Bart Verhaeghe
Bart Verhaeghe (nl;[lower-alpha 1] born in 1965) is a Belgian entrepreneur. He became president of Club Brugge in 2011,[1] one year later he became the majority shareholder. He's a member of the European Football Clubs (EFC), formerly known as European Club Association (ECA). In September 2025, he was unanimously elected as a member of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee, which discusses and makes recommendations on UEFA competitions.
He is also chairman of project developer UPLACE and former vice-chairman of the Royal Belgian Football Association. He also co-founded the independent think tank Itinera in 2006.
Verhaeghe encourages entrepreneurship in society, as explained in his book Durf![2] (Dare!) which was published by Van Halewyck in 2019.
Early life
Verhaeghe was born into a Brabant family with West Flemish roots. He grew up in Grimbergen, near Brussels, and played soccer at KSC Grimbergen and Hoger Op Merchtem. After secondary school at the Jan van Ruusbroeck College in Laken, he studied law at the Catholic University of Leuven and obtained a Master of Business Administration at Vlerick Business School.
He started his career at KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting organizations. He resigned after nine months to start as an entrepreneur. At industrial building company Verelst, he developed project developer Eurinpro specialising in logistic real estate and of which he became CEO. This company grew substantially and was sold in 2006 to the Australian company Macquarie Goodman for 400 million Euro.
LakeSprings
Verhaeghe invests in sports (Club Brugge), real estate (project development and real estate investments), private equity, listed shares and non-profit organisations (Itinera and the Anti-Cancer Fund). These investments are part of the family holding LakeSprings nv. As real estate investment, Verhaeghe bought the Castle of Bever from Count Eric de Villegas de Clercamp in 2004. The castle has been fully renovated and is surrounded by roughly 17 hectares of park area.[3]
Real Estate: Verelst, Eurinpro and Uplace
In 1992 Verhaeghe took his first steps in real estate when he met building contractor Luc Verelst. He acquired a stake in the industrial building company Verelst, from which Eurinpro later emerged. This company grew into a global player in logistic real estate. Verhaeghe also set up two real estate funds, Siref and Retail Estates. He used these investment companies to list his retail property and semi-industrial property on the stock market. In 2006, Eurinpro was sold to the Australian company Macquarie Goodman for 400 million Euro
Verhaeghe then set up the real estate company Uplace, specialised in developing innovative projects where living, working and relaxing go together. Uplace develops a new workshop district called BROEKLIN Brussels, a large-scale development in the north of Brussels, spanning 12.5 hectares with 153,250 m² of leasable space. The project combines a wide range of shops and leisure facilities with office space, with a strong focus on experience and sustainability. Circular construction methods, an urban farm, and innovative retail concepts are all part of the design. BROEKLIN Brussels will thus become a future-oriented destination where work, shopping, and recreation converge, with a planned opening in the fall of 2028.[4]
Club Brugge
In 2004, at the request of the Flemish government, Verhaeghe developed a feasibility study for schools and football stadiums. Subsequently, he was contacted by the then board of Club Brugge, which developed plans for a new stadium. Verhaeghe additionally developed a strategic vision for the first division. At the request of the board of directors at the time, Verhaeghe implemented the internal changes and became chairman in 2011, supported by a professional management team.
During Bart’s tenure, Club Brugge have won 13 trophies with 6 titles, 2 cups, 5 Super Cups and also qualified each year for European football. Club Brugge qualified 8 times for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League and in season 2022-23 and 2024-25 Club Brugge reached the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Club Brugge also qualified 4 times for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and in season 2014-15 Club Brugge reached the quarter final of the UEFA Europa League. In season 2023-24 Club Brugge reached the semi-final of the UEFA Conference League.[5]
Royal Belgian Football Association
In 2013, the Pro League delegated Verhaeghe to the Executive Committee of the RBFA. Three years later he took up the position of director and became Vice Chairman. Together with former chairman Gérard Linard, Verhaeghe reorganised the association which made a loss of 8 million Euro in 2016, into a financially healthy federation. Verhaeghe and Linard rolled out a code of ethics for all RBFA employees and partners. The rules of good governance were adopted with a professional management team that was given the keys to manage the operational management of the RBFA.
Verhaeghe was also chairman of the Technical Committee. Together with Mehdi Bayat and Chris Van Puyvelde he appointed Roberto Martínez as national coach. Verhaeghe was head of delegation at the World Cup in Russia where the Red Devils won bronze, the best result ever in the history of Belgian football.
In June 2019, Verhaeghe resigned from the RBFA so that he could focus on Club Brugge and his other professional activities. However, in 2022, the football association included Verhaeghe in the task force to appoint Roberto Martinez's successor as national team coach of the Red Devils. This led to the appointment of Italian-German Domenico Tedesco as the Belgian national team coach since february 2023.
Books
- Zeg niet aan mijn moeder dat ik ondernemer ben...ze denkt dat ik op zoek ben naar een job, 2003. (Don't tell my mother I'm an entrepreneur, she thinks I'm looking for a job)
- Durf! Pleidooi voor meer ambitie en lef, 2019 (Dare! A plea for more ambition and courage)
Notes
- ↑ In isolation, Verhaeghe is pronounced nl.
References
- ↑ Bart Verhaeghe new president of Club Brugge Archived 6 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Verhaeghe, Bart (2019). Durf! Pleidooi voor meer ambitie en lef. Van Halewyck. Search this book on
- ↑ "HOME". LakeSprings (in Nederlands). Retrieved 2023-07-10.
- ↑ "Broeklin Brussels | Team".
- ↑ "EFC Football | Bart Verhaeghe".
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