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Roger Claessen- Belgian superstar?

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    Roger Claessen- Belgian superstar?

    Don't ask why, but for some reason I felt an urge to look into the Belgian forward Roger Claessen's career details, and to my astonishment discovered that he died exactly thirty years ago today, aged 41. As far as I can tell from my limited French he seems to have been the Belgian George Best, making his international debut at 19, but only seven goals in seventeen appearances in total, though of course there were far fewer international fixtures in those days. He must have been some player when in the right frame of mind though, as his club record at Standard Liege was impressive and their fans voted him the club's 'player of the century', ahead of players like Gerets and Van Moer. Off the pitch he seems to have had a taste for fast living, cars, nightclubs and so forth, and was no stranger to the inside of a police cell, all of which probably explains his truncated career with the national side. However, there appears to be some controversy over his death- several sources state that he committed suicide, while others are adamant that he died from natural causes (heart failure). I wondered whether anyone here could offer a definitive answer?

    #2
    Roger Claessen- Belgian superstar?

    From a cursory bit of googling, and my somewhat imperfect Flemish, it appears he died of a heart failure on account of a bad mix of alcohol & valium.

    The story of it being suicide only appeared in 2007 in Sport/Voetbalmagazine (?) - unfortunately the story doesn't appear on their website, but is referenced in de Standaard. I cannot really speak to the truth or otherwise of these claims, obviously.

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      #3
      Roger Claessen- Belgian superstar?

      Thanks Jim, that backs up the impression I had that it wasn't a cast iron case of suicide. It seems to have been similar to the circumstances of Brian Epstein's death, probably accidental but allowing room for debate. Whatever the truth, a sad way to go at so young an age.

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        #4
        Roger Claessen- Belgian superstar?

        1974ddr wrote: Don't ask why, but for some reason I felt an urge to look into the Belgian forward Roger Claessen's career details, and to my astonishment discovered that he died exactly thirty years ago today, aged 41.
        1974ddr, have you thought of posting that here?

        http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9144

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          #5
          Roger Claessen- Belgian superstar?

          He was the Belgian George Best. He has his statue in front of Sclessin, the Standard stadium.

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