François van der Elst

François Van der Elst

Van der Elst in 1977
Personal information
Full name	François Van der Elst
Date of birth	(1954-12-01)1 December 1954
Place of birth	Opwijk, Belgium
Date of death	11 January 2017(2017-01-11) (aged 62)
Place of death	Aalst, Belgium
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Winger
Youth career
1965–1969	VCE Mazenzele
1969–1971	Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1971–1980	Anderlecht	243	(82)
1980–1981	New York Cosmos	43	(12)
1981–1983	West Ham United	62	(14)
1983–1986	Lokeren	57	(12)
Total		405	(120)
National team
1973–1983	Belgium	44	(14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

François "Swat" Van der Elst (1 December 1954 – 11 January 2017) was a Belgian footballer who played as a right winger.

His younger brother, Leo, was also a professional footballer. Both were Belgian internationals.

From 1969 to 1980 Van der Elst played for R.S.C. Anderlecht, with which he would go on to total 82 Belgian Pro League goals, surpassing 100 overall. In 1976 he was part of the 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup-winning squad, netting twice in the final against West Ham United (4–2) and, in the following season's league, was crowned the competition's top scorer at 21 goals, as the Brussels side finished in second position.

In January 1982, after a brief United States spell with the New York Cosmos, Van der Elst signed with West Ham United for £400,000, proceeding to score 17 times in 70 overall appearances. He finished his career back home, with K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen.

Van der Elst gained 44 caps and netted 14 goals for Belgium, helping the nation to the second place in the UEFA Euro 1980 tournament. He was part of the squad that competed at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, playing the second halves of the 1–0 win over El Salvador for the first group stage (in Elche) and the 0–3 loss to Poland for the second group phase (Barcelona).