Leo Albert Jozef "Lei" Clijsters (November 9, 1956 – January 4, 2009) was a Belgian professional footballer, known for being a tough defender. He was mainly affiliated with Y.R. K.V. Mechelen, with whom he won the European Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup, throughout his career.
Also a prominent member of the Belgian national team, he was the father of tennis players Kim and Elke Clijsters.
Clijsters, a native of Opitter, started his f...
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Leo Albert Jozef "Lei" Clijsters (November 9, 1956 – January 4, 2009) was a Belgian professional footballer, known for being a tough defender. He was mainly affiliated with Y.R. K.V. Mechelen, with whom he won the European Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup, throughout his career.
Also a prominent member of the Belgian national team, he was the father of tennis players Kim and Elke Clijsters.
Clijsters, a native of Opitter, started his football career with Opitter FC. Later he played for Club Brugge, K.S.K. Tongeren, K. Patro Maasmechelen, K. Waterschei S.V. Thor Genk, Y.R. K.V. Mechelen and R.F.C. de Liège. With Mechelen, he won the Belgian Cup in 1987, going on to win the subsequent Cup Winners' Cup and European Super Cup. He added the Belgian League in 1988-89, always as a club captain.
In 1988, Clijsters also won the Golden Shoe award as league's MVP, and eventually retired with Liège at the age of 36. Immediately, he starting working as a manager with one of his former...
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