Joël Veltman

Joël Ivo Veltman (born 15 January 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League team Brighton & Hove Albion and the Netherlands national team.

Joël Veltman

Veltman playing for Ajax in March 2014
Personal information
Full name	Joël Ivo Veltman[1]
Date of birth	(1992-01-15) 15 January 1992
Place of birth	IJmuiden, Netherlands
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s)	Right-back, centre-back
Club information
Current team	Brighton & Hove Albion
Number	34
Youth career
	VV IJmuiden
2001–2012	Ajax
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2020	Ajax	179	(10)
2020–	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	(0)
National team^‡
2009	Netherlands U17	7	(0)
2010–2011	Netherlands U19	3	(1)
2012–2013	Netherlands U20	8	(0)
2013–	Netherlands	22	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:58, 29 July 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:13, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

A product of the Ajax youth academy, Veltman made 246 appearances for the Amsterdam club before moving on to Brighton in July 2020 for a £900,000 fee on a three-year deal.

Veltman has made over 20 caps for the Netherlands national team since his debut in November 2013.

Club career

Ajax

Veltman began his football career in the youth teams of VV IJmuiden in his hometown of IJmuiden before moving to Ajax in 2001, where he went through the youth ranks of the club. While playing for the Ajax A1 youth squad in 2011–12, Veltman helped his side to win the Nike Eredivisie league title,[2] as well finishing as runners-up to Inter Milan in the NextGen Series (the UEFA Champions League equivalent for under-20 teams) after losing on penalties (5–3) following a 1–1 deadlock after extra time.[3]

He made his official debut for the Ajax first team on 19 August 2012 in an away match against NEC in Nijmegen, entering as a substitute for Mitchell Dijks in the 79th minute; the match ended in a 6–1 away win for Ajax.[4] Following a successful starting season with the Ajax first team, helping his side secure its third-straight national title and his personal first, on 6 June 2013 it was announced that Veltman had extended his contract with Ajax for another four years, keeping him with the club until the summer of 2017.[5]

On 5 August 2013, Veltman played in the Eerste Divisie debut of the newly-promoted reserves team Jong Ajax at the start of the season. Substituted off in the 89th minute of a 2–0 home win, due to a sustained injury, Veltman found himself sidelined for the next two months.[6] He returned from injury on 30 September 2013 in another match for Jong Ajax, this time against Volendam, where he scored his first professional goal in the 3–2 loss at the Sportpark De Toekomst, netting the opener in the seventh minute.[7] On 22 October 2013, Veltman made his continental debut for the first team when he replaced injured first-choice centre-back Niklas Moisander in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage match against Celtic. The away match at Celtic Park ended in a 2–1 loss for the Amsterdam side.[8]

In April 2018, Veltman tore his ACL in a match against VVV-Venlo. After a long recovery he returned to first-team action in February 2019.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 29 July 2020, Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion announced that they had completed the signing of Veltman from Ajax on a three-year deal after activating the release clause in his contract, valued at £900,000.[9][10] Veltman chose to wear the number 34 jersey, as a tribute to former Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri, who collapsed during a friendly in 2017 and went into an induced coma.[11]

International career

Youth

Veltman made Netherlands debut playing for the under-17 squad on 10 February 2009 in the 2009 edition of the La Manga Cup in the 0–4 loss against Czech Republic U17s. He also played in the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship group stage match against England U17s which ended in a 1–1 draw, having previously appeared in three of the qualification matches.[12] On 2 September 2010, Veltman made his debut for Netherlands U19s in a friendly against Germany which ended in a 2–2 draw. On 9 February 2011, Veltman scored his first international goal in another friendly for the U19s against France, with the match ending in a 1–1 draw.[13] On 23 May 2012, Veltman made his debut for the U21 side at the 2012 Toulon Tournament in France. He appeared in four matches for the Dutch, making his debut against Egypt in the 3–0 win.[14]

Senior

On 8 November 2013, it was announced that Veltman received his first call-up for the Netherlands senior team by head coach Louis van Gaal for the friendly matches against Japan and Colombia.[15] Remaining on the bench for the duration of the first match against Japan, Veltman made his debut for the first team on 19 November in the fixture against Colombia, playing the full 90 minutes in the 0–0 draw at the Amsterdam Arena.[16] On 31 May 2014, Veltman was named as part of the 23-man squad heading to the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup under Van Gaal.[17] He was joined by Ajax teammates Daley Blind and Jasper Cillessen.[18]

