Ats Purje
Purje with Nõmme Kalju in 2015
Personal information
Full name Ats Purje
Date of birth (1985-08-03) 3 August 1985 (age 38)
Place of birth Tallinn, Estonia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Tallinna Kalev
Number 12
Youth career
SC Real
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 SC Real 34 (21)
2002 Maardu 8 (7)
2003 M.C. Tallinn 12 (8)
2003 Levadia-Juunior 6 (5)
2003–2007 Levadia II 29 (8)
2003–2007 Levadia 86 (33)
2007–2009 FC Inter 40 (11)
2010–2011 AEP 26 (5)
2011 Ethnikos Achna 6 (1)
2013 PK-37 1 (0)
2012–2015 KuPS 76 (19)
2015–2016 Nõmme Kalju 61 (30)
2016–2020 KuPS 93 (18)
2021– Tallinna Kalev 93 (39)
International career‡
2002–2003 Estonia U19 6 (3)
2003 Estonia U20 1 (0)
2003–2007 Estonia U21 11 (0)
2006–2018 Estonia 69 (10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 November 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 October 2019

Ats Purje (born 3 August 1985) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Tallinna Kalev.

Club career

Early career

Purje began playing football at Tallinna Jalgpallikool, where he was coached by Aivar Tiidus.[1] He made his senior league debut in the IV liiga with SC Real in 2001.

Levadia

In 2003, Purje joined Meistriliiga club Levadia. He made his debut in the Meistriliiga on 15 March 2003, playing for Levadia's Tallinn-based team against the Maardu-based Levadia team in a 0–1 away loss. Purje scored his first Meistriliiga goal on 13 May 2003, in a 9–3 away win over Kuressaare. In July 2003, Purje was moved to the Maardu team. His first trophy with Levadia came in the 2003–04 Estonian Cup. Purje won his first Meistriliiga title in the 2004 season. He won two more Meistriliiga titles in 2006 and 2007, and two more Estonian Cups in 2005 and 2007.[1]

FC Inter

In December 2007, Purje signed a two-year contract with Veikkausliiga club FC Inter.[2][3] On 12 April 2008, he won his first trophy with FC Inter in the 2008 Finnish League Cup. Purje made his debut in the Veikkausliiga on 27 April 2008, and scored his side's first goal in a 3–1 home victory over RoPS.[4] He won the Veikkausliiga in the 2008 season.[5] On 31 October 2009, Purje came on as a 79th-minute substitute in FC Inter's 2–1 victory over Tampere United in the Finnish Cup final, winning his third trophy with the club.[6]

AEP

In June 2010, Purje signed a one-year contract with Cypriot First Division club AEP, with an option to extend it for another year.[7] He made his debut in the Cypriot First Division on 29 August 2010, and scored his side's only goal in a 1–2 loss to Ethnikos Achna.[8]

Ethnikos Achna

In May 2011, Purje signed for Ethnikos Achna.[9] He made his debut for the club on 27 August 2011, in a 0–1 loss to Anorthosis.[10]

KuPS

On 3 April 2012, Purje signed a one-year contract with Veikkausliiga club KuPS.[11] In September, he signed a two-year contract extension that would keep him with the club until 2014. Purje was his side's top scorer in the 2012 season with six goals and was named the club's Player of the Year.[12] He was once again his club's top scorer in the 2014 season, with nine goals.

Nõmme Kalju

On 9 February 2015, Purje signed a three-year contract with Meistriliiga club Nõmme Kalju.[13] On 30 May 2015, he won his fourth Estonian Cup.[14] Purje was Nõmme Kalju's top scorer in the Meistriliiga for two consecutive seasons, in 2015 and 2016.

