Verlinden was born in
Aarschot,
Flemish Brabant. Having arrived at
Club Brugge K.V. from
Lierse S.K. in 1988, he gained first-choice status in
his second year and, except for one season, never lost it again. He ranked the second most-capped player for the club in the
Belgian Pro League, trailing only
Franky Van der Elst, and was instrumental in the side's five league conquests (with the addition of as many
cups and nine
supercups). In December 2003, Verlinden became the oldest footballer ever to play in the
UEFA Champions League, aged 40 years and 116 days.
Alessandro Costacurta of
A.C. Milan took over the record on 21 November 2006, when the Italian played in a 1–0
group stage away defeat against
AEK Athens aged 40 years and 211 days. Verlinden, however, held the European record for longest time spent in goal without conceding, managing to keep a
clean sheet a total of 1,390 minutes in the Belgian league between 3 March and 26 September 1990. ==International career==