 Velikonja withCardiff City in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1988-12-26)26 December 1988 (age 36)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Šempeter pri Gorici,SR Slovenia,Yugoslavia[2] | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Forward,winger[2] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Kras Repen | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2007 | Gorica | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2010 | Gorica | 104 | (32) |
| 2011–2012 | Maribor | 48 | (20) |
| 2012–2016 | Cardiff City | 3 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | →Rio Ave (loan) | 7 | (1) |
| 2015–2016 | →Lierse (loan) | 40 | (28) |
| 2016–2017 | Olimpija Ljubljana | 21 | (4) |
| 2017 | Gençlerbirliği | 6 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Willem II | 5 | (3) |
| 2019 | Gorica | 22 | (15) |
| 2019–2021 | NEC | 16 | (2) |
| 2020–2021 | →Gorica (loan) | 32 | (3) |
| 2021–2023 | Gorica | 51 | (18) |
| 2023– | Kras Repen | ||
| International career | |||
| 2006 | Slovenia U18 | 3 | (0) |
| 2006 | Slovenia U19 | 4 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Slovenia U20 | 7 | (6) |
| 2007–2010 | Slovenia U21 | 14 | (3) |
| 2009–2012 | Slovenia | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Etien Velikonja (born 26 December 1988) is a Slovenianfootballer who plays as aforward forKras Repen.[3]
Velikonja started to play football atGorica.[4] Coming through their youth system, he was promoted to the senior squad in 2006–07.[4] In his first season, he took part in seven matches, scoring one goal. Next year, during the2007–08 season, Velikonja played 31 matches, scoring five goals.[4] During the2008–09 campaign, Velikonja played 32 matches and scored a total of 17 goals, finishing the campaign as the top goal scorer in theSlovenian PrvaLiga.[4] In October 2009, in a league match againstKoper, he sustained a serious knee injury which caused him to miss the majority of the2009–10 season.[5][6] He was not available to the team up until the end of April 2010, four rounds before the end of the season, when he returned to the pitch as a late substitute in a league match againstDrava Ptuj.[7]
During the 2010 summer transfer window, it was speculated for the first time that Velikonja could join Slovenian PrvaLiga sideMaribor, however, the deal was eventually not carried out and Velikonja stayed with Gorica for the start of the2010–11 season.[8] By the end of 2010, he had played a total of 18 league matches for Gorica with an average of over 89 minutes per round, scoring five goals in the process.[9] On 17 January 2011, during the winter transfer window, Velikonja was signed by Maribor in a deal that included an undisclosed transfer fee and playerVito Plut, who left Maribor for Gorica.[10][11] He signed a contract with Maribor until 31 December 2013,[1] and made his league debut on 26 February 2011 in a 4–2 win overRudar Velenje, where he also scored his first goal for Maribor.[12]
On 12 July 2012, Velikonja signed a four-year contract forFootball League Championship sideCardiff City.[13][14][15] The whole transfer is reportedly worth€3.6 million andZlatko Zahovič,director of football at Maribor, stated that the Velikonja transfer was a record high for the Slovenian PrvaLiga at the time.[14][15][16][17] Maribor reportedly received a compensation of €2 million, with Velikonja earning around €400,000 per season for a total of €1.6 million in four years with the Welsh side.[14][15][16][17] He joined his new club on 25 July after thesecond qualifying round of the2012–13 UEFA Champions League.[14] He made his debut on 21 August in a 0–0 draw againstBrighton & Hove Albion. Despite a prolific goalscoring record for Cardiff's Development Squad, Velikonja found first-team opportunities limited during his first season at the club, but was rewarded for his patience with a start up front atHull City on the final day of thetitle-winning campaign, which resulted in being substituted at half time after an ineffective performance.
After months of waiting for hisPremier League debut, Cardiff City loaned him toRio Ave in January 2014 until the end of the season.[18] He played two cup finals withNuno Espírito Santo's team but lost both theTaça de Portugal andTaça da Liga finals againstBenfica.
With Cardiff City swiftly relegated to the Championship, Velikonja was loaned out again in January 2015. Former Slovenia national team managerSlaviša Stojanović brought Velikonja toLierse. After the team was relegated from the top division in 2014–15, Velikonja scored eight goals in his first eight appearances of the season during the2015–16 Belgian Second Division.[19] With mid-table Lierse struggling in the fight for promotion, Velikonja broke his all-time goalscoring record for a single season by scoring his 21st goal againstHeist on 19 March 2016.[20] Velikonja finished the season with a record goal tally of 24 and as the league's top scorer for the second time in his career.[21] Lierse finished seventh and avoided the drop to Belgian amateur league football.[22] He was voted as the player of the season by Lierse fans.[23]
Velikonja returned to Slovenia for the 2016–17 season, accepting an offer fromOlimpija Ljubljana.[24] He scored on his debut for Olimpija againstAS Trenčín in the second round of theUEFA Champions League qualifying campaign.[25]
He then joinedEredivisie outfitWillem II in 2017,[26] but a severe knee injury cut short his stay at the club.[27]
Velikonja was a member of the Slovenia youth national teams from under-18 tounder-21.[28] On 12 August 2009, he made his debut for thesenior team in a2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match againstSan Marino.[29][30]
Velikonja was born inŠempeter pri Gorici, present daySlovenia. He is the cousin of fellow footballerTim Matavž.[31] He is in a long-term relationship with Slovenian triple jumper Maja Bratkič.[32]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Gorica | 2006–07 | 1. SNL | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[a] | 0 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2007–08 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 34 | 5 | |||
| 2008–09 | 32 | 17 | 4 | 4 | — | 3[c] | 1 | 39 | 22 | |||
| 2009–10 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[d] | 0 | 18 | 5 | |||
| 2010–11 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | 2[d] | 0 | 23 | 7 | |||
| Total | 104 | 32 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 124 | 40 | ||
| Maribor | 2010–11 | 1. SNL | 16 | 6 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 19 | 7 | ||
| 2011–12 | 30 | 14 | 5 | 6 | — | 7[e] | 1 | 42 | 21 | |||
| 2012–13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 48 | 20 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 64 | 28 | ||
| Cardiff City | 2012–13 | Championship | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Rio Ave (loan) | 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | |
| Lierse (loan) | 2014–15 | Belgian Pro League | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | Belgian Second Division | 29 | 24 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 24 | |||
| Total | 40 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 28 | ||
| Olimpija Ljubljana | 2016–17 | 1. SNL | 21 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | 2 | 1 | 26 | 7 | |
| Gençlerbirliği | 2016–17 | Süper Lig | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |
| Willem II | 2017–18 | Eredivisie | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | |
| Gorica | 2018–19 | 1. SNL | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 8 | ||
| 2019–20 | 2. SNL | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 7 | |||
| Total | 22 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 15 | ||
| NEC | 2019–20 | Eerste Divisie | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 271 | 105 | 24 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 317 | 125 | ||
Maribor
Gorica
Individual
