Gregory Mertens
Gregory Mertens (2 February 1991 – 30 April 2015) was a Belgian professional football player. His usual position was central defender. He last played for Lokeren.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gregory Mertens | ||
| Date of birth | 2 February 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Anderlecht, Belgium | ||
| Date of death | 30 April 2015 (aged 24) | ||
| Place of death | Genk, Belgium | ||
| Playing position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–2005 | Anderlecht | ||
| 2005–2006 | Dilbeek Sport | ||
| 2006–2010 | Gent | ||
| 2010–2011 | Cercle Brugge | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2014 | Cercle Brugge | 73 | (5) |
| 2014–2015 | Lokeren | 28 | (0) |
| Total | 101 | (5) | |
| National team | |||
| 2006 | Belgium U16 | 1 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Belgium U19 | 5 | (1) |
| 2011 | Belgium U21 | 7 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Career
Mertens moved from the reserves of K.A.A. Gent to the first team of Cercle Brugge in the 2010–11 winter transfer window, at the recommendation of manager Bob Peeters, who had been his coach at the Gent reserves the previous season.
On 12 February 2011, Mertens made his senior debut for Cercle as an 89th-minute substitute for Hans Cornelis in a match against his former team R.S.C. Anderlecht. Cercle lost the match 1–0.
On 23 May 2013, he scored his first hat trick against WS Woluwe.
Death
Mertens suffered a cardiac arrest during a reserve game for Lokeren against K.R.C. Genk on 27 April 2015. He was immediately taken to hospital where he was put in an artificially induced coma.[1] He died on 30 April 2015 at around 16:30. Lokeren declared that Mertens had passed all fitness tests set by UEFA, and therefore the cause of his cardiac arrest needed to be established.[2]
On the day after his death, Lokeren lined up for their play-off match against Westerlo in T-shirts bearing Mertens' name and squad number 4.[3]
References
- Short, Joe. "Belgian footballer Gregory Mertens in artificial coma after collapsing during match". Express.co.uk.
- "Gregory Mertens: Ex-Belgium U21 player dies after collapse". BBC Sport. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- "Gregory Mertens: Lokeren return to action after player's death". BBC Sport. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
External links
- Gregory Mertens at Soccerway
- Gregory Mertens player info at the official Cercle Brugge site (in Dutch)
- Cerclemuseum.be (in Dutch)
- Belgium Stats at Belgian FA