FLASHBACK On April 14, 1945, Johan 'Jean' Devrindt was born in Lommel. Devrindt may be a somewhat forgotten striker of Anderlecht, but he was nonetheless of great importance to the Mauves.
He made his debut in 1964 for the Brussels club and would remain in the capital for six seasons. During that period, he contributed to four league titles and one cup victory.
He was Anderlecht's top scorer in the 1968-69 season. In the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the first true European competition, he scored the opening goal against Arsenal. Anderlecht won 3–1 at home; Kennedy scored the only English goal shortly before full time. That goal proved crucial, as Anderlecht lost the return leg 3–0 in London. They conceded two goals in the final fifteen minutes and thus had to forget about the trophy.
He also earned 23 caps for the Red Devils, scoring 15 goals (0.65 goals per game). He made his debut against the Netherlands in a national team entirely staffed with Anderlecht players. He also led the Red Devils to the 1970 World Cup by scoring six times in the qualifiers.
At Anderlecht, he scored 66 times in 113 matches (0.58 goals per game).
Later on, Devrindt would also play for PSV Eindhoven and rival Club Brugge, among others. According to his own account, he could also have joined Real Madrid, but he did not dare take that step for the sake of his family. Later on, he found the net with ease at Lokeren and Winterslag as well. He ended his career at La Louvière and finally KVK Tienen in 1982.
Source: © Internal source
In a flashback article, we look back in time at an important event for the club or a former player.
