Erwin Lemmens

Erwin Lemmens (born 12 May 1976) is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is the goalkeeper coach of K.R.C. Genk and the Belgium national team.

Erwin Lemmens
Personal information
Full name Erwin Lemmens
Date of birth (1976-05-12) 12 May 1976
Place of birth Brussels, Belgium
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1999 Beveren 53 (0)
1999–2003 Racing Santander 82 (0)
2003–2005 Espanyol 29 (0)
2005–2006 Olympiacos 0 (0)
2007 RKC 10 (0)
2007–2008 Dender 14 (0)
2009–2010 Beveren 32 (0)
Total 220 (0)
National team
2004 Belgium 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Brussels, Lemmens started his career at K.S.K. Beveren in 1995, and was a regular in his last two years after which he signed for Racing de Santander in Spain. After four seasons and 49 La Liga matches for the Cantabrians (adding 33 appearances in a 2002 promotion) he joined RCD Espanyol also in the country, being first-choice during the 2003–04 campaign.

The arrival of Cameroon international Carlos Kameni the following season meant Lemmens was confined to bench duty, with just one Copa del Rey match to his tally.[1] Subsequently, he signed with Olympiacos F.C. in the summer of 2005, competing with young Kleopas Giannou for the substitute role behind regular Antonios Nikopolidis.[2]

Lemmens did not manage to play one single game with the Greek, being demoted to third-choice in 2006–07 upon the signing of Tomislav Butina. On 31 January 2007 he was finally released by the club, quickly joining Netherlands' RKC Waalwijk on a free transfer; on 10 February he played his first Eredivisie game, against Heracles Almelo.[3]

Lemmens moved to newly promoted F. C. Verbroedering Dender E.H. for 2007–08, and won the competition for first-choice with former R.S.C. Anderlecht's Jan Van Steenberghe. After a hip injury, however, his season came to an end.

After one year out of football, 33-year-old Lemmens signed with first professional club Beveren, now in the second division. He helped the team finish comfortably in mid-table, but they would be relegated due to financial irregularities and he retired shortly after, going on to work as a goalkeeper coach with K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen[4] and K.R.C. Genk.[5]

International career

Courtesy of his early solid performances for Espanyol, Lemmens won two caps for Belgium, both in 2004. His debut came on 31 March, as he featured 32 minutes in a 0–3 friendly loss in Germany.

On 24 January 2013, Lemmens was named the new goalkeeping coach of the Red Devils, replacing the departed Philippe Vande Walle.[6]

References
  1. "Kameni 'dreams' of Man Utd". BBC Sport. 17 March 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  2. Lemmens ripe for Olympiacos; UEFA, 18 July 2005
  3. Haisma, Marcel. "Netherlands 2006/07 Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  4. "Erwin Lemmens entraîneur des gardiens à Lokeren" [Erwin Lemmens goalkeeper coach at Lokeren] (in French). 7 Sur 7. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  5. "Erwin Lemmens nouvel entraîneur des gardiens de Genk" [Erwin Lemmens new Genk goalkeeper coach] (in French). RTBF. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  6. "Erwin Lemmens nouvel entraîneur des gardiens des Diables" [Erwin Lemmens new Devils' goalkeeper coach]. Le Soir (in French). 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

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