Return to KuPS

On 27 December 2016, Purje returned to KuPS for an undisclosed fee, on a one-year deal with an option to extend the contract for another year.[15][16]

Tallinna Kalev

For the 2021 Season Purje returned to Estonia signing for the Esiliiga club Tallinna Kalev while also managing their under-21 team in the Esiliiga B.[17]

International career

Purje began his youth career in 2002 with the Estonia under-19 team. He also represented the under-20 and under-21 national sides, amassing 18 youth appearances and scoring 3 goals overall.

Purje made his senior international debut for Estonia on 11 October 2006, replacing Teet Allas in the 81st minute of a 0–2 away loss to Russia in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match.[18] He scored his first international goal on 20 August 2008, in a 2–1 home win over Malta in a friendly. Purje came on as a second-half substitute in both matches against the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs as Estonia lost 1–5 on aggregate.[19][20]

Career statistics

Club

As of 10 December 2017.[21][22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SC Real 2001 IV liiga 17 4 — — — — 17 4
2002 III liiga 17 17 — — — 17 17
Total 34 21 — — — 34 21
Maardu 2002 Esiliiga 8 7 — — — 8 7
M.C. Tallinn 2003 Esiliiga 12 8 — — — — 12 8
Levadia-Juunior 2003 II liiga 5 3 — — — — 5 3
2004 1 2 — — — — 1 2
Total 6 5 — — — — 6 5
Levadia II 2003 Meistriliiga 6 1 2 1 — — — 8 2
2004 Esiliiga 12 2 0 0 — — — 12 2
2005 4 2 — — — — 4 2
2007 7 3 — — — — 7 3
Total 29 8 2 1 — — — 31 9
Levadia 2003 Meistriliiga 11 4 1 0 — 1[b] 0 — 13 4
2004 17 8 2 0 — 1[b] 0 0 0 20 8
2005 12 4 1 0 — 2[c] 0 5[d] 0 20 4
2006 30 10 2 0 — 5[b] 2 — 37 12
2007 16 7 3 1 — 0 0 7[e] 1 26 9
Total 86 33 9 1 — 9 2 12 1 116 37
FC Inter 2008 Veikkausliiga 19 7 2 1 8 4 — — 29 12
2009 21 4 2 0 6 0 2[c] 0 — 31 4
Total 40 11 4 1 14 4 2 0 — 60 16
AEP 2010–11 Cypriot First Division 26 5 3 1 — — — 29 6
Ethnikos Achna 2011–12 Cypriot First Division 6 1 0 0 — — — 6 1
PK-37 2013 Kakkonen 1 0 0 0 — — 0 0 1 0
KuPS 2012 Veikkausliiga 27 6 4 1 0 0 5[f] 1 — 36 8
2013 20 4 2 0 8 4 — — 30 8
2014 29 9 3 4 5 2 — — 37 15
2015 0 0 0 0 2 0 — — 2 0
Total 76 19 9 5 15 6 5 1 — 105 31
Nõmme Kalju 2015 Meistriliiga 33 16 3 1 — 4[f] 1 — 40 18
2016 28 14 1 0 — 5[f] 0 0 0 34 14
Total 61 30 4 1 — 9 1 0 0 74 32
KuPS 2017 Veikkausliiga 32 8 5 2 — — — 37 10
Career total 417 156 36 12 29 10 25 4 12 1 519 183
  1. ^ Includes the Estonian Cup, Finnish Cup and Cypriot Cup
  2. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. ^ One appearance in Livonia Cup, three appearances in Commonwealth Cup, one appearance in Estonian Supercup
  5. ^ Three appearances and one goal in Commonwealth Cup, four appearances in Baltic League
  6. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of 9 June 2019.[23]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Estonia
2006 1 0
2007 1 0
2008 8 1
2009 6 0
2010 9 2
2011 9 1
2012 7 0
2013 3 0
2014 3 1
2015 9 3
2016 4 0
2017 4 1
2018 5 1
Total 69 10

