HEADCOACH PETER MAES

“No one should be more important than the team”.

On December 7, 2020, we heard sighs of relief from all sides in the press room at Stayen. From the board and from brand-new coach Peter Maes who could finally get back to work in the highest soccer league. The board had found the ideal coach to push the club to the top, a Limburger with the heart and the fire of the STVV-supporter. Peter Maes breathed Stayen and could hardly wait to get started on his assignment.

4 times national champion with Anderlecht

Peter feels like a real Lommelite, even though he was born in Schoten on 1 June 64. Peter: “For a while, my mother worked for a diamond merchant in Antwerp, hence my birthplace, but she was homesick for Lommel and that’s why we returned.” He was in goal for Lommel SK at 16 and later promoted from third to second division. After an intermediate step at Racing Mechelen, he ended up at Anderlecht. A special story.

Peter: “I had broken my leg and still Aad de Mos wanted me at Anderlecht. I needed one and a half year to get fit. I worked like a horse and managed to convince Michel Verschueren. Through devotion. If I have to, I’ll go through a wall. You have to stick to your ideals, that’s what I’ve always done”. Peter ended up playing for Anderlecht for 6 years. In that period, he became national champion four times. “I had Filip De Wilde in front of me, I was the ideal second goalkeeper. I never disappointed and still played quite a few matches, including European ones.”

“I was verbally strong”

At Anderlecht, he learned a lot from Dutch coaches Boskamp and de Mos. “De Mos was very strong in making his players mentally strong. A good psychologist, he could motivate a team. With Johan Boskamp I initially had a love-hate relationship. We quarreled a lot, sometimes we stood nose to nose, but in the long run we couldn’t miss each other anymore. I coached from the bench. He made the group stronger through me. A bond grew between us with mutual respect.” After Anderlecht, Peter played another good season at Beveren and then got another three-year contract at Standard. “I still played a lot of matches there. My strong points? I was verbally strong and could thus provide a good organization. I also had good reflexes on the line.”

Coach of the Year

He ends his goalkeeping career at Beerschot. There, Franky Van der Elst is then coach and he gives him good advice. “I had an offer to become a trainer and hesitated. Franky said I should jump and take my chance and so I became a coach at Meerhout at 38.” And then there was momentum in his coaching career. Four years at Geel and four years at KV Mechelen followed. “It was always cleaning up debris. At Mechelen I built a new team and we played a cup final. Then I had to do the same at Lokeren. President Lambrecht was an autocrat but I said my opinion and I made his players better. At Lokeren, we won the cup twice and played Europe twice.” 2014 at Lokeren is a top season. Peter Maes is named coach of the year. The best coach in the country! Then offers must follow, right? “Genk had already shown interest a few times. In 2015, I jumped at the chance. Genk immediately played playoff 1 and I laid the foundation for the team that later became champions. But I had to leave after disagreements with Patrick Janssens.”

“I want to be in the group”

Peter trains Lokeren again briefly in 2017 and keeps Lommel in 1B last season. And then there’s December 7: Peter Maes at Stayen. He has to put his affairs in order again. “So I had to do that in many places. We are working very hard here again. We have to set up a strong block, know what to do when we lose the ball and fight for every ball. If that’s okay, we’ll start playing better football.” The STVV supporters will be happy to hear it. Stayen needs to rumble again after the dreaded corona times. Peter: “I can’t stand still next to the line, I want to be in the group. Intervene directly if necessary, better to prevent than to cure. No one should be more important than the team. Put that in the title.”