Summary
Urko Vera Mateos (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈuɾko ˈβeɾa];[a] born 14 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Santutxu FC as a centre-forward.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Urko Vera Mateos[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 14 May 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Barakaldo, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Santutxu | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–1997 | Santutxu | ||
| 1997–1999 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| 2001–2003 | Lezama | ||
| 2003–2006 | Santutxu | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2007 | Santutxu | 16 | (8) |
| 2007–2008 | Laudio | ? | (10) |
| 2008–2009 | Portugalete | ? | (6) |
| 2009–2010 | Eibar B | ? | (14) |
| 2010 | Eibar | 3 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Lemona | 18 | (13) |
| 2011 | Bilbao Athletic | 7 | (1) |
| 2011 | Athletic Bilbao | 5 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | Hércules | 31 | (11) |
| 2012–2013 | Ponferradina | 14 | (2) |
| 2013 | Alcorcón | 7 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | Eibar | 31 | (5) |
| 2014–2015 | Mirandés | 38 | (17) |
| 2015 | Jeonbuk Hyundai | 6 | (0) |
| 2016 | Osasuna | 19 | (3) |
| 2016–2017 | Huesca | 14 | (1) |
| 2017 | Mirandés | 16 | (5) |
| 2017–2019 | CFR Cluj | 17 | (5) |
| 2018 | → Astra Giurgiu (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | Oldham Athletic | 10 | (2) |
| 2020 | Guijuelo | 4 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Portugalete | 7 | (0) |
| 2021– | Santutxu | 40 | (12) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:27, 12 May 2022 (UTC) | |||
Club career edit
Born in Barakaldo, Biscay, Vera played mostly amateur football until the age of 23, having represented Basque giants Athletic Bilbao as a youth from ages 10–12. During his spell at SD Lemona, he received part of his wage by taking the team's kits to the laundry.[2]
In the last minutes of the 2011 January transfer window, after impressing with Lemona in Segunda División B (the club was coached by legendary Athletic player Aitor Larrazábal), Vera was acquired by the Lions, signing a one 1/2-year contract and initially being assigned to the reserve side, Bilbao Athletic.[3] He made his first-team – and La Liga – debut on 5 February, coming on as a substitute for Iker Muniain for the final 15 minutes of a 3–0 home win against Sporting de Gijón.[4]
On 14 March 2011, again appearing from the bench, Vera scored his first goal for Athletic Bilbao, heading home in injury time in a 2–2 draw at Getafe CF.[5] After being released he resumed his career in Segunda División, representing five clubs in just four years, including CD Mirandés[6] for which he netted 20 times in all competitions.[7][8]
Vera moved to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC in the K League 1 in late July 2015.[9] On 10 January of the following year, he returned to his country and joined CA Osasuna in the second level.[10]
On 19 August 2016, Vera signed a one-year deal with SD Huesca, still in the second tier.[11] The following 23 January, he returned to Mirandés after leaving by mutual consent.[12]
On 18 May 2017, Vera moved to Romania with CFR Cluj.[13] In January 2019, after a short loan spell at FC Astra Giurgiu also in the country's Liga I,[14] he signed with English League Two club Oldham Athletic.[15] His contract at the latter was mutually terminated on 24 January 2020,[16] and he returned to the Spanish lower leagues shortly after with CD Guijuelo.[17]
Vera returned to his native region on 28 August 2020, with the 33-year-old agreeing to a deal at third-tier Club Portugalete.[18]
Honours edit
Eibar
Jeonbuk Hyundai
CFR Cluj
Notes edit
- ^ In isolation, Vera is pronounced [ˈbeɾa].
References edit
- ^ "Notification of shirt numbers: Oldham Athletic" (PDF). English Football League. p. 50. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ^ Urko Vera, de mileurista al cielo (Urko Vera, from mileurista to the sky); El Mundo, 16 March 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ Urko Vera ficha por el Athletic hasta 2012 (Urko Vera signs with Athletic until 2012); Canal Athletic, 26 January 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ Easy for Bilbao; ESPN Soccernet, 5 February 2011
- ^ Vera rescues point for Bilbao; ESPN Soccernet, 14 March 2011
- ^ El Mirandés ficha a Urko Vera y Aitor Fernández (Mirandés sign Urko Vera and Aitor Fernández); Mundo Deportivo, 13 August 2014 (in Spanish)
- ^ Un triplete de Urko Vera mete al Mirandés en la tercera fase (Three from Urko Vera send Mirandés to third stage); Diario AS, 10 September 2014 (in Spanish)
- ^ Los goles de la Liga Adelante tienen pasaporte español (Liga Adelante goals have a Spanish passport); La Liga, 9 June 2015 (in Spanish)
- ^ 루이스-우르코 베라,'전북의 새 외국인 선수' (Luiz Henrique-Urko Vera, 'Jeonbuk Hyundai's new foreign players'); Osen, 26 July 2015 (in Korean)
- ^ Urko Vera y Manuel, nuevos jugadores de Osasuna (Urko Vera and Manuel, new players of Osasuna); CA Osasuna, 10 January 2016 (in Spanish)
- ^ Urko Vera llega a la SD Huesca (Urko Vera arrives at SD Huesca); SD Huesca, 19 August 2016 (in Spanish)
- ^ Urko Vera, nuevo jugador del Club Deportivo Mirandés (Urko Vera, new player of Club Deportivo Mirandés); CD Mirandés, 23 January 2017 (in Spanish)
- ^ "Încă un transfer la CFR Cluj! Ardelenii și-au adus un atacant din liga a doua spaniolă" [Another transfer to CFR Cluj! The Transylvanians brought a striker from the Spanish second league] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ "Atacantul spaniol Urko Vera a semnat cu Astra Giurgiu" [Spanish forward Urko Vera signed with Astra Giurgiu] (in Romanian). Libertatea. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ^ "Urko Vera and Sonhy Sefil: Oldham Athletic sign duo". BBC Sport. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ^ "Urko Vera departs". Oldham Athletic A.F.C. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ "Urko Vera ficha por el Guijuelo" [Urko Vera signs for Guijuelo] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ^ "El ex león Urko Vera regresa al Portugalete doce años después" [Former lion Urko Vera returns to Portugalete twelve years later] (in Spanish). El Correo. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
External links edit
- Urko Vera at Athletic Bilbao
- Urko Vera at BDFutbol
- Urko Vera at Soccerway
- Urko Vera – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
- Urko Vera at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
- Urko Vera at Soccerbase
