Constant Vanden Stock
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 Constant Vanden Stock | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Constant Vanden Stock | ||
| Date of birth | 13 June 1914 | ||
| Place of birth | Anderlecht, Belgium | ||
| Date of death | 19 April 2008 (aged 93) | ||
| Place of death | Uccle, Belgium | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1924–1933 | Anderlecht | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1933–1938 | Anderlecht | 52 | (0) |
| 1938–1943 | Union SG | 87 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1950–1953 | Anderlecht (youth) | ||
| 1953–1956 | La Forestoise (president) | ||
| 1956–1958 | Belgium (selection committee) | ||
| 1958–1968 | Belgium (manager) | ||
| 1968–1969 | Club Brugge (technical director) | ||
| 1969–1970 | Anderlecht (board) | ||
| 1970–1971 | Anderlecht (vice-chairman) | ||
| 1971–1996 | Anderlecht (chairman) | ||
| 1996–2008 | Anderlecht (honorary chairman) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Constant Vanden Stock (Flemish pronunciation: [kɔ̃ːˈstɑ̃ː vɑndə(n) ˈstɔk]; 13 June 1914 – 19 April 2008) was a Belgian football player, trainer, football manager and entrepreneur.[1]
Vanden Stock was chairman of RSC Anderlecht from 1971 to 1996. Under his reign, Anderlecht won the national title ten times, the Belgian Cup seven times, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice, the UEFA Cup once and the European Super Cup twice. Constant Vanden Stock was also one of the founders of the introduction of professional football in Belgium. In addition to football, he built the Belle-Vue brewery into a successful global brand.[2] Vanden Stock managed the family brewery, famous for its Kriek and Lambic, until he sold it to beer giant Interbrew, now InBev.[3]
Constant Vanden Stock was born in Anderlecht on 13 June 1914, just before the start of the First World War, as the son of beer brewer Philémon Vanden Stock (1886–1945) and his wife Marie. Ten years later he started playing football for RSC Anderlecht, where he played only 52 league matches in the first team between 1933 and 1938 due to several serious injuries. Afterwards he switched to the neighbors of Union Saint-Gilloise. Five years later he retired as a player and concentrated on expanding Belle-Vue, his father's brewery.[4]
Managerial career
In the early 1950s, Vanden Stock took up his first position at Anderlecht. He became responsible for the recruitment of youth for three years and also took charge of cadets and students. After a short stint as chairman of third division club La Forestoise, he was included in the selection committee of the RBFA, two years later he became the coach of the Belgium national football team from 1958 to 1968. Then Anderlecht chairman Albert Roosens wanted to bring him back to Anderlecht, but Vanden Stock preferred a role as technical director at Club Brugge. However, a year later, in 1969, he returned to the capital city of Brussels. Vanden Stock became a board member and vice-chairman of Anderlecht before taking full control as chairman in 1971.[5]