Joonas Einari Kolkka (born 28 September 1974) is a Finnish retired professional footballer who played as a left winger most of his career, but could also play on the right wing. Having started his career in his native Finland, he went on to play for several clubs in the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, England, and the USA.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joonas Einari Kolkka | ||
| Date of birth | 28 September 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Lahti, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Reipas Lahti | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1993 | Reipas Lahti | 34 | (19) |
| 1993–1995 | MyPa | 43 | (17) |
| 1996–1998 | Willem II | 68 | (16) |
| 1998–2001 | PSV | 78 | (10) |
| 2001–2003 | Panathinaikos | 45 | (3) |
| 2003–2004 | Borussia M'gladbach | 28 | (2) |
| 2004–2005 | Crystal Palace | 26 | (3) |
| 2005–2006 | ADO Den Haag | 31 | (8) |
| 2006–2007 | Feyenoord | 22 | (3) |
| 2007–2011 | NAC Breda | 113 | (8) |
| 2011–2012 | Willem II | 13 | (1) |
| 2012 | Texas Dutch Lions | 15 | (2) |
| Total | 516 | (92) | |
| International career | |||
| 1994–2010[1] | Finland | 98 | (11) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career edit
Born in Lahti, Kolkka started his career with Reipas Lahti and MyPa in Finland's Veikkausliiga. He won the Finnish Cup with MyPa in 1995 before joining Netherlands' Willem II the same year. In 1998 Kolkka joined Dutch club PSV Eindhoven on a four-year contract.[2] At PSV he won two league championships and got to play in the UEFA Champions League. Kolkka then moved to Greek side Panathinaikos in 2001 for a transfer fee of €2.3 million,[3] and he spent two seasons there. After leaving Greece, Kolkka played a season each for Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Bundesliga, and in Crystal Palace of the English Premier League, to which he transferred for a fee of €750.000.[4] He scored at both Anfield[5] and Old Trafford[6] during his stay at the club, and also scored in the thrilling 3–3 draw with Norwich.[7] He was released by Palace, and returned to the Netherlands in 2005, signing a one-year deal with ADO Den Haag. After an impressive season with ADO, he was signed by Dutch side Feyenoord in the summer of 2006, and played until summer 2011 for NAC Breda. In 2011, he was signed by his former club, Willem II, being employed as a player and a sales manager of the club.
On 4 May 2012, it was announced that Kolkka had signed a three-month-contract with Texas Dutch Lions, in the third level of American football (not Dayton Dutch Lions).[citation needed] After his contract with the Dutch Lions expired, Kolkka returned to the Netherlands, working as a youth coach for his former club PSV.
International career edit
Kolkka made his debut for the Finland national team on 26 October 1994 against Estonia, and was a regular in the Finland lineup until 2010.
Career statistics edit
International edit
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | 1994 | 2 | 1 |
| 1995 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 98 | 11 | |
- Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kolkka goal.[9]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 October 1994 | Tallinn, Estonia |  Estonia |
7–0 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 16 February 1995 | Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago. |  Trinidad and Tobago |
2–2 | Friendly | |
| 3 | 6 October 1996 | Helsinki, Finland |  Switzerland |
2–3 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 4 | 5 September 1998 | Helsinki, Finland |  Moldova |
3–2 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying | |
| 5 | 9 October 1999 | Helsinki, Finland |  Northern Ireland |
4–1 | UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying | |
| 6 | ||||||
| 7 | 15 August 2001 | Helsinki, Finland |  Belgium |
4–1 | Friendly | |
| 8 | 5 September 2001 | Helsinki, Finland |  Greece |
5–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 9 | 27 March 2002 | Porto, Portugal |  Portugal |
4–1 | Friendly | |
| 10 | 7 June 2003 | Helsinki, Finland |  Serbia and Montenegro |
3–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying | |
| 11 | 11 October 2003 | Tampere, Finland |  Canada |
3–2 | Friendly |
Honours edit
MyPa
- Finnish Cup: 1995
PSV
Finland
References edit
- ^ "Joonas Kolkka - International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ^ Damström, Annika (16 February 1998). "Joonas Kolkan uudeksi seuraksi PSV Eindhoven" [The new company of Joonas Kolka is PSV Eindhoven]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- ^ Panathinaikos Most Expensive Transfers
- ^ Bundesliga Transfers 2004 - Summer, tribuna.com
- ^ "Liverpool 3–2 Crystal Palace". BBC. 13 November 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ "Man Utd 5–2 Crystal Palace". BBC. 18 December 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ "Crystal Palace 3–3 Norwich". BBC. 16 April 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ "Kolkka Joonas" (in Finnish). palloliitto.fi. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
- ^ "Kolkka Joonas" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto (Football Association of Finland). Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
- ^ "Finland-Norway|Line-ups|". Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ "Tournament table". Retrieved 6 December 2020.
External links edit
- Joonas Kolkka – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Profile at FA of Finland's official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2011-08-14) (in Finnish)
- Joonas Kolkka at ESPN FC