Goyvarts, Fernand

Fernan Hoywarts was born in Mechelen in 1938, but his parents moved to the Belgian coastal city of Knokke-Heist shortly after his birth. Technically experienced, playing street and beach soccer, he joined the Brugge youth team at the age of 14. Only two years later he made his debut in the main team, which then played in the second division. He quickly became an idol for fans, especially after his goal from the penalty spot against CS Verviers in 1958 was decisive for the club to enter the top division. His cold-blooded hit on the ball lives in memory for a long time, given that since then he has become the leader of his club. In total, he spent 52 matches there and scored 20 goals.

In 1962, he moved to Barcelona after a conflict with team head coach Norbert Heffling , becoming the first Belgian footballer in Spain to pay 5 million Belgian francs for this transfer . However, this was not the beginning of the Hoywarts dream: the South American trio of Luis Cubilla , Caetano Re and Juan Seminario blocked his path to the first team. “Only two foreign players were allowed into the roster, while others were allowed to play because of their Spanish origin,” Goyvarts explained. “I was not lucky because I had only a Polish grandmother.” It was only a matter of time before the Goyvarts settled in "blaugrana." The following season, under the guidance of coach Ladislav Kubala, he was on top and in 1964 he was recognized as the best foreigner in the championship of Spain . In the same year, he scored the first goal for the Blaugranas on December 13 in a match against Valencia , which ended with a 2-4 victory for the Catalans. In the team, the Belgian won the only trophy - the Spanish Cup .

A year later, Fernand moved to Real Madrid , but due to injuries and excess weight, he failed to gain a foothold at the base of the club, and in 1967 he moved to Elche , where the Belgian footballer played under the guidance of Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano .

In 1971, Goyvarts returned to Belgium, having played before in “Nice” . There he played for teams such as Circle Brugge , Lokeren , RC Lauwe and Tournai, ending his career in 1979 at the age of 40. ^[one]

Despite the fact that Goyvarts was one of the most talented Belgian football players of his era, he played only 8 times for the “Red Devils”. He scored only once - in a match against the Netherlands . At that time, professional footballers were not allowed to play for the national team.

After his football career, Goyvarts worked as an agent and played an important role in taking Daniel Amokachi and Jean-Pierre Papin to Brugge. “The idea to go in this direction, and not to do coaching, grew up during my stay in Spain, where the profession was conducted for years,” Goyvarts once said.

At the age of 65, he died after a brain hemorrhage .

  Barcelona

• Spanish Cup Winner : 1962/63
• Total: 1 trophy

  "RealMadrid"

• Champion of Spain: 1966/67
• European Cup Winner : 1965/66
• Total: 2 trophies