Albert De Cleyn

Albert De Cleyn
Personal information
Full name	Albert Antonia Gustaaf De Cleyn
Date of birth	28 June 1917
Place of birth	Mechelen, Belgium
Date of death	13 March 1990 (aged 72)
Place of death	Belgium
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team
1933–1955	K.V. Mechelen
International career
1946–1948	Belgium
Managerial career
1955–1957	K.V. Mechelen
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Albert Antonia Gustaaf De Cleyn (28 June 1917 – 13 March 1990) was a Belgian football player who became the first top scorer of the Belgian First Division with 40 goals in 1946 while playing for Mechelen.^[1]

He played 12 times with the Belgium national team between 1946 and 1948. De Cleyn made his international debut on 19 January 1946 in a 2-0 friendly defeat to England.

According to the RSSSF, during his career (1933–1955) he scored a total of 428 top league goals, which is the 5th best tally in European top league football, being bettered only by the likes of Josef Bican, Ferenc Puskas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.^[2]

Honours

Club

KV Mechelen^[3]

Belgian First Division: 1942–43, 1945–46, 1947–48

Individual

Belgian First Division top scorer: 1941–42 (34 goals), 1945–46 (40 goals)
Most goals in the Belgian First Division ever (377 goals)^[4]
Most goals in a Belgian First Division game (7 goals) in a 7-1 victory against Racing de Bruxelles

Note: De Cleyn scored 19 goals in the unofficial competition of 1940-41, and 25 goals in 17 games in the uncompleted 1944-45 season.