Gustaaf "Staftje" Eeckeman (28 November 1918 – 29 March 1975) was a Belgian football left winger.

Career

Eeckeman was born 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 ...

. He joined

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 ...

as a youth player in 1928, much to the despair of his family, who all supported Cercle rivals

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 ...

. Eeckeman made his debut at the highest level of Belgian football in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, in a 3–0 win over White Star AC, one of the predecessors of the current

FC Brussels Racing White Daring Molenbeek Brussels Football Club, often simply referred to as RWDM Brussels, F.C. Brussels or simply Brussels, was a Belgian professional association football club based in the municipality of Molenbeek, in the Brussels, Bru ...

. However, his debut was overshadowed by a heavy injury, which left him a long rehabilitation. Eeckeman was only 16 then. At Cercle, he was also infamous for his

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...

habits before and after the match. ''Staftje'' Eeckeman was called up for

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 ...

for the first time in 1940, only a few months before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He received his first of two caps on 17 March, in a 7–1 win against

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. When Cercle relegated in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, Eeckeman signed with SK Roeselare. However, he left already one season later, when

AA Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (; English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Gent or by their nickname ' (), is a Belgian professional sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football tea ...

offered him a contract and a job as

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

. He ended his career with AS Oostende and a lower league side, Sint-Joris Sportief. He died in his home city of Bruges.

External links

Cerclemuseum.be
* 1918 births 1975 deaths Belgian Pro League players Belgian men's footballers Belgian police officers Belgium men's international footballers Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players Men's association football wingers KAA Gent players K.S.V. Roeselare players Footballers from Bruges 20th-century Belgian sportsmen {{belgium-footy-midfielder-stub