.jpg) Defour playing forAnderlecht in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Steven Arnold Defour[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1988-04-15)15 April 1988 (age 37)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Mechelen, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1997 | Zennester Hombeek | ||
| 1997–2004 | Mechelen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2006 | Genk | 30 | (1) |
| 2006–2011 | Standard Liège | 127 | (13) |
| 2011–2014 | Porto | 65 | (3) |
| 2014–2016 | Anderlecht | 63 | (9) |
| 2016–2019 | Burnley | 51 | (2) |
| 2019–2020 | Antwerp | 11 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Mechelen | 16 | (0) |
| Total | 363 | (28) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003 | Belgium U15 | 5 | (1) |
| 2003–2004 | Belgium U16 | 11 | (1) |
| 2004–2005 | Belgium U17 | 11 | (1) |
| 2005 | Belgium U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2006–2017 | Belgium | 52 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021–2022 | Mechelen (assistant) | ||
| 2022–2023 | Mechelen | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Steven Arnold Defour (born 15 April 1988) is a Belgian former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder, currently amanager.
He played 247 games and scored 23 goals in theBelgian Pro League forGenk,Standard Liège,Anderlecht,Antwerp andMechelen, winning two league titles and anational cup with the second team. Abroad, he won thePrimeira Liga twice atPorto and played in thePremier League for three years atBurnley.
Defour earned 52caps forBelgium in an 11-year international career that began in 2006, and represented the nation in the2014 World Cup.
Born inMechelen, Defour played youth football with localK.V. Mechelen, moving toK.R.C. Genk in 2004.[3] He made hisPro League debut on 30 October 2004 as a 78th-minutesubstitute forPaul Kpaka in a 1–0 home win againstSint-Truidense V.V. in aLimburg derby, and scored his first goal on 5 November the following year, alsoassisting in the 4–1 victory overK.S.V. Roeselare at theFenixstadion.[4] At just 17, he became first choice,[5] finishing the2005–06 campaign with 26 games and one goal to help his team to the fifth position.
When Genk failed to qualify forEuropean competition, Defour tried to move toAFC Ajax in the summer of 2006. Enraged by earlier reports that Ajax had approached the player to broker a deal without their consent, Genk did not accept the proposed transfer fee, and after protracted negotiations, Ajax pulled out of the deal. Defour tried to force a transfer by threatening to leave, using a Belgian law that allowed professional athletes on fixed-term contracts to leave their employers before the end of the stipulated term, but Ajax did not express a renewed interest in his services, and he ended up signing forStandard Liège for a much-reduced transfer fee, effectively breaking agentlemen's agreement between Belgian sides not to sign under-contract players using the aforementioned law.[6][7][8]
Defour joined Standard on a five-year deal,[9] being appointedteam captain at the start of hissecond year after taking over from Portugal'sSérgio Conceição – he was just 19 years old.[10] He received theBelgian Golden Shoe at the end of the season in the process, leading theReds to their first league title in 25 years.[11]
In late 2009, shortly after scoring four goals in 31 games to help Standardrenew their domestic supremacy, Defour broke his right foot. During his period of recovery he received a letter fromAlex Ferguson, manager ofManchester United, wishing him all the best in his recovery,[12] and this led to persistent rumours of a switch to the English club, but he refuted these by saying "I do know that Manchester United are monitoring me – if everything goes well and I continue playing as I am, there is a better chance of me leaving than there was at the start of the season";[13] eventually, nothing came of it.
