Jelle François Maria Van Damme (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɛlə vɑn ˈdɑmə]; born 10 October 1983) is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a centre-back, left-back or left midfielder.

Van Damme started his career at Beveren, before he made a short move to neighbour club Lokeren where he played in the youth teams.

In the 2002–03 season, he played in the Champions League and started as a regular player in the squad before breaking his toe in November 2002.

The next season, he helped Ajax again qualify for the Champions League group stage but he had few chances to play in the first team's title winning campaign, with the club preferring the Brazilian Maxwell at full back.

This limited chance of game time led him to sign for Southampton of the Premier League in June 2004, for £2.5 million.

Van Damme said the main reason for leaving the LA Galaxy was that he wanted to be closer to his children.

[15] Van Damme made his debut for the Belgium national team on 29 March 2003 in a 4–0 friendly loss to Croatia.