Gilles De Bilde

At Eendracht Aalst, he won the 1994 Belgian Player of the Year, and scored 21 goals in 33 league games during the 1994–95 season. He joined Anderlecht in the summer of 1995 and managed a further 22 goals in 46 Belgian First Division matches. In a match between Anderlecht and Aalst in December 1996, he punched Krist Porte in the face, which broke his nose and injured his eye. Previously, De Bilde received a suspended two-year prison sentence in 1992 for head-butting two boy scout leaders and, four months before the Porte incident, he head-butted one nurse and punched another when he was denied access to a hospital room his father was in, having suffered a brain haemorrhage. Johan Boskamp, Anderlecht's head coach, suggested that De Bilde should see a psychiatrist. In January 1997, De Bilde was transferred to Dutch side PSV for £3 million. During his time in Eindhoven, he scored 24 goals in 49 Eredivisie matches. His seven goals in eight league matches during the second half of the 1996–97 season helped PSV become Dutch champions. He joined Sheffield Wednesday in August 1999 and scored ten league goals in his first season with the club, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated from the Premier League. In October 2000, he joined Aston Villa on loan for three months. He made four league appearances for the club, without scoring, and returned to Sheffield Wednesday in January 2001, where he stayed for the remainder of the season, after a number of potential transfers…

De Bilde was capped 25 times by Belgium at international level. He was a member of the squad at Euro 2000 and made one appearance at the finals, in a 2–0 defeat against Turkey.

After retiring, De Bilde became a regular football analyst on Belgian television, featuring on their domestic and Champions League coverage. He appeared as a model for Belgian fashion designer Dirk Bikkembergs, and has appearances on television shows involving celebrity challenges, including Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Shock.

Anderlecht

Belgian Supercup: 1995, 2001 PSV Eindhoven

Eredivisie: 1996–97 KNVB Cup runner-up: 1997–98 Johan Cruijff Shield: 1997, 1998 Individual

Belgian Golden Shoe: 1994 Belgian Second Division top scorer: 1993–94 (16 goals)