BRILLIANT BELGIANS

STEPHEN BRANDT RECALLS WHEN BELGIUM FOOTBALL PUNCHED ABOVE ITS WEIGHT...

- STEPHEN BRANDT

BELGIUM have a top team now, but they were no slouches on the club and international scene in the late 70s and early 80s.

Anderlecht shone in the Cup Winners’ Cup between 1976 to 1978, winning two of the three finals they appeared in.

Club Brugge also enjoyed a notable period under Ernst Happel, who became manager in 1974. The Austrian ushered in an era of great success, winning three league titles and a domestic cup in his four-year reign as well as making them a presence on the European stage.

It wasn’t only the club sides doing well. Guy Thys led the Belgian national team to runners-up spot in the European Championship in Italy in 1980.

Happel’s Brugge finished runners-up to Molenbeek in 1974-75, which qualified them for the UEFA Cup the following season.

At the same time, Hans Croon’s Anderlecht beat Royal Antwerp 1-0 in the Belgian Cup, putting themselves into the Cup Winners’ Cup of the following year.