Ats Purje

Ats Purje (born 3 August 1985) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Veikkausliiga club KuPS and the Estonia national team.

Ats Purje
Purje with Nõmme Kalju in 2015
Personal information
Full name Ats Purje
Date of birth (1985-08-03) 3 August 1985
Place of birth Tallinn, Estonia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 KuPS
Number 10
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– KuPS 93 (18)
National team‡
2002–2003 Estonia U19 6 (3)
2003 Estonia U20 1 (0)
2003–2007 Estonia U21 11 (0)
2006–2018 Estonia 69 (10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 December 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 October 2019

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]

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.[17] 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.[18][19]

Career statistics

Club
As of 10 December 2017.[20][21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
SC Real2001IV liiga174————174
2002III liiga1717———1717
Total3421———3421
Maardu2002Esiliiga87———87
M.C. Tallinn2003Esiliiga128————128
Levadia-Juunior2003II liiga53————53
200412————12
Total65————65
Levadia II2003Meistriliiga6121———82
2004Esiliiga12200———122
200542————42
200773————73
Total29821———319
Levadia2003Meistriliiga11410—1[lower-alpha 2]0—134
200417820—1[lower-alpha 2]000208
200512410—2[lower-alpha 3]05[lower-alpha 4]0204
2006301020—5[lower-alpha 2]2—3712
200716731—007[lower-alpha 5]1269
Total863391—9212111637
FC Inter2008Veikkausliiga1972184——2912
200921420602[lower-alpha 3]0—314
Total40114114420—6016
AEP2010–11Cypriot First Division26531———296
Ethnikos Achna2011–12Cypriot First Division6100———61
PK-372013Kakkonen1000——0010
KuPS2012Veikkausliiga27641005[lower-alpha 6]1—368
20132042084——308
20142993452——3715
2015000020——20
Total76199515651—10531
Nõmme Kalju2015Meistriliiga331631—4[lower-alpha 6]1—4018
2016281410—5[lower-alpha 6]0003414
Total613041—91007432
KuPS2017Veikkausliiga32852———3710
Career total41715636122910254121519183
  1. Includes the Estonian Cup, Finnish Cup and Cypriot Cup
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
  3. 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. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
As of 9 June 2019.[22]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Estonia
200610
200710
200881
200960
201092
201191
201270
201330
201431
201593
201640
201741
201851
Total6910

International goals
As of 9 June 2018. Estonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Purje goal.[22]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 20 August 2008A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia9 Malta1–12–1Friendly
2 3 March 2010Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia17 Georgia1–11–2Friendly
3 7 September 2010A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia22 Uzbekistan1–03–3Friendly
4 2 September 2011Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia29 Slovenia2–12–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
5 8 September 2014A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia46 Slovenia1–01–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
6 9 June 2015Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland49 Finland1–02–0Friendly
7 2–0
8 11 November 2015A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia55 Georgia1–03–0Friendly
9 12 June 2017Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia61 Latvia2–12–1Friendly
10 9 June 2018A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia65 Morocco1–31–3Friendly

Honours

Club
Levadia
FC Inter
Nõmme Kalju
Kuopion Palloseura

Individual

References
  1. "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. "Subs carry Russia to victory". UEFA. 11 October 2006.
  18. "Republic of Ireland 1-1 Estonia (5-1 agg)". BBC Sport. 14 November 2011.
  19. "Ireland make sure with Estonia draw". UEFA. 15 November 2011.
  20. "Ats Purje" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
  21. "A. Purje". Soccerway.com.
  22. "Ats Purje" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
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