# Thomas Buffel

Thomas Buffel (Dutch pronunciation:; born 19 February 1981) is a Belgian professional football coach and a former player who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. He is the manager of Jong Genk in Challenger Pro League. He represented the Belgium national team at international level.

## Club career
### Early career

Buffel began his career with Belgian sides Daring Ruddervoorde and Cercle Brugge before making a move to the Netherlands.
Buffel played for the Dutch team Feyenoord in the 1999–2000 season, before moving to their feeder team Excelsior Rotterdam from 2000 to 2002. He returned to Feyenoord for the 2002–03 Eredivisie season. He reportedly fell out with then-manager Ruud Gullit in the next season "after refusing to sign a new contract".

### Rangers

Buffel moved to the Scottish side Rangers in January 2005 in a £2.3 million, four-and-a-half-year deal. He made his debut in the Scottish Cup coming on as a substitute against Old Firm rivals Celtic in what was to be a 2–1 defeat. However, the season did not end badly for him as he was to play a key role in the 2005 Scottish League Cup Final, where Rangers defeated Motherwell 5–1. He also featured in the Rangers team for the latter part of the season where he would help them to their 51st league title making it a double for his first season with the club. Buffel scored five goals in 18 appearances in all competitions.
Buffel featured in the Champions League and helped Rangers reach the last 16 of the tournament, where they lost to Villarreal 3–3 on aggregate and were knocked out on away goals rule. Across all competitions, he scored seven goals in 38 appearances during the 2005–2006 season mostly playing in the midfield.
In the 2007 January transfer window, German club Hannover 96 expressed an interest in him, with Rangers manager Walter Smith saying Buffel was free to leave. However, the deal fell through when Buffel was unable to agree personal terms with the Bundesliga side. It was announced on 9 February 2007 that Buffel would undergo surgery on a long-term knee injury and would not take any further part in the 2006–07 season. He returned to action on 26 September as a substitute in a Scottish League Cup tie against East Fife. He would go on to make just five appearances in all competitions in his final season at Rangers.

### Cercle Brugge

Buffel's Rangers career came to an end when he joined former club Cercle Brugge on 1 July 2008.

### Genk

In the 2009 summer transfer window Buffel made a last-minute transfer to KRC Genk as part of a deal between Genk and Cercle Brugge with Jelle Vossen (on loan) and Hans Cornelis moving the opposite way.
In the 2010–11 season he won the Belgian league title with Genk.
His contract was not renewed at the end of the 2017–18 season.

### Zulte Waregem

In June 2018, it was announced Buffel would continue his career at Zulte Waregem.
Buffel retired at the end of the 2018–19 season.

## International career

Buffel made his debut for Belgium against Andorra in October 2002 in what was to be a 1–0 victory. He has since then gained 35 caps and scored 7 goals.

## Coaching career

Buffel began his coaching career in September 2019, when he was appointed assistant manager to Jacky Mathijssen at the Belgium national U-19 team. In March 2020, Buffel and Mathijssen was promoted to the U-21 national team.
On 3 February 2021, Buffel was also hired as an assistant manager for former club Cercle Brugge under newly appointed manager Yves Vanderhaeghe, next to his job at the national team. However, on 5 October 2021, Buffel decided to leave the position, as he was going to start his Pro License course and he therefore no longer could combine his two jobs.
On 18 June 2024, Buffel was hired as head coach of Jong Genk, the reserve team of Genk that plays in the second-tier Challenger Pro League.

## Personal life

Buffel was married to Stephanie De Buysser, with whom he had twin sons born in November 2013. They married in June 2016, when De Buysser was already suffering from colon cancer. On 26 January 2017, De Buysser died.

