Ats Purje (born 3 August 1985) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Tallinna Kalev.
Club career Early career Purje began playing football at Tallinna Jalgpallikool, where he was coached by Aivar Tiidus. 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.
FC Inter In December 2007, Purje signed a two-year contract with Veikkausliