Luc Eymael

Luc Eymael (born 20 September 1959) is a Belgian football manager and a former footballer who most recently managed the Tanzanian Young Africans S.C. until July 2020.[1][2]

Luc Eymael
Luc Eymael, Belgian football manager
Personal information
Date of birth (1959-09-20) 20 September 1959
Place of birth Tongeren, Belgium
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Young Africans (Manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1980 Royal Star Fléron 143 (0)
1981–1982 Royale Union Sportive Ferrières 35 (0)
1983–1985 Sporting Heerlen 60 (0)
1985–1990 Racing Club Vaux 175 (0)
1990–1992 Royal Football Club Huy 63 (0)
1992–1995 R.E. Virton 124 (0)
1995–1996 K.S.C. Hasselt 32 (0)
1996–1997 UR Namur 34 (0)
1998–1999 Royal Sporting Club Athusien 30 (0)
1999–2000 Royal Football Club Aubel 33 (0)
Total 729 (0)
Teams managed
1999–2003 RUS Sartoise
2003–2004 Weywertz
2004–2007 Jeunesse Lorraine Arlonaise
2007–2009 RFC Spy
2009–2010 Royal Racing Club Hamoir
2010–2011 AS Vita
2011–2012 Missile
2012 MC Oran
2013 A.F.C. Leopards
2014 Rayon Sports
2014–2015 JS Kairouan
2015 Al-Nasr
2015–2016 Al-Merrikh
2016–2017 Polokwane City
2017–2018 Free State Stars
2018–2019 Tala'ea El Gaish
2019–2020 Black Leopards
2020–2020 Young Africans
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Luc began his professional footballing career in 1975 with the Fléron-based Royal Star Fléron Football Club, with whom he participated in the Belgian Fourth Division and later helped in promotion to the Belgian Third Division. In 1981, he moved to Ferrières where he signed a one-year contract with Belgian Third Division club, Royale Union Sportive Ferrières.

He first moved out of Belgium in 1983 to Netherlands where he signed a two-year contract with Heerlen-based, Eerste Divisie club, Sporting Heerlen.

In 1985, he moved back to Belgium to Vaux-sous-Chèvremont where he signed a long-term contract with, along with Belgian Fifth Division club, Racing Club Vaux. In a five-year spell with the club, he helped them in promotion to the Belgian Fourth Division.

In 1990, he signed a two-year contract with Huy-based Belgian Third Division club, Royal Football Club Huy.

In 1992, he moved to Virton where he signed a long-term contract with Belgian Fourth Division club, R.E. Virton. He first helped his team in promotion to the Belgian Third Division and later in promotion to the Belgian Second Division.

He then moved to Hasselt where in 1995, he signed a one-year contract with Belgian Second Division club, K.S.C. Hasselt.

Later, in 1996, he signed a one-year contract with Union Royale Namur Fosses-La-Ville and helped the club win the 1996–97 Belgian Third Division, earning a promotion to the Belgian Second Division.

In 1998, he moved to Athus where he signed a one-year contract with Belgian Fourth Division club, Royal Sporting Club Athusien. Finally, he ended his career as a footballer in the year 2000, playing for a season with another Belgian Fourth Division club, Royal Football Club Aubel.

He has also participated in various international tournaments with the Belgium U-14 side, the Belgium national under-16 football team and the Belgium national Military football team.

Managerial career

Luc holds the UEFA Pro Licence, the highest football coaching qualification. He received the UEFA Pro Licence in 2007 and the UEFA A License on 10 September 2002, from the Royal Belgian Football Association. He is also a graduate from the Federal School of football coaching of Union Royale Belge Des Sociétés de Football Association (URBSFA). He also holds the CAF A License which he received from the Tunisian Football Federation on 5 February 2015.

He has worked with many of Belgium's current and former footballing stars including Eden Hazard, Axel Witsel, Logan Bailly, Guillaume Gillet, Christian Benteke and François Sterchele.

Belgium

He began his managerial career in 1999 with Lierneux-based Belgian Fifth Division club, RUS Sartoise. In 2003, he was appointed as the head coach of another Belgian Fifth Division club, Weywertz-based, FC Weywertz. In 2004, he moved to Arlon where he signed a three-year contract with Football Club Jeunesse Lorraine Arlonaise with whom he participated in the Belgian Fourth Division and later helped them get promoted to the Belgian Third Division. Later, in 2007, he moved to Spy where he was appointed as the head coach of Belgian Fourth Division club, RFC Spy on a two-year contract. In 2009, he moved to Hamoir where he worked as the head coach of Belgian Third Division club, Royal Racing Club Hamoir and thus ending his eleven-year long-spell in Belgium as a football manager.

Africa

AS Vita

Eymael first moved out of Belgium as a football manager in 2010 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where on 26 August 2010 he was appointed as the head coach of the Linafoot club AS Vita. In his very first season as the head coach of the Kinshasa-based club, he helped them win the 2010 Linafoot. The team finished at the top just above their archrivals, TP Mazembe. Eymael also helped his club win the 2011 Super Coupe du Congo. The Congolese club also reached the Second Round of the 2011 CAF Champions League under his leadership. He maintained an unbeaten 23-games record with the Kinshasa-based club and later resigned from his position by April 2011.

Missile

In May 2011, he moved to Gabon where on 1 July 2011 he was appointed as the head coach of Gabon Championnat National D1 club, Missile. He helped the Libreville-based club win the 2010–11 Gabon Championnat National D1, which was the first national title won in the history of the club, thus helping them qualify for the 2012 CAF Champions League. He also helped the club reach the First Round of the Round of 16 of the 2011 CAF Confederation Cup where they narrowly lost 0–3 on penalties to Algeria's JS Kabylie after the tie had ended 3–3 on aggregate. In the 2011–12 Gabon Championnat National D1, he helped his team secure the fourth position, thus ending his one-year spell with the Gabonese club. He also helped a number of players from his squad earn caps for the Gabon national football team, one of whom later signed a two-year contract with Russian Football Premier League club, FC Rostov.

MC Oran

In June 2012, he moved to Algeria where he was appointed as the head coach of Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club, MC Oran on a one-year-term contract. Later, in September 2012, due to some financial delays he decided to part ways with the Oran-based club.

A.F.C. Leopards

In April 2013, he moved to Kenya where he signed a short-term contract with Kenyan Premier League club, A.F.C. Leopards.[3] He took charge of the club in April 2013 when the club was struggling at the bottom of the table to avoid relegation to the Kenyan National Super League. By August 2014, he had helped the Nairobi-based club secure the second position in the 2013 Kenyan Premier League, thus helping them qualify for the 2014 CAF Confederation Cup. He also helped them win the 2013 FKF President's Cup.

Rayon Sports

In September 2013, South African club, Orlando Pirates reached an agreement with Eymael, but later the deal failed to materialize.[4]

On January 2014, he moved to Rwanda where he was appointed as the head coach of Rwanda National Football League club, Rayon Sports F.C.[5][6] During his short time with the club, the team participated in the 2014 CAF Champions League where they lost on away goals rule to the Republic of the Congo's AC Léopards. He was praised for his impressive work in Rwanda as he helped his side secure 34 points out of 39 in the second leg of the 2013–14 Rwanda National Football League. He resigned as the club's head coach on 30 June 2014, having helped the team secure the second position in the 2013–14 Rwanda National Football League.

JS Kairouan

In July 2014, Eymael moved to Tunisia where he was appointed as the head coach of Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club, JS Kairouan.[7] He helped the club secure the eighth position in the 2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1, which was the club's best ever performance in the top division of the Tunisia Football Federation in the past ten years.[8]

Al-Nasr

In November he became the manager of the Oman football club Al-Nasr SC.

.

Al-Merrikh

On 21 December 2015, he moved to Sudan where, on 23 December 2015, he signed a one-year contract with Al-Merrikh SC.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] He began his 2016 Sudan Premier League campaign[16][17] on 27 January 2016 with a 2–0 win over Merrikh Kosti at the Al-Merrikh Stadium.[18][19][20][21] He helped the Sudanese side qualify for the second round of the 2016 CAF Champions League, where they narrowly lost on aggregate to Algerian side, ES Sétif.[22] His side was narrowly eliminated on a 2-1 aggregate in the playoff round of the 2016 CAF Confederation Cup by Moroccan side, Kawkab Marrakech.[23] In all the competitions played by the Sudanese club under Eymael, they managed to win 17 games and played out 3 draws in a total of 22 ties.

Polokwane City

Eymael spent eight months working at Polokwane City. He found the team struggling and ending every year at the bottom half of the league rankings (precisely between position 16 and 14) fighting relegation battles. Eymael joined the club at the start of the 2016/2017 season and helped them end the first half of the campaign in fifth position in the league. This was the first time the club has reached such a high position, which made them title hopefuls. He then resigned amidst rumours he was going to join Bloemfontein Celtic.

Free State Stars

On 24 August 2017, Eymael joined South African Premier Soccer League club Free State Stars, taking over from Sammy Troughton.[24]In 2018, Eymael guided them to their first cup final in 24 years after they beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-0 in the Nedbank Cup semifinal on 21 April 2018. He then took them to their first title, winning the final 1-0 against Maritzburg United.[25]

On 12 November 2018, Eymael resigned from his position as the manager of Free State Stars following a second straight loss in the league with a 1-0 defeat at home against SuperSport United F.C.[26]

Tala el Geish

On 22 November, Eymael signed a new contract in the Egyptian Premier League with Tala'ea El Gaish. On 1 June he finished his contract with Tala El Geish, finishing the season with the club in rank eight, the best position the club had achieved in the past seven years. He managed 20 games, winning eight, finishing six in a draw, and losing six.

Black Leopards

On 1 October 2019, Eymael signed with the Black Leopards in the Premier Soccer League in South Africa.[27] Eymael resigned from his position with the Black Leopards of South Africa, citing personal reasons, after having helped bring them to the top eight.[28]

Young Africans

He took the team at position number 6 in January and succeeded to finish the season on 26 July 2020 at position number 2 and qualified Yanga for the champions league.[29][30]

Achievements as manager

Honors
  • Winners 2010
  • Super Coupe du Congo (1):
  • Winners 2011
  • Winners 2010–11
  • Winners 2018

References
  1. "Luc Eymael". SOCCERWAY.
  2. Mabuka, Dennis (July 29, 2020). "Sacked Yanga SC coach Eymael returns to Belgium, to face TFF on August 1". Goal. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  3. "Luc Eymael: Why I opted to join AFC Leopards". GOAL.
  4. "Belgian Coach Wants PSL Move". soccerladuma.co.za.
  5. "RWANDAN GIANTS ON LUC EYMAEL'S TRAIL". futaa.com.
  6. "Rayon Sports sign Luc Eymael as new coach". The New Times.
  7. "MERCATOACTUALITÉS JS KAIROUAN : LUC EYMAEL JETTE L'ÉPONGE". 2022mag.com.
  8. "TUNISIE : LE BELGE LUC EYMAEL QUITTE LA JSK". africatopsports.com.
  9. "Al Merreikh : Hatem Belhouchet et Luc Eymael signeront aujourd'hui". kawarji.com.
  10. "Eymael signe mardi après-midi pour Al Merreikh". INFOS FOOT.
  11. "El Merreikh : Eymael va signer". footafrica365.fr.
  12. "التونسي حاتم بلوشات مساعدا للبلجيكي مانويل في المريخ السوداني". sportksa.net.
  13. "Eymael promises to deliver at Al Merreikh". Soka.
  14. "البلجيكي لوك إيماييل مدربا رسميا للمريخ السوداني". KOOORA.
  15. "المريخ يكمل التفاوض مع مدربه الجديد ويقدمه في مؤتمر صحفي". KOOORA.
  16. "لوك إيمَل: المريخ سيكون جاهزا للدوي السوداني بنسبة 80%". KOOORA.
  17. "مدرب المريخ يعلن إستعداده لخوض موسمه الأول ويحذر الإعلام". KOOORA.
  18. "AL MERREIKH VS. MERREIKH KOSTI 2 – 0". SOCCERWAY.
  19. "مدرب المريخ يشيد بالأداء الجماعي للفريق ويعد بالتجويد". KOOORA.
  20. "Adaptation réussie pour Eymael au Soudan". walfoot.be.
  21. "Al-Merreikh : Ça plane pour Eymael". footafrica365.
  22. "ES SÉTIF VS. AL MERREIKH 0 - 0". SOCCERWAY.
  23. "KAWKAB ATHLETIC CLUB MARRAKECH 2-0 AL MERREIKH". cafonline.com.
  24. "Stars part with Troughton, hire Luc". SuperSport.
  25. "The wait is over for Free State Stars". THE SOUTH AFRICAN.
  26. "Ex-Free State Stars coach Luc Eymael hopes for PSL stay". KICKOFF.com.
  27. https://www.kickoff.com/news/articles/south-africa-news/categories/news/premiership/black-leopards-confirm-luc-eymael-as-new-head-coach/664069
  28. "Black Leopards set to cut ties with Luc Eymael". Kick Off. 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  29. Eymael, Luc (26 July 2020). [t.ly/usqU "Yanga classement"] Check |url= value (help). Facebook.
  30. OnTime, OnTime (8 August 2020). "Sport". Youtube.
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