Thomas Buffel

Thomas Buffel

Buffel in training with Belgium in 2006
Personal information
Full name Thomas Buffel
Date of birth (1981-02-19) 19 February 1981
Place of birth Bruges, Belgium
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Genk
Number 19
Youth career
Ruddervoorde
Cercle Brugge
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2005 Feyenoord 80 (34)
2000–2002 → Excelsior (loan) 63 (27)
2005–2008 Rangers 83 (16)
2008–2009 Cercle Brugge 35 (5)
2009– Genk 251 (41)
National team‡
1995 Belgium U15 2 (0)
1995–1998 Belgium U16 12 (1)
1995–1998 Belgium U17 22 (14)
1998–1999 Belgium U18 11 (1)
2000 Belgium U19 1 (0)
2002 Belgium U21 2 (0)
2002– Belgium 36 (6)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:01, 15 August 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2013

Thomas Buffel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈtoːmɑz ˈbɵfəl],[1] born 19 February 1981) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Jupiler League side RC Genk. He is an attacking midfielder and can play as a striker. He has represented the Belgian football team at international level.

Club career

Thomas Buffel in Genk

Early career

Buffel began his career with Belgian sides Ruddervoorde and Cercle Brugge before making a move to the Netherlands.

Buffel played for the Dutch team Feyenoord in the 1999-2000 season, before moving to their feeder team Excelsior Rotterdam from 2000 to 2002. He returned to Feyenoord for the 2002-2003 Dutch season. He reportedly fell out with then-manager Ruud Gullit in the next season "after refusing to sign a new contract".[2]

Rangers

Buffel moved to the Scottish side Rangers in January 2005 in a £2.3 million, four-and-a-half-year deal.[3] He made his debut in the Scottish Cup coming on as a substitute against Old Firm rivals Celtic in what was to be a 2-1 defeat.[4] However, the season did not end badly for him as he was to play a key role in the 2005 Scottish League Cup Final, where Rangers defeated Motherwell 5-1.[5] He also featured in the Rangers team for the latter part of the season where he would help them to their 51st league title[6] making it a double for his first season with the club. Buffel scored five goals is 18 appearances in all competitions.[7][8]

Buffel featured in the Champions League and helped Rangers reach the last 16 of the tournament, where they lost to Villarreal 3-3 on aggregate and were knocked out on away goals rule. Across all competitions, he scored seven goals in 38 appearances during the 2005-2006 season[9] mostly playing in the midfield.

In the 2007 January transfer window, German club Hannover 96 expressed an interest in him, with Rangers manager Walter Smith saying Buffel was free to leave. However, the deal fell through when Buffel was unable to agree personal terms with the Bundesliga side.[10] It was announced on 9 February 2007 that Buffel would undergo surgery on a long-term knee injury and would not take any further part in the 2006-07 season.[11] He returned to action on 26 December as a substitute in Rangers' 3-1 win over Motherwell[12] but did not feature regularly.

Cercle Brugge

Buffel's Rangers career came to an end when he joined former club Cercle Brugge on 1 July 2008.[13]

KRC Genk

In the 2009 summer transfer window Buffel made a last-minute transfer to KRC Genk as part of a deal between Genk and Cercle Brugge with Jelle Vossen (on loan) and Hans Cornelis moving the opposite way.[14]

In the 2010-2011 season he won the Belgian league title with Genk.[15]

International career

Buffel made his debut for Belgium against Andorra in October 2002 in what was to be a 1-0 victory.[16] He has since then gained 35 caps and scored 7 goals. In recent times he has been out of the picture as a player of the Belgian national football team.

Thomas Buffel: International Goals
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 30 April 2003 Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels  Poland 3 – 1 Won Friendly
2 11 October 2003 Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège  Estonia 2 – 0 Won Euro 2004 Qualification
3 18 August 2004 Ullevaal, Oslo  Norway 2 – 2 Drawn Friendly
4 18 August 2004 Ullevaal, Oslo  Norway 2 – 2 Drawn Friendly
5 26 March 2005 Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels  Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 – 1 Won 2006 World Cup Qualification
6 7 September 2005 Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp  San Marino 8 – 0 Won 2006 World Cup Qualification

Honours

Club

Rangers
Genk

References

  1. ↑ In isolation, Thomas is pronounced [ˈtoːmɑs].
  2. ↑ "Rangers just fan-tastic". Evening Times. 6 January 2005. Archived from the original on 16 February 2005. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Rangers secure Buffel signature". BBC Sport. 5 January 2005.
  4. ↑ "Celtic 2-1 Rangers". BBC Sport. 9 January 2005.
  5. ↑ "Rangers 5-1 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 20 March 2005.
  6. ↑ Grahame, Ewing (23 May 2005). "Novo has Rangers in a party mood". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Thomas Buffel". soccerbase.com. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Rangers Player Thomas Buffel Details". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Rangers Player Thomas Buffel Details". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Buffel Bundesliga move collapses". BBC Sport. 31 January 2007.
  11. ↑ "Buffel's season ended by injury". BBC Sport. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Lindsay, Clive (26 December 2007). "Rangers 3-1 Motherwell". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "Buffel exits Rangers for Cercle". BBC Sport. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "Buffel naar Genk, Vossen en Cornelis naar Cercle" [Buffel to Genk, Vossen and Cornelis to Cercle]. De Morgen (in Dutch). 1 September 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  15. ↑ Scholten, Berend (17 May 2011). "Genk pip Standard to Belgian title". UEFA. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "Andorra 0-1 Belgium". UEFA.com. 12 October 2002.
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