Jelle Van Damme

Jelle François Maria Van Damme (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɛ.lə vɑn ˈdɑ.mə]; born 10 October 1983) is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a centre-back, left-back or left midfielder. He played for clubs in Belgium, England, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. He also earned over 30 caps for the Belgium national team.

Jelle Van Damme
Van Damme playing for Standard Liège in 2014
Personal information
Full name Jelle François Maria Van Damme
Date of birth (1983-10-10) 10 October 1983
Place of birth Lokeren, Belgium
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Defender, left midfielder
Youth career
Beveren
Lokeren
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998 Lokeren 1 (0)
2001–2002 Germinal Beerschot 7 (0)
2002–2004 Ajax 18 (0)
2004–2006 Southampton 6 (0)
2005–2006 → Werder Bremen (loan) 8 (1)
2006–2010 Anderlecht 100 (12)
2010–2011 Wolverhampton Wanderers 6 (1)
2011–2016 Standard Liège 120 (17)
2016–2017 LA Galaxy 46 (1)
2017–2019 Royal Antwerp 44 (1)
2019–2020 Lokeren 23 (1)
Total 379 (34)
International career
2001–2002 Belgium U19 18 (0)
2002–2003 Belgium U21 4 (0)
2003–2014 Belgium 31 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Early career

Van Damme started his career at Beveren, before he made a short move to neighbour club Lokeren where he played in the youth teams. He then signed for Germinal Beerschot in 2001, making his senior debut in the Jupiler League. Beerschot were linked with Ajax and the Amsterdam club soon offered him a trial stay beginning in February 2002.

In summer 2002, Van Damme moved permanently to Ajax where he showed promise in the Dutch Cup. In the 2002–03 season, he played in the Champions League and started as a regular player in the squad before breaking his toe in November 2002. The next season, he helped Ajax again qualify for the Champions League group stage but he had few chances to play in the first team's title winning campaign, with the club preferring the Brazilian Maxwell at full back. This limited chance of game time led him to sign for Southampton of the Premier League in June 2004, for £2.5 million.[1]

He made little impact during his spell with Southampton, playing just six times during the 2004–05 season, as the club were relegated to the Championship. He spent the 2005–06 season on loan at German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen but again struggled to hold down regular football, making just eight appearances (three starts), as the club finished runners-up. In search of more playing opportunities, Van Damme returned to his homeland to sign for Anderlecht in June 2006 for €500,000.[2]

Anderlecht
Van Damme in 2009.

His four-year spell at Anderlecht was much more successful as he won two Jupiler League championships (twice runners-up) and the 2008 Belgian Cup, and appeared in the Champions League group stages several times. Van Damme scored in the 2–1 win at rivals Club Brugge that won the second of these league titles in 2010.[3]

His time in Brussels was the source of an unsavoury incident however, when Standard Liège defender Oguchi Onyewu accused him of racial abuse alleging that Van Damme called Onyewu a "dirty monkey" during the 2008–09 Championship playoff between the clubs.[4] Onyewu subsequently sued Van Damme,[5] although the case was withdrawn in February 2011 after a meeting between the two players when Van Damme apologised for any offence he may have given.[6]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Van Damme returned to the Premier League in June 2010 by joining Wolverhampton Wanderers. He signed a three-year deal, with the option of a fourth year, for a fee reported to be around £2.5 million.[7] Sell-on clauses relating to his 2006 move to Anderlecht mean that Southampton should receive between 10 and 15 per cent of the fee received from Wolves, estimated at £300,000.[8]

He scored his first, and only, goal for Wolves against Fulham on 11 September 2010. He struggled to settle at the club though, and on 29 November 2010, he signed a pre-contract agreement to return to his Belgian homeland in a three-and-a-half year deal with Standard Liège, after just six appearances for the Midlands club.[9][10]

Standard Liège

Van Damme's return to Belgium was officially ratified when the January 2011 transfer window opened. He made his Standard debut (playing as captain) in a 2–0 loss at former club Anderlecht on 23 January.[11]

LA Galaxy

On 26 January 2016, it was announced that Van Damme had joined LA Galaxy.[12] He made his debut on 24 February 2016 in a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal leg against Santos Laguna.

Royal Antwerp

In August 2017, Van Damme returned yet again to Belgium as he was signed by Royal Antwerp for $235,000. Van Damme said the main reason for leaving the LA Galaxy was that he wanted to be closer to his children.[13]

Lokeren

On 3 July 2019, he signed a one-year contract with Lokeren.[14]

Retirement

Van Damme retired from professional football in February 2021.[15]

International career

Van Damme made his debut for the Belgium national team on 29 March 2003 in a 4–0 friendly loss to Croatia. He appeared for the national team during their unsuccessful qualifying campaigns for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and UEFA Euro 2008.

