professional career at the end of the
2003–04 season. He played for Willebroek-Meerhof of the
Belgian Promotion
The Belgian Fourth Division was the lowest nationwide division in Belgian football. The division was split into four separate leagues, A, B, C and D. The team with the most points in the four leagues together was declared the overall winner ...
between 2005 and 2007. De Bilde – who campaigned for a European ban on cat and dog fur – was fined by the club in 2006 for missing a match to mourn the death of one of his dogs.
International career
De Bilde was
capped
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...
25 times by
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 ...
at international level. He was a member of the squad at
Euro 2000
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 ...
and made one appearance at the finals, in a 2–0 defeat against
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
.
Media career
After retiring, De Bilde became a regular football analyst on Belgian television, featuring on their domestic and
Champions League coverage. He appeared as a model for Belgian fashion designer
Dirk Bikkembergs
Dirk Bikkembergs (born 2 January 1959) is a Belgian fashion designer.
Early life
Dirk Bikkembergs was born in Cologne, Germany, as his father was in the Belgian Army. He lived most of his years in Diepenbeek, Limburg, Belgium. In 1982, Bikkem ...
, and has appearances on television shows involving celebrity challenges, including ''
Dancing on Ice
''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series broadcast from 2006 to 2014 and then from 2018 to 2025. It was presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern. Other previous hosts include Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard. The series ...
'' and ''Celebrity Shock''.
Honours
Anderlecht
*
Belgian Supercup
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, t ...
: 1995,
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 ...
PSV Eindhoven
*
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 ...
:
1996–97
*
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 ...
runner-up:
1997–98
*
Johan Cruijff 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 football ...
:
1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
,
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
Individual
*
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 ...
: 1994
*
Belgian Second Division
The Belgian Second Division was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 1909 and folded in 2016, when it was replace ...
top scorer:
1993–94 (16 goals)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Bilde, Gilles
1971 births
Living people
Belgian men's footballers
Belgium men's international footballers
Footballers from Flemish Brabant
Belgian Pro League players
Challenger Pro League players
Men's association football forwards
S.C. Eendracht Aalst players
R.S.C. Anderlecht players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Aston Villa F.C. players
PSV Eindhoven players
Lierse S.K. players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
Premier League players
English Football League players
Eredivisie players
Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Belgian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England