## Career statistics
### Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total | Ref. |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Ref. |
| Excelsior (loan) | 2000–01 | Eerste Divisie | 31 | 12 | | | — | — | — | — | 31 | 12 | |
| Excelsior (loan) | 2001–02 | Eerste Divisie | 32 | 15 | | | — | — | — | — | 32 | 15 | |
| Excelsior (loan) | Total | Total | 63 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 27 | – |
| Feyenoord | 2002–03 | Eredivisie | 31 | 18 | | | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 18 | |
| Feyenoord | 2003–04 | Eredivisie | 34 | 15 | | | 4 | 2 | — | — | 38 | 17 | |
| Feyenoord | 2004–05 | Eredivisie | 15 | 2 | | | 6 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 2 | |
| Feyenoord | Total | Total | 80 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 98 | 37 | – |
| Rangers | 2004–05 | Scottish Premier League | 10 | 1 | | | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 4 | |
| Rangers | 2005–06 | Scottish Premier League | 24 | 4 | | | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 36 | 5 | |
| Rangers | 2006–07 | Scottish Premier League | 16 | 3 | | | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 | |
| Rangers | 2007–08 | Scottish Premier League | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Rangers | Total | Total | 51 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 76 | 13 | – |
| Cercle Brugge | 2008–09 | Belgian First Division | 30 | 3 | | | — | — | — | — | 30 | 3 | |
| Cercle Brugge | 2009–10 | Belgian Pro League | 5 | 2 | | | – | – | — | — | 2 | 5 | |
| Cercle Brugge | Total | Total | 35 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 5 | – |
| Genk | 2009–10 | Belgian Pro League | 25 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 3 | 36 | 7 | |
| Genk | 2010–11 | Belgian Pro League | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 37 | 1 | |
| Genk | 2011–12 | Belgian Pro League | 26 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 44 | 9 | |
| Genk | 2012–13 | Belgian Pro League | 29 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 55 | 7 | |
| Genk | 2013–14 | Belgian Pro League | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 46 | 7 | |
| Genk | 2014–15 | Belgian Pro League | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 35 | 6 | |
| Genk | 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | 28 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 44 | 10 | |
| Genk | 2016–17 | Belgian First Division A | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 50 | 8 | |
| Genk | 2017–18 | Belgian First Division A | 26 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 41 | 4 | |
| Genk | Total | Total | 235 | 34 | 24 | 3 | 48 | 8 | 81 | 14 | 388 | 59 | – |
| Cercle Brugge | 2018–19 | Belgian First Division A | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 21 | 4 | |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 482 | 113 | 27 | 3 | 79 | 12 | 93 | 17 | 681 | 145 | – |
* ↑ In isolation, Thomas is pronounced.
* ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Super Cup
* ↑ Five appearances, three goals in Scottish Premiership playoffs
* ↑ Five appearances in Scottish Premiership playoffs
* ↑ Nine appearances, three goals in Belgian Pro League playoffs
* ↑ Seven appearances in Belgian Pro League playoffs
* ↑ Seven appearances in Belgian Pro League playoffs, one appearance in Belgian Super Cup
* ↑ Ten appearances in Belgian Pro League playoffs
* ↑ Nine appearances, three goals in Belgian Pro League playoffs, one appearance in Belgian Super Cup
* ↑ Six appearances, three goals in Belgian Pro League playoffs
* ↑ Twelve appearances, three goals in Belgian Pro League playoffs
* ↑ Ten appearances, two goals in Belgian First Division playoffs
* ↑ Nine appearances in Belgian First Division playoffs

### International

    Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Buffel goal.
List of international goals scored by Thomas Buffel :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 30 April 2003 | King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium | Poland | 2–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 11 October 2003 | Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège, Belgium | Estonia | 2–0 | 2–0 | Euro 2004 Qualification |
| 3 | 18 August 2004 | Ullevaal, Oslo, Norway | Norway | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 18 August 2004 | Ullevaal, Oslo, Norway | Norway | 2–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 5 | 26 March 2005 | King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2006 World Cup Qualification |
| 6 | 7 September 2005 | Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp, Belgium | San Marino | 3–0 | 8–0 | 2006 World Cup Qualification |

## Honours

Rangers
* Scottish Premier League: 2004–05
* Scottish League Cup: 2004–05
Genk
* Belgian Pro League: 2010–11
* Belgian Cup: 2012–13
* Belgian Super Cup: 2011
Individual
* Pro League Hall of Fame: 2024