Personal life

Van Damme was married to former tennis player Elke Clijsters, sister of Kim Clijsters, whom he wed in May 2008 in Bree, Belgium. The marriage ended in 2016. They have two children.[16]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lokeren 1998–99[17] Belgian First Division 1000———10
Germinal Beerschot 2001–02[17] Belgian First Division 7000———70
Ajax 2001–02[17] Eredivisie 10—00—10
2002–03[17] 110—70—180
2003–04[17] 60—50—110
Total 180000012000300
Southampton 2004–05[17] Premier League 600030——90
Werder Bremen (loan) 2005–06[17] Bundesliga 8110—10—101
Anderlecht 2006–07[18] Belgian First Division 25000—30—280
2007–08[17] 29710—100—407
2008–09[17] 22300——2[lower-alpha 1]0243
2009–10[17][18] Belgian Pro League 24210—10110[lower-alpha 2]5458
Total 10012200023112513718
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2010–11[17] Premier League 610000——61
Standard Liège 2010–11[17][18] Belgian Pro League 8241——9[lower-alpha 2]0213
2011–12[17][18] 20522—9011[lower-alpha 3]0427
2012–13[17][18] 28321——7[lower-alpha 2]0374
2013–14[17][18] 28310—7010[lower-alpha 2]0463
2014–15[17] 19210—907[lower-alpha 2]0362
2015–16[17] 17220—41—233
Total 120171240029144020522
LA Galaxy 2016[17] Major League Soccer 28010—203[lower-alpha 4]0340
2017[17] 18131———212
Total 46141002030552
Royal Antwerp 2017–18[17] Belgian First Division A 19010——4[lower-alpha 5]0240
2018–19[17] 25100——9[lower-alpha 5]0341
Total 441100000130581
Lokeren 2019–20[17] Belgian First Division B 23110———241
Career total 379342153067272554246
  1. Belgian First Division championship play-offs
  2. Appearances in Belgian Pro League play-offs
  3. Ten appearances in league-playoffs, one appearance(s) in the Belgian Super Cup
  4. Appearances in MLS play-offs
  5. Appearances in Belgian First Division A play-offs

Honours

Ajax

Werder Bremen

Anderlecht

Standard Liège

Individual

References
  1. "Saints land van Damme". BBC Sport. 9 June 2004. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  2. "Van Damme bound for Anderlecht". UEFA. 6 June 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  3. "Anderlecht’s Ariel Jacobs Hails Players after Clinching Belgian Title". insidefutbol.com. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  4. Adubato, Michael (22 May 2009). "Onyewu: We'll Make Liege Proud". Yanks-Abroad.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009. I almost ended up fighting him (Van Damme). He called me a monkey several times. The league has these anti-racism campaigns, but when I told the referee what Van Damme was saying, he chose not to do anything about it. I also told the journalists after the game last night about this.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. "U.S.' Onyewu sues over alleged racist slur". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. 2 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  6. "Oguchi Onyewu retire sa plainte contre Jelle Van Damme (Oguchi Onyewu withdraws his complaint against Jelle Van Damme)". DH Sports (in French). 17 February 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  7. "Wolves recruit defender Jelle van Damme from Anderlecht". BBC Sport. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  8. "Van Damme deal nets Saints a cash boost". Southern Daily Echo. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  9. "Jelle Van Damme" (in French). Standard Liège. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  10. "Wolves confirm Van Damme deal close". wolves.co.uk. 30 November 2010. Archived from the original on 1 December 2010.
  11. "R.S.C. Anderlecht 2–0 Royal Standard de Liège" (in French). Standard Liège. 23 January 2011. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  12. "LA Galaxy acquire defender Jelle Van Damme". LA Galaxy. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  13. "Jelle van Damme completes exit from LA Galaxy and joins Royal Antwerp". ESPN FC. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  14. "Van Damme tekent bij Sporting Lokeren" (Press release) (in Dutch). Lokeren. 3 July 2019.
  15. "Defender Jelle Van Damme retires from professional soccer". LA Galaxy. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  16. Murrells, Katy (29 October 2010). "Kim Clijsters". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  17. "Jelle Van Damme » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  18. Jelle Van Damme at Soccerway
  19. "CUP BELGIUM. FINAL". besoccer.com. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
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