Claeys was born in
Bruges, Belgium. He began his career at the Belgian club
Cercle Brugge. He left the club in 1996 for Dutch side
Feyenoord, then he made an unsuccessful move to
Anderlecht and was transferred to
Eendracht Aalst on loan. He later played for
Lierse and
Royal Excelsior Mouscron, before moving to
Melbourne Victory in 2005. Although he enjoyed a solid season in the Victory defence, he rarely figured in the 2006–07 season. On 21 November 2006, Claeys retired from football. In 2007, he returned to play for
Torhout 1992 KM, in the
Belgian Third Division before retiring soon after. In 2009, he picked up football again, after his brother asked him to become his teammate at FC Veldegem. Veldegem plays in the provincial leagues of
West Flanders. ==References==