Louis Pilot

Louis Pilot
	Pilot in 1963
Personal information
Date of birth	11 November 1940
Place of birth	Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Date of death	16 April 2016 (aged 75)
Place of death	Senningen, Luxembourg
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1953–1957	Fola Esch
Senior career*
Years	Team
1957–1961	Fola Esch
1961–1972	Standard Liège
1972–1975	Antwerp
1975–1978	R. Jet Bruxelles
International career
1959–1971	Luxembourg
Managerial career
1978–1984	Luxembourg
1984–1985	Standard Liège
1985–1988	Etzella Ettelbruck
1990	Etzella Ettelbruck
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Louis Pilot (11 November 1940 – 16 April 2016)^[1] was a Luxembourgish football player and manager.

In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's jubilee, he was selected by the Luxembourg Football Federation as the country's Golden Player - the greatest player of the last 50 years.^[2]

Playing career

Pilot started his footballing career as a midfielder at his home town club Fola Esch, before signing for Belgian team Standard Liège at the age of 20. He went on to play 337 times for Standard, winning four Belgian league titles and two Belgian cups and then moved onto Royal Antwerp and Racing Jet. Pilot also represented the Luxembourg national team, winning 49 caps between 1959 and 1971, scoring seven goals in this time.^[3] He played in 14 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.^[4]

He retired from playing football in 1978.

Managerial career

Later that year, Pilot returned to Luxembourg and became the national team coach on 12 April, leading his nation in this capacity until 1984, when he became the head coach at the club where he had enjoyed his most successful playing period, Standard Liège. He lasted only one season at Standard, before returning to Luxembourg and taking up similar roles at Etzella Ettelbruck^[5] and Avenir Beggen, before assuming a less active role in football.

Honours

As a player

Belgian League: 1963, 1969, 1970, 1971
Belgian Cup: 1966, 1967

Individual

Luxembourgian Footballer of the Year: 1966, 1970, 1971, 1972
Luxembourgian Sportsman of the Year: 1968, 1969

References

^ Luxembourg, Tageblatt. "Louis Pilot verstorben - Tageblatt". Tageblatt.lu. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 March 2005. Retrieved 23 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Luxembourg - Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 29 April 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
^ "FIFA Tournaments - Players & Coaches - PILOT Louis". FIFA. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
^ "Historique". www.fc-etzella.lu. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2022.