| Raymond Van Gestel | |
| Birth Date: | 20 January 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Mol, Belgium |
| Death Place: | Mol, Belgium |
| Position: | Right winger |
| Years1: | 1946–1948 |
| Clubs1: | SV Mol |
| Years2: | 1948–1958 |
| Clubs2: | Lyra |
| Caps2: | 168 |
| Goals2: | 92 |
| Years3: | 1958–1962 |
| Clubs3: | Verbroedering Geel |
| Totalcaps: | 168+ |
| Totalgoals: | 92+ |
| Nationalyears1: | 1951–1953 |
| Nationalteam1: | Belgium |
| Nationalcaps1: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 2 |
Raymond Van Gestel (20 January 1930 – 17 April 2020) was a Belgian footballer, athlete and pilot.[1] He spent most of his career with Lyra.[2]
Born in Mol, Van Gestel played as a right winger for SV Mol, Lyra and Verbroedering Geel. In total he played 57 games in the first division scoring a total of 32 goals.[3]
In 1954, when Lyra were promoted to the First Division, he suffered a severe knee injury, largely ending his career. In total he played 168 league games for Lyra, scoring 92 goals.[4]
During his career he also earned 5 caps for the Belgium national team between 1951 and 1953, scoring 2 goals. Both goals came against Spain on 10 June 1951; the first goal was scored after only 17 seconds in the game, giving him the then-record of the fastest goal scored for the national team.[5] [1] Following the game against Spain he was nicknamed Raimundo el rapido and he was close to a transfer to Spanish club Espanyol, but Lyra refused the deal.[6]
In 1954 he was selected for the Belgian squad for the World Cup in Zürich, but he could not join the team due to a military mission in Africa as a fighter pilot with the Belgian air force.[7]
He was also active as an athlete in the long jump and sprints. He was the Belgian long jump champion.[8] Due to his versatility he is one of the few Belgian athletes ever to compete in different sports at an international level in the same year.
Van Gestel was a Fighter pilot for the Belgian air force and flight instructor.[9] [10] As an instructor he trained around 2000 students.[11] Together with his brother he was also one of the founding members of the Belgian Flying club Keiheuvel.[12] [13]
He died in Mol on 17 April 2020, aged 90.[13]