Personal life

Veltman is of distant Indonesian descent through one of his great-grandmothers.[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 February 2020[20]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ajax	2011–12	Eredivisie	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0
	2012–13	Eredivisie	7	0	3	0	—		0	0	0	0	10	0
	2013–14	Eredivisie	25	2	4	0	—		4[lower-alpha 1]	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	34	2
	2014–15	Eredivisie	25	4	1	0	—		8[lower-alpha 1]	0	0	0	34	4
	2015–16	Eredivisie	34	2	1	0	—		9[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		44	2
	2016–17	Eredivisie	30	0	0	0	—		14[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		44	0
	2017–18	Eredivisie	30	1	2	0	—		4[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		36	1
	2018–19	Eredivisie	9	1	0	0	—		5[lower-alpha 1]	0	—		14	1
	2019–20	Eredivisie	19	0	1	0	—		9[lower-alpha 1]	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	30	0
	Total		179	10	12	0	—		53	0	2	0	246	10
Brighton & Hove Albion	2020–21	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Career total			179	10	12	0	0	0	53	0	2	0	246	10

1. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
2. Appearance in the Johan Cruyff Shield.

International

As of match played 16 November 2019[21]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Netherlands	2013	1	0
	2014	6	0
	2015	1	0
	2016	6	0
	2017	5	2
	2018	0	0
	2019	3	0
Total		22	2

International goals

Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first.[20]

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	4 June 2017	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Ivory Coast	1–0	5–0	Friendly
2.				3–0

Honours

Club

Ajax[22]

• Eredivisie (3): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2018–19
• KNVB Cup (1): 2018–19
• Johan Cruyff Shield (2): 2013, 2019
• UEFA Europa League runners-up: 2016–17[23]

International

Netherlands

• FIFA World Cup third place: 2014[24]

Individual

Ajax

• Eredivisie Team of the Year (3): 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16

References

1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2014. p. 25. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
2. "Beste Spelers Nike A-junioren Eredivisie seizoen 2011/'12" (PDF). Nikefootball.com. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
3. "Ajax A1 verliest finale van NextGen Series van Inter Milan". Voetbal Centraal. 25 March 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
4. "NEC vs. Ajax 1–6". soccerway.com. Soccerway. 19 August 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
5. "Blind en Veltman verlengen contract bij Ajax". ad.nl. AD. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
6. "Jong Ajax vs. Telstar 2–0". Soccerway. Perform Group. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
7. "Jong Ajax vs. Volendam 2–3". Soccerway. Perform Group. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
8. "Celtic vs. Ajax 2–1". Soccerway. Perform Group. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
9. "Albion make Dutch international their second summer signing". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
10. "Albion sign Ajax and Holland defender Joel Veltman". The Argus. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
11. "New Brighton defender choses number 34 to honour former team-mate". Sky Sports. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
12. Williamson, Laura. "Young, talented and English! Peacock's Under 17 Lion cubs aim to depose Spanish kings". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
13. "Onder 19 op valreep naast Frankrijk". OnsOranje. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
14. "Beloftenelftal actief op Espoirs toernooi in Toulon". oranje.netwerk.to. Oranje Netwerk. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
15. "Van Gaal verrast: Veltman in Oranje". NOS.nl. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
16. "'Van Gaal begint met Veltman en Depay in basis tegen Colombia'". Voetbalzone.nl. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
17. "Ajax altijd bij Nederlands elftal". De Telegraaf. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
18. "Deze 23 spelers neemt Van Gaal mee naar Brazilië". nrc.nl. NRC. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
19. "GenPI.co". GenPI.co. November 20, 2019.
20. Joël Veltman at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
21. "Joël Veltman". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
22. "Joël Veltman – Career Honours". Soccerway.
23. "2016/17: United win it for Manchester". UEFA. 30 May 2017.
24. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: Brazil-Netherlands". FIFA. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.

External links

• Joël Veltman at Voetbal International (in Dutch)
• Netherlands stats at OnsOranje