Degryse goes back to his roots

Marc Degryse has returned to his old club Club Brugge KV in the role of technical director after retiring from professional football last year.

Boardroom resistance
Degryse has been welcomed back to the club where he played in the 1980s by new president Dr Michel D'Hooghe after months of talks. D'Hooghe had experienced some resistance from the Brugge board when he suggested bringing in Degryse as technical director, but having taken over from the late Michael Van Maele two months ago, the hiring of the former striker represents his first major act as chairman.

Diplomatic efforts
The decision to hire the 37-year-old demanded a considerable effort on the part of the new president, with the club's general manager, Antoine Van Hove, and coach, Trond Sollied, both initially less then enthusiastic about bringing in the former Belgian international. "The technical staff here are working so well that bringing someone else in has no point," said Van Hove. "Degryse at Brugge? What has he done to earn this job?" added Sollied, who coached the striker in his time in charge of KAA Gent.

Club career
However, after talks it has now been decided that Degryse will work closely alongside Van Hove and will take some responsibility for the hiring and firing of players. Degryse joined Brugge as a teenager in 1980 and played there for nine years before joining RSC Anderlecht in 1989. He spent the 1995/96 season in England with Sheffield Wednesday FC and then joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven before spending the 1998/99 season under Sollied at Gent. He finished his career with KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen.

Belgian honours
Degryse scored 23 goals in 63 appearances for Belgium and played in the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cup finals. He won the Golden Shoe in 1991 while at Anderlecht, was voted Belgium's player of the year four times, and won the Belgian title five times, once with Brugge and four times with Anderlecht. In addition, he won the Dutch title in his first season at PSV.