On 15 August 2011, Portuguese clubFC Porto agreed to buy the sporting rights of Defour for€6 million, and he signed a five-year contract.[14][15][16] He finished hisfirst year with 37 official appearances and added two goals,[17][18] helping his new team to win thePrimeira Liga championship.[19]
Defour netted Porto's second goal againstGNK Dinamo Zagreb on 18 September 2012 inthe group stage of theUEFA Champions League (2–0 away win).[20] The following 13 March, for the same competition but in theround of 16, he wasbooked twice and subsequentlysent off in the 49th minute of the second leg of the tie atMálaga CF, as thenortherners lost 2–0 atLa Rosaleda Stadium and 2–1 on aggregate.[21]
On 13 August 2014, Defour moved toR.S.C. Anderlecht on a five-year deal, for €6 million. On 25 January of the following year, when playing at Standard Liège, he was sent off for deliberately kicking the ball at home fans who had unfurled a banner depicting his severed head under the slogan "Red or Dead". His ejection caused the visiting supporters to rip out their seats and throw them onto the pitch,[22] and the banner received criticism from both theRoyal Belgian Football Association and the league.[23]
On 16 August 2016, Defour signed forPremier League clubBurnley on a three-year deal for a club-record transfer fee of £8 million.[24][25] He made his competitive debut four days later, starting in a 2–0 home win overLiverpool in which he helped create the second goal byAndre Gray but was substituted early in the second half due to a lack of fitness.[26] On 10 September, also atTurf Moor, he scored his first goal for his new team to open a 1–1 draw with fellow promoteeHull City, and was praised after the match by managerSean Dyche.[27]
Defour scored a 25-yarddirect free kick on 26 December 2017, as Burnley led 2–0 athalf-time in an eventual draw at Manchester United.[28] During his later spell, he was constantly bothered by injury problems.[29] His contract was extended in September 2018 to last until June 2020,[30] but on 31 August 2019, he had it terminated citing personal reasons and a need to return to Belgium.[31]
In September 2022, Dyche named Defour as the most talented player he ever coached in his ten years at Burnley.[32]
In September 2019, aged 31, Defour joinedAntwerp on a one-year deal.[33][34] On 16 October 2020, he returned toMechelen 13 years after leaving theAchter de Kazerne, agreeing to a performance-oriented contract.[35]
Defour announced his retirement on 11 May 2021.[36]
Defour was first called up for theBelgian senior team by managerRené Vandereycken in May 2006, aged just 18.[37] He made his debut on 11 May in afriendly againstSaudi Arabia inSittard in the Netherlands, playing all but the last minute of a 2–1 win;[4] he scored his first goal on 6 September 2008, in a 3–2 victory overEstonia at his club ground theStade Maurice Dufrasne for the2010 FIFA World Cupqualifiers.[38]
Defour scored once in three appearances inqualification for the2014 World Cup, opening a 2–0 away defeat ofScotland on 6 September 2013.[39] He was selected for thefinals in Brazil by managerMarc Wilmots,[40] making his debut inthe competition on 26 June in the third group stage match againstSouth Korea after Belgium had already won their first two outings and sealed qualification, and was sent off in the last minute of the first half of the eventual 1–0 win after a rash tackle onKim Shin-wook.[41]
Defour missedUEFA Euro 2016 due to injury and the2018 World Cup, having been sidelined since that January.[42] On 25 May that year, the 30-year-old announced his retirement from international football.[43]
On 17 October 2022, Defour returned to Mechelen as head coach; previously an assistant, he replaced the dismissedDanny Buijs.[44] In his first game two days later, he won 2–0 at home to Standard;[45] he reachedthe final of theBelgian Cup in hisfirst season, losing 2–0 toMark van Bommel's Antwerp.[46]
On 2 November 2023, after having been ousted by lowlyRoyal Knokke F.C. in theround of 32 of the domestic cup and with the team inside the relegation zone in the league, Defour was shown the door.[47]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Genk | 2004–05 | Belgian First Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Belgian First Division | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | — | 29 | 1 | |||
| Total | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 33 | 1 | ||||
| Standard Liège | 2006–07 | Belgian First Division | 29 | 4 | 7 | 1 | — | 4[b] | 0 | — | 40 | 5 | ||
| 2007–08 | Belgian First Division | 24 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 3[a] | 0 | — | 30 | 2 | |||
| 2008–09 | Belgian Pro League | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 10[c] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 45 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | Belgian Pro League | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[e] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| 2010–11 | Belgian Pro League | 27 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 32 | 3 | ||||
| 2011–12 | Belgian Pro League | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 127 | 13 | 16 | 2 | — | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 165 | 15 | |||
| Porto | 2011–12 | Primeira Liga | 24 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8[f] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 2 |
| 2012–13 | Primeira Liga | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7[g] | 1 | 1[h] | 0 | 40 | 4 | |
| 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 16 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9[i] | 0 | 1[h] | 0 | 36 | 1 | |
| Total | 65 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 113 | 7 | ||
| Anderlecht | 2014–15 | Belgian Pro League | 29 | 6 | 4 | 1 | — | 6[j] | 0 | — | 39 | 7 | ||
| 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | 32 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 9[e] | 0 | — | 42 | 3 | |||
| 2016–17 | Belgian First Division A | 2 | 1 | — | — | 2[g] | 0 | — | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 63 | 9 | 5 | 2 | — | 17 | 0 | — | 85 | 11 | ||||
| Burnley | 2016–17 | Premier League | 21 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 2 | ||
| 2017–18 | Premier League | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | |||
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| Total | 51 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 58 | 3 | |||
| Royal Antwerp | 2019–20 | Belgian First Division A | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| Mechelen | 2020–21 | Belgian First Division A | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 363 | 28 | 42 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 62 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 485 | 37 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 2006 | 3 | 0 |
| 2007 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 52 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 September 2008 | Stade Maurice Dufrasne,Liège, Belgium | 15 |  Estonia | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2010 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 6 September 2013 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, Scotland | 39 |  Scotland | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2014 World Cup qualification |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Mechelen |  | 17 October 2022 | 2 November 2023 | 41 | 15 | 9 | 17 | 50 | 62 | −12 | 036.59 |
| Career totals | 41 | 15 | 9 | 17 | 50 | 62 | −12 | 036.59 | |||
Standard Liège
Porto
Individual
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