Ian Claes

Ian Claes (born 16 July 1981 in Sint-Truiden) is a retired Belgian professional footballer. During his career, he played as a forward for Sint-Truiden, Heerenveen, KV Mechelen, Oud-Heverlee Leuven and Tongeren.[1]

Ian Claes
Personal information
Full name Ian Claes
Date of birth (1981-07-16) 16 July 1981
Place of birth Sint-Truiden, Belgium
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Sint-Truiden
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2000 Sint-Truiden 0 (0)
2000–2001 Heerenveen 2 (0)
2001–2003 Mechelen 3 (0)
2002–2003 → OH Leuven (loan) 19 (5)
2003–2004 Tongeren 15 (2)
National team‡
1999 Belgium U18 2 (0)
2000–2001 Belgium U21 4 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 August 2012
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 August 2012

As a promising youngster with Sint-Truiden, Claes was selected for two 2000 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship qualifying matches in 1999 and signed by Dutch team Heerenveen led by Foppe de Haan. As De Haan was impressed, Claes was immediately brought into the first team, playing the first two matches of the 2000-01 season.[2] For unclear reasons, he never played any matches for Heerenveen thereafter, moving back to Belgium the next season at Mechelen. Although Claes gained 4 caps for the Belgium U21 during the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification, scoring one goal against Latvia, he only featured in three matches and during the 2002–03 season, Mechelen loaned him out to Belgian Third Division team OH Leuven. As a result of Mechelen being refused a Belgian professional football license after going into liquidation later that season, the contract of Claes was annulled, causing him to be a free player after his loan spell at OH Leuven. He played one more season at Tongeren, before quitting professional football.

References
  1. Voetbal International profile
  2. "Heerenveen Fan Site feanonline.nl". Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.


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