International goals

As of 9 June 2018. Estonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Purje goal.[23]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 20 August 2008 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia 9  Malta 1–1 2–1 Friendly
2 3 March 2010 Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia 17  Georgia 1–1 1–2 Friendly
3 7 September 2010 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia 22  Uzbekistan 1–0 3–3 Friendly
4 2 September 2011 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia 29  Slovenia 2–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
5 8 September 2014 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia 46  Slovenia 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
6 9 June 2015 Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland 49  Finland 1–0 2–0 Friendly
7 2–0
8 11 November 2015 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia 55  Georgia 1–0 3–0 Friendly
9 12 June 2017 Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia 61  Latvia 2–1 2–1 Friendly
10 9 June 2018 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia 65  Morocco 1–3 1–3 Friendly

Honours

Club

Levadia
FC Inter
Nõmme Kalju
Kuopion Palloseura

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b "Purje, Ats" (in Estonian). ESBL.
  2. ^ "Ats Purje siirdus Turu Interisse" [Ats Purje moved to Inter Turku]. Postimees (in Estonian). 28 December 2007.
  3. ^ "Virolainen Ats Purje Interiin" [Estonian Ats Purje to Inter] (in Finnish). FC Inter. 2 January 2008. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008.
  4. ^ "Purje lõi Soome meistriliigas värava ja valiti mängu parimaks" [Purje scored in the Finnish championship and was named player of the match]. Postimees (in Estonian). 28 April 2008.
  5. ^ "Ats Purje tuli Soome meistriks" [Ats Purje is Finnish champion]. Postimees (in Estonian). 26 October 2008.
  6. ^ "Ats Purje võitis Soome jalgpallikarika" [Ats Purje won the Finnish Football Cup]. Postimees (in Estonian). 31 October 2009.
  7. ^ "Purje siirdub Küprose klubisse" [Purje moving to a Cypriot club]. Postimees (in Estonian). 3 June 2010.
  8. ^ "Purje lõi Küprose liigas debüütmängus värava" [Purje scored in Cypriot league debut]. Postimees (in Estonian). 30 August 2010.
  9. ^ "Ats Purje vahetas Küprosel klubi" [Ats Purje switched clubs in Cyprus] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 8 June 2011.
  10. ^ "Küprosel pallivad eestlased pidid vastu võtma kaotused" [Estonian players in Cyprus had to accept defeats] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 29 August 2011.
  11. ^ "Ats Purje karjäär jätkub taas Soome kõrgliigas" [Ats Purje's career to continue in Finnish top flight] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 3 April 2012.
  12. ^ "PILTUUDIS: KuPS autasustas Purjet kahe suure karikaga" [KuPS awarded Purje with two big trophies] (in Estonian). ERR Sport. 16 December 2012.
  13. ^ "Nõmme Kalju sõlmis lepingu Ats Purjega" [Nõmme Kalju signed a contract with Ats Purje] (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 9 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Evald Tipneri karika võitis Nõmme Kalju FC" [Nõmme Kalju FC won the Evald Tipner Cup] (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 30 May 2015.
  15. ^ "Ats Purje karjäär jätkub Soomes" [Ats Purje's career will continue in Finland]. Postimees (in Estonian). 27 December 2016.
  16. ^ "Hyökkääjä Ats Purje liittyy jälleen Kuopion Palloseuraan" [Forward Ats Purje returns to Kuopion Palloseura] (in Finnish). KuPS. 27 December 2016.
  17. ^ Ilves, Kris (15 December 2020). "Soomest naasnud Ats Purje ühendab Tallinna Kalevis mängimise ja treeneritöö". Soccernet.ee. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Subs carry Russia to victory". UEFA. 11 October 2006.
  19. ^ "Republic of Ireland 1-1 Estonia (5-1 agg)". BBC Sport. 14 November 2011.
  20. ^ "Ireland make sure with Estonia draw". UEFA. 15 November 2011.
  21. ^ "Ats Purje" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
  22. ^ "A. Purje". Soccerway.com.
  23. ^ a b "Ats Purje" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.

External links

JK Tallinna Kalev – current squad
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