Stéphane Demol, a Red Devil who was key to his teams’ success

Stéphane Auguste Ernest Demol was a Belgian footballer born on 11 March 1966 in the Brussels municipality of Watermael-Boitsfort.

He defended the colours of two of Belgium’s most beloved teams – RSC Anderlecht and one of their strongest rivals, Standard de Liège. Perhaps most importantly of all, he played for the national team, the Belgian Red Devils.

The defender’s football career seemed to be written in the stars: Stéphane honed his football chops at Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht from the tender age of 14, and became part of the first team in 1984. The central defender protected the purple-white squad’s honour for four years and scored four goals in his first full season as a pro.

That track record would not be replicated in his career as an international, which started at age 20 when he was noticed by Guy Thys, the legendary coach who led the Red Devils to their only Euro final and a fourth place in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Demol’s only goal for the Red Devils was one to remember, though. In that very same World Cup, in the Round of 16, scoring the 2-3 against a tied Soviet Union in extra time. Not only that, but he became the youngest player to score a goal at the World Cup.

In 1988, Stéphane Demol temporarily left Belgium to play for Bologna, Porto, and Toulouse. With Porto, Demol actually won the national championship and scored an impressive 11 goals.

His return to the country came three years later, when he joined Standard de Liège in 1991. In his two years with the Rouches, as Standard is colloquially known, his team qualified for the UEFA Cup (now known as the Europa League) twice, and they were second behind the club where Demol cut his teeth as a teenager.

After an underwhelming season at Cercle Brugge, Stéphane went abroad again, with stints in Portugal, Greece, Switzerland and France. He then returned to his home country to play for Denderleeuw, followed by Halle, where he set his first steps as a manager.

Highlights of his career on the side of the pitch include leading Standard to second place as an assistant manager in the 2005-2006 season. After that, he occupied the same position for the national squad when that other Belgian legend, René Vandereycken, was head manager. Demol quit two years later to return to club football.

Stéphane Demol passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack on 22 June 2023, at the age of 57, just two days before Cédric Roussel, another Red Devil who, at 45, also passed too soon.

Photo: Public domain