Carl Hoefkens

Infobox Football biography
playername = Carl Hoefkens


fullname = Carl Hoefkens
nickname =
height = height|m=1.85
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|10|6
cityofbirth = Lier
countryofbirth = Belgium
currentclub = West Bromwich Albion
clubnumber = 2
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1996–2001
2001–2003
2003
2003–2005
2005–2007
2007–
clubs = Lierse
Lommel
Westerlo
Germinal Beerschot
Stoke City
West Bromwich Albion
caps(goals) = 129 (1)
054 (4)
007 (0)
062 (2)
089 (5)
043 (0)
nationalyears = 1999–
nationalteam = Belgium
nationalcaps(goals) = 022 (1)
pcupdate = 15:47, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 16:27, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Carl Hoefkens (born October 6, 1978 in Lier) is a Belgian international footballer. He is currently playing as a defender for West Bromwich Albion and for Belgium.

Club career

Career in Belgium

He started his career at K. Lierse S.K. and played there for six years before taking a move to Lommel but his move turned into a nightmare, when Lommel went broke in 2003. In the summer of 2003, he came to Germinal Beerschot, the first class team of the Belgian city of Antwerp. There, he became one of the pillars of the team. In his second season at Germinal Beerschot, he won the cup in the final against FC Bruges, then champions of Belgium. Hoefkens is still appreciated by Beerschot fans; a group of fans from the club have travelled to England on numerous occasions to watch him play. [cite web|url=http://users.telenet.be/larca/larca/story.htm|title=Stoke City: The story]

toke City

In the summer of 2005 Stoke City manager, Johan Boskamp snapped him up for an undisclosed fee. [cite news
title=Stoke complete deal for Hoefkens
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/4683543.stm
publisher=BBC Sport
date = 2005-07-26
accessdate=2007-08-07] He made his debut for the club in a 0-0 draw against Sheffield Wednesday on 6 August 2005. Hoefkens became an ever-present in the Stoke line-up and wore the number 2 shirt.

Hoefkens received acclaim for his performances in his first season in English football. He became a fans favourite at Stoke and was crowned 'Fans' Player of the year (2005–06). He then won his 9th cap for his country against Kazakhstan (0–0).

During the January 2007 transfer window he was linked with a return to Belgium, with Club Brugge reportedly interested in him. He was also penalty taker for Stoke before the arrival of Danny Higginbotham, however he still maintained a 100% record for the club. Hoefkens impressed both manager and fans alike with his technical ability during the 2006–07 season. He was also praised for his versatility, as he operated as a winger or a central midfielder on occasions in the latter stages of the season.

It was feared that Hoefkens had broken a bone in his foot in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Portugal however a scan revealed that there was no damage. [cite news
title=Hoefkens injury boost for Stoke
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/6504343.stm
publisher=BBC Sport
date = 2007-03-28
accessdate=2007-08-07]

West Bromwich Albion

Stoke accepted a bid which was originally believed to be in the region of £1 million for Hoefkens from West Bromwich Albion on August 4 2007.cite news
title = West Brom close on Hoefkens deal
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/6932245.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-08-05
accessdate = 2007-08-06] He joined Albion on August 7 2007 in a £750,000 deal and was offered a two-year contract plus a further one-year as an option. [cite news
title =Hoefkens seals Baggies switch
url =http://www.wba.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/0,,10366~1086164,00.html
publisher = West Bromwich Albion F.C.
date = 2007-08-07
accessdate = 2007-08-07] Hoefkens made his Albion debut in a 2-1 defeat away at Burnley on the opening day of the 2007-08 season. [cite news
date=2007-08-11
url=http://www.wba.premiumtv.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10366~37431,00.html
title=Burnley vs WBA
publisher=West Bromwich Albion F.C.
accessdate=2007-08-11] One week later, Hoefkens was named in the Championship Team of the Week, following his performance in the 2-0 home win over Preston North End. [cite web |url=http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/staticFiles/42/77/0,,10794~96066,00.pdf
title=Coca-Cola Championship Team Of The Week (20/08/2007)
publisher=The Football League
format=pdf
date=2007-08-20
accessdate=2007-10-09] He is known by his West Brom team mates as "Wolverine", due to his resemblance to the comic book hero from the X-Men. [cite news
title = Saturday's gossip column
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/7331969.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2008-04-05
accessdate = 2008-04-30]

International career

Hoefkens has played for his country eighteen times and has scored one goal. He also represented Belgium in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. [cite web|url=http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/PrevSquad/0,4355,BEL-WYC-1997-191276-19,00.html|title=Malaysia 1997 - Belgium squad|work=FIFA|accessdate=2007-05-25] Hoefkens wears the number 13 shirt for his country.

Personal life

Hoefkens has a son named Milan. [cite news
date=2008-04-29
url=http://www.wba.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/0,,10366~1300750,00.html
title=Hoef: Brunty was perfect for the job
publisher=West Bromwich Albion F.C.
accessdate=2008-04-30]

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=19623|name=Carl Hoefkens
* [http://www.wba.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10366~33987,00.html Profile] on West Bromwich Albion F.C. official site