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Lierse is in deep mourning after losing one of its leading figures in the club’s history with Swat Janssens on Monday. Janssens played more than five hundred matches for Pallieters between 1966 and 1981 and died at his home in Lier. He was 78 years old.
With more than 500 games, Swat Janssens is the player with the most games for Lierse. He arrived from Turnhout in 1966 and was known in Lier for his velvety touch and strong dribbling. He was soon called the Stanley Matthews of Lisp. Over the years he has become a real monument and in 2006 he was included in Lierse’s team of the century on the occasion of the club’s centenary. He played 485 league games at the highest level and scored 106 goals. On the occasion of his 500th match for the Lieren team, a charity match against Manchester City followed.
In the 1968-1969 season he won the Belgian Cup with the yellow-blacks. But the highlight at Lier was undoubtedly the legendary European campaign of the 1971-1972 season and the historic 0-4 victory at Leeds. Swat Janssens is also a former Belgian international and has scored once for the Red Devils. He was part of the selection for the 1970 World Cup and the 1972 European Championship.
After his active career, Swat Janssens devoted himself to his second passion: painting. As a child he enrolled in the drawing academy, after his football career he joined an artistic club specializing in still life painting. Swat Janssens also remained a welcome figure on the Lierse street scene for many years, although in recent years he has retreated a little more. He died on Monday at his home at the age of 78. He leaves behind a wife and a daughter.
2024-01-08 21:18:07
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