 Mertens while at Lokeren in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gregory Mertens | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-02-02)2 February 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Anderlecht, Belgium | ||
| Date of death | 30 April 2015(2015-04-30) (aged 24) | ||
| Place of death | Genk, Belgium | ||
| 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) | |
| International career | |||
| 2006 | Belgium U16 | 1 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Belgium U19 | 5 | (1) |
| 2011 | Belgium U21 | 7 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gregory Mertens (2 February 1991 – 30 April 2015) was a Belgian professional football player. His usual position was central defender. He began his senior career with Cercle Brugge and was under contract with Lokeren before he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest during a reserve game in 2015.
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. 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.
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.
Honours
Lokeren
See also
- List of association footballers who died while playing
- List of association footballers who died during their careers
References
- Short, Joe (28 April 2015). "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.
- "Lokeren remporte sa deuxième Coupe de Belgique". rtbf.be. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
External links
- Gregory Mertens at Soccerway
- Gregory Mertens player info at the official Cercle Brugge site (in Dutch)
- Cerclemuseum.be (in Dutch)
- Gregory Mertens at the Royal Belgian Football Association
- 1991 births
- 2015 deaths
- Belgian men's footballers
- Men's association football defenders
- Belgian Pro League players
- People from Anderlecht
- R.S.C. Anderlecht players
- K.A.A. Gent players
- Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players
- K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players
- Belgium men's youth international footballers
- Belgium men's under-21 international footballers
- Association football players who died while playing
- Sport deaths in Belgium
- Footballers from Brussels
- 21st-century Belgian sportsmen