Thomas Buffel

Belgian footballer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Buffel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈtoːmɑz ˈbʏfəl];[a] born 19 February 1981) is a Belgian professional football coach and a former player who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. He is the manager of Jong Genk in Challenger Pro League. He represented the Belgium national team at international level.

Date of birth (1981-02-19) 19 February 1981 (age 45)
Place of birth Bruges, Belgium
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position Attacking midfielder
Quick facts Personal information, Date of birth ...
Thomas Buffel
Buffel in training with Belgium in 2006
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-02-19) 19 February 1981 (age 45)
Place of birth Bruges, Belgium
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Jong Genk (manager)
Youth career
1986–1990 Daring Ruddervoorde
1990–1997 Cercle Brugge
1997–1999 Feyenoord
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2005 Feyenoord 80 (35)
2000–2002 → Excelsior (loan) 63 (27)
2005–2008 Rangers 51 (8)
2008–2009 Cercle Brugge 35 (5)
2009–2018 Genk 235 (34)
2018–2019 Zulte Waregem 18 (4)
Total 482 (113)
International career
1995 Belgium U15 2 (0)
1995–1998 Belgium U16 12 (1)
1995–1998 Belgium U17 22 (14)
1998–1999 Belgium U18 11 (1)
2000 Belgium U19 1 (0)
2002 Belgium U21 2 (0)
2002–2013 Belgium 36 (6)
Managerial career
2019–2020 Belgium U19 (assistant)
2020–2024 Belgium U21 (assistant)
2021 Cercle Brugge (assistant)
2024–2025 Jong Genk
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
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Club career

Thomas Buffel in Genk

Early career

Buffel began his career with Belgian sides Daring Ruddervoorde and Cercle Brugge before making a move to the Netherlands.

Buffel played for the Dutch team Feyenoord in the 1999–2000 season, before moving to their feeder team Excelsior Rotterdam from 2000 to 2002. He returned to Feyenoord for the 2002–03 Eredivisie season. He reportedly fell out with then-manager Ruud Gullit in the next season "after refusing to sign a new contract".[1]

Rangers

Buffel moved to the Scottish side Rangers in January 2005 in a £2.3 million, four-and-a-half-year deal.[2] He made his debut in the Scottish Cup coming on as a substitute against Old Firm rivals Celtic in what was to be a 2–1 defeat.[3] However, the season did not end badly for him as he was to play a key role in the 2005 Scottish League Cup Final, where Rangers defeated Motherwell 5–1.[4] He also featured in the Rangers team for the latter part of the season where he would help them to their 51st league title[5] making it a double for his first season with the club. Buffel scored five goals in 18 appearances in all competitions.[6][7]

Buffel featured in the Champions League and helped Rangers reach the last 16 of the tournament, where they lost to Villarreal 3–3 on aggregate and were knocked out on away goals rule. Across all competitions, he scored seven goals in 38 appearances during the 2005–2006 season[7] mostly playing in the midfield.[citation needed]

In the 2007 January transfer window, German club Hannover 96 expressed an interest in him, with Rangers manager Walter Smith saying Buffel was free to leave. However, the deal fell through when Buffel was unable to agree personal terms with the Bundesliga side.[8] It was announced on 9 February 2007 that Buffel would undergo surgery on a long-term knee injury and would not take any further part in the 2006–07 season.[9] He returned to action on 26 September as a substitute in a Scottish League Cup tie against East Fife.[10] He would go on to make just five appearances in all competitions in his final season at Rangers.[11]

Cercle Brugge

Buffel's Rangers career came to an end when he joined former club Cercle Brugge on 1 July 2008.[12]

Genk

In the 2009 summer transfer window Buffel made a last-minute transfer to KRC Genk as part of a deal between Genk and Cercle Brugge with Jelle Vossen (on loan) and Hans Cornelis moving the opposite way.[13]

In the 2010–11 season he won the Belgian league title with Genk.[14]

His contract was not renewed at the end of the 2017–18 season.[15]

Zulte Waregem

In June 2018, it was announced Buffel would continue his career at Zulte Waregem.[15]

Buffel retired at the end of the 2018–19 season.[16]

International career

Buffel made his debut for Belgium against Andorra in October 2002 in what was to be a 1–0 victory.[17] He has since then gained 35 caps and scored 7 goals.

