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)
Playing 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	79	(17)
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 October 2019 ‡ 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
		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[lower-alpha 2]	0	—		13	4
	2004		17	8	2	0	—		1[lower-alpha 2]	0	0	0	20	8
	2005		12	4	1	0	—		2[lower-alpha 3]	0	5[lower-alpha 4]	0	20	4
	2006		30	10	2	0	—		5[lower-alpha 2]	2	—		37	12
	2007		16	7	3	1	—		0	0	7[lower-alpha 5]	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[lower-alpha 3]	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[lower-alpha 6]	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[lower-alpha 6]	1	—		40	18
	2016		28	14	1	0	—		5[lower-alpha 6]	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. 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 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.[22]

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

• Meistriliiga: 2004, 2006, 2007
• Estonian Cup: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07

FC Inter

• Veikkausliiga: 2008
• Finnish Cup: 2009
• Finnish League Cup: 2008

Nõmme Kalju

• Estonian Cup: 2014–15

Kuopion Palloseura

• Veikkausliiga: 2019

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Player of the Month: May 2008
• KuPS Player of the Year: 2012

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.

External links

• Ats Purje at the Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
• Ats Purje national team profile at the Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
• Ats Purje – FIFA competition record
• Ats Purje – UEFA competition record
• Ats Purje at National-Football-Teams.com
• "Ats Purje profile at the FC Levadia website". Archived from the original on 20 June 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.