Jean Capelle


22.309
Minutes

238
Goals

0
Trophies
In the end, football is nothing but a game. And when you play, you typically have a winner and a loser. But just like victory should not lead to arrogance, loss should not give way to despair.
– Jean Capelle
At Sclessin, fans have been spoilt for many years when it comes to world class strikers. Whether it’d be Milan Galic, Erwin Kostedde, Horst Hrubesch of our own Marc Wilmots. They were all strong forwards having that extra edge to please the supporters.
The first real prolific striker in Standard’s history was a local boy from Ougrée, and we need to go back to 1929 to see Jean Capelle indeed make his debut for Les Rouches. The then 16 year old Jean started the game as an inside left against top team Royal Beerschot Athletic Club and it would be the start of a wonderful career in Liège. Obviously Jean would start that first match by scoring his first goal, an average he’d almost be able to maintain throughout his entire career.
It wouldn’t take too long for the national press to start admiring him who they fondly called “L’artiste”, a man who would score 238 goals in 248 official games for Standard in the first division. A performance he’d also replicate at international level, where he made his debut against neighbours The Netherlands when he was only 17 years old. 34 games later he’d score 19 goals for the Belgian national team.
It all started not far from Sclessin. In fact Jean, born in Ougrée in 1913 at the eve of the first world war, lived only 2 miles from the stadium. 12 years later he signed his first member card for Standard, and the rest is history. In his early years the forward was a sporty chap, playing football, tennis or swimming whilst attending the well known College Saint Servais. But it would be his passion and talent for the ‘game’ that would make him finally opt for football and build a great sporting career.
But Jean did not only build a strong reputation as a forward, he’d also become a very successful professional. He was eloquent, worldly and an extremely open minded person who’d travel the world, give several conferences, and finally end up becoming one of the key lawyers in the Walloon area. He’d fill rooms talking about his travels abroad, or looking back at his football career. “Football is nothing but a game”, he used to say. “So clearly there will also be winners and losers. But just like a winning team should never lead to arrogance, a defeat is never a reason for despair.” It perfectly show the gentleman that Jean Capelle was.
That didn’t keep him however from being lethal on the pitch. For more than 13 seasons he’d be Standard’s lead striker, terrorising defenses across Belgium. It would result in Jean scoring a brace in 39 games, a hattrick in 13 games, four goals in 8 games, and even in one game scoring five!
It’s no surprise that Jean Capelle is still the most prolific striker in Standard’s history!
(c) Marc Coudijzer
Birth: October 26th 1913, in Ougrée
Deceased: February 20th 1977, in Liège
Nationality: Belgium
Position: Striker
Affiliated at Standard: November 13th 1925 – September 30th 1960
Trophies with Standard: None
International caps / goals: 34 / 19
Career
Youth Development
1925 – 1929
Royal Standard Club Liégeois
A-team
1929 – 1944
Royal Standard Club Liégeois
Statistics
Games
Belgian Championship
Belgian F.A. Cup
Belgian League Cup
European Cups
246
2
N/A
N/A
Goals
Belgian Championship
Belgian F.A. Cup
Belgian League Cup
European Cups
238
0
N/A
N/A