Martin Lippens, who collected 33 A-caps for Belgium, played on the midfield, next to Pierre Hanon. In a later stage of his carreer, he joined Laurent Verbiest in Anderlecht's defense. Lippens was an intelligent player, with a strong will. Those qualities were needed in trainer Sinibaldi's system in the sixties. Martin Lippens' intelligence allowed Anderlecht's defense to put every striker offside. His carreer is marked with several up and downs and moments of bad luck.

For example: a thigh injury sidelined him when Sporting met two big European clubs. Manchester United won 10-0 and the Glasgow Rangers won 5-2. Also his first match for Belgium wasn't a success. He lost 0-5 againt Spain. Later on, he would perform better and score against France. As Anderlecht's captain, he won the toss that decided over which team would qualify for the next round in the Europa cup: Anderlecht or Bologna. He played his best European game against CDNA Sofia by scoring two penalties. He was also the first Sporting player to receive a special attention from the club for being in service for 10 years. That was in October 1963. He was awarded with a galamatch and a car.

After his carreer, he became the trainer of Vigor Wuitens Hamme. Eventually, he became Raymond Goethals' assistant (twice). He also served under Urbain Braems, Tomislav Ivic, Paul Van Himst, Arie Haan and Georges Leekens. When Anderlecht trainer Aad De Mos chose Jean Dockx as assistent, Martin Lippens followed Raymond Goethals to Bordeaux.

Lippens died on November 2 of the year 2016, exactly on the same day as Jean Trappeniers; another iconic Anderlecht player.