François Van der Elst

François "Swat" Van der Elst (1 December 1954 – 11 January 2017) was a Belgian footballer who played as a right winger.

Van der Elst was born in Opwijk, Flemish Brabant. From 1969 to 1980 he played for R.S.C. Anderlecht, with which he would go on to total 82 Belgian Pro League goals, surpassing 100 overall. In 1976, he was part of the 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup-winning squad, netting twice in the final against West Ham United (4–2) and, in the following season's league, was crowned the competition's top scorer at 21 goals as the Brussels side finished in second position.

In January 1982, after a brief United States spell with the New York Cosmos, Van der Elst signed with West Ham United for £400,000, proceeding to score 17 times in 70 overall appearances. He finished his career back home, with K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen.

Van der Elst earned 44 caps and netted 14 goals for Belgium, helping the nation to the second place in the UEFA Euro 1980 tournament. He was part of the squad that competed at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, playing the second halves of the 1–0 win over El Salvador for the first group stage (in Elche) and the 0–3 loss to Poland for the second group phase (Barcelona).

Van der Elst's younger brother, Leo, was also a professional footballer. Both were Belgium internationals.

On 1 January 2017, Van der Elst suffered heart failure and was placed in an induced coma in intensive care. Ten days later, reports emerged that at 3:00 am that morning he had died from a cardiac arrest while still hospitalized, aged 62.

Anderlecht

• Belgian Pro League: 1971–72, 1973–74
• Belgian Cup: 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1975–76, 1977–78
• UEFA Super Cup: 1976, 1978

New York Cosmos

• North American Soccer League: 1980