Gilles De Bilde

Gilles De Bilde (born 9 June 1971) is a retired Belgian footballer who played as a striker. He played club football for Eendracht Aalst, Anderlecht, PSV, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Lierse and Willebroek-Meerhof. He was capped by Belgium at international level.

Gilles De Bilde
Personal information
Full name Gilles De Bilde
Date of birth (1971-06-09) 9 June 1971[1]
Place of birth Zellik, Belgium
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1995 Eendracht Aalst 86 (40)
1995–1997 Anderlecht 46 (22)
1997–1999 PSV 49 (24)
1999–2001 Sheffield Wednesday 59 (13)
2000–2001 → Aston Villa (loan) 4 (0)
2001–2003 Anderlecht 44 (14)
2003–2004 Lierse 15 (1)
2005–2007 Willebroek-Meerhof ? (?)
National team
1994–2000 Belgium 25 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

At Eendracht Aalst, he won the 1994 Belgian Player of the Year and scored 21 goals in 33 league games during the 1994–95 season.[1] He joined Anderlecht in the summer of 1995 and managed a further 22 goals in 46 Belgian First Division matches. In a match between Anderlecht and Aalst in December 1996, he punched Krist Porte in the face, which broke his nose and injured his eye.[3] Previously, De Bilde received a suspended two-year prison sentence in 1992 for head-butting two boy scout leaders and, four months before the Porte incident, he head-butted one nurse and punched another when he was denied access to a hospital room his father was in, having suffered a brain haemorrhage.[3] Johan Boskamp, Anderlecht's head coach, suggested that De Bilde should see a psychiatrist.[3]

In January 1997, De Bilde was transferred to Dutch side PSV for £3m. During his time in Eindhoven, he scored 24 goals in 49 Eredivisie matches.[1] His seven goals in eight league matches during the second half of the 1996–97 season helped PSV become Dutch champions. He joined Sheffield Wednesday in August 1999 and scored ten league goals in his first season with the club, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated from the Premier League.[4] In October 2000, he joined Aston Villa on loan for three months.[5] He made four league appearances for the club, without scoring, and returned to Sheffield Wednesday in January 2001, where he stayed for the remainder of the season after a number of potential transfers failed to materialise.[6] He returned to Anderlecht in July 2001 on a free transfer, having signed a three-year contract.[7] Two years later, De Bilde joined Lierse, where he finished his professional career at the end of the 2003–04 season. He played for Willebroek-Meerhof of the Belgian Promotion between 2005 and 2007. De Bilde – who campaigned for a European ban on cat and dog fur – was fined by the club in 2006 for missing a match to mourn the death of one of his dogs.[8]

International career

De Bilde was capped 25 times by Belgium at international level. He was a member of the squad at Euro 2000 and made one appearance at the finals, in a 2–0 defeat against Turkey.[9][10]

Post-retirement

After retiring, De Bilde became a regular football analyst on Belgian television, featuring on their domestic and Champions League coverage. He appeared as a model for Belgian fashion designer Dirk Bikkembergs, and has appearances on television shows involving celebrity challenges, including Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Shock.

Honours

Club

Anderlecht[11]

PSV Eindhoven[12]

Individual

References
  1. "Gilles De Bilde". Voetbal International. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  2. "Gilles De Bilde". Premier League. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  3. Metcalf, Rupert (27 December 1996). "Disgraced De Bilde behind bars for a night". The Independent. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  4. "Wednesday relegated". BBC Sport. 9 May 2000. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  5. "De Bilde joins Villa on loan". BBC Sport. 11 October 2000. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  6. "De Bilde sticks with Owls". BBC Sport. 1 February 2001. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  7. "De Bilde on his way to Anderlecht". BBC Sport. 16 July 2001. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  8. Bandini, Paolo; Dart, James (20 September 2006). "The strange case of Gilles de Bilde and his dogs". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  9. "Agent slams De Bilde price". BBC Sport. 13 July 2000. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  10. "Belgium fall to Turkey". UEFA. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  11. "Football-The Story | Luc Nilis".
  12. "Football-The Story | Luc Nilis".
  13. "Netherlands Cup Finals".
  14. "Topschutters tweede nationale – Malinwa Statistics".
  15. "Winnaars Gouden Schoen".
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