Coaching career

Buffel began his coaching career in September 2019, when he was appointed assistant manager to Jacky Mathijssen at the Belgium national U-19 team.[18] In March 2020, Buffel and Mathijssen was promoted to the U-21 national team.[19]

On 3 February 2021, Buffel was also hired as an assistant manager for former club Cercle Brugge under newly appointed manager Yves Vanderhaeghe, next to his job at the national team.[20] However, on 5 October 2021, Buffel decided to leave the position, as he was going to start his Pro License course and he therefore no longer could combine his two jobs.[21]

On 18 June 2024, Buffel was hired as head coach of Jong Genk, the reserve team of Genk that plays in the second-tier Challenger Pro League.[22]

Personal life

Buffel was married to Stephanie De Buysser, with whom he had twin sons born in November 2013. They married in June 2016, when De Buysser was already suffering from colon cancer. On 26 January 2017, De Buysser died.[23]

Career statistics

Club

More information Club, Season ...
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Excelsior (loan) 2000–01 Eerste Divisie 3112——3112 [24]
2001–02 3215——3215 [24]
Total 63270000006327 –
Feyenoord 2002–03 Eredivisie 3118701[b]03918 [24]
2003–04 341542—3817 [24]
2004–05 15260—212 [24]
Total 803500172109837 –
Rangers 2004–05 Scottish Premier League 101005[c]3154 [24]
2005–06 244715[d]0365 [24]
2006–07 1635100214 [24]
2007–08 1010200040 [24]
Total 518101421037613 –
Cercle Brugge 2008–09 Belgian First Division 303——303 [24]
2009–10 Belgian Pro League 52–—25 [24]
Total 355000000355 –
Genk 2009–10 Belgian Pro League 25420—9[e]3367 [24][25]
2010–11 26120207[f]0371 [24][25]
2011–12 26810918[g]0449 [24][25]
2012–13 2945111210[h]0557 [24][25]
2013–14 263109110[i]3467 [24][25]
2014–15 28310006[j]3356 [24][25]
2015–16 286410012[k]34410 [24][25]
2016–17 Belgian First Division A 2122017410[l]2508 [24][25]
2017–18 26361009[m]0414 [24][25]
Total 23534243488811438859 –
Cercle Brugge 2018–19 Belgian First Division A 18420—10214 [24]
Career total 48211327379129317681145 –
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  1. [a]
    In isolation, Thomas is pronounced [ˈtoːmɑs].
  2. [b]
    Two appearances in UEFA Super Cup
  3. [c]
    Five appearances, three goals in Scottish Premiership playoffs
  4. [d]
    Five appearances in Scottish Premiership playoffs
  5. [e]
    Nine appearances, three goals in Belgian Pro League playoffs
  6. [f]
    Seven appearances in Belgian Pro League playoffs
  7. [g]
    Seven appearances in Belgian Pro League playoffs, one appearance in Belgian Super Cup
  8. [h]
    Ten appearances in Belgian Pro League playoffs
  9. [i]
    Nine appearances, three goals in Belgian Pro League playoffs, one appearance in Belgian Super Cup
  10. [j]
    Six appearances, three goals in Belgian Pro League playoffs
  11. [k]
    Twelve appearances, three goals in Belgian Pro League playoffs
  12. [l]
    Ten appearances, two goals in Belgian First Division playoffs
  13. [m]
    Nine appearances in Belgian First Division playoffs

International

Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Buffel goal.
More information No., Date ...
List of international goals scored by Thomas Buffel
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
130 April 2003King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium Poland2–03–1Friendly
211 October 2003Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège, Belgium Estonia2–02–0Euro 2004 Qualification
318 August 2004Ullevaal, Oslo, Norway Norway1–02–2Friendly
42–1
526 March 2005King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina4–14–12006 World Cup Qualification
67 September 2005Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp, Belgium San Marino3–08–02006 World Cup Qualification
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Honours

Rangers[26]

Genk[27]

Individual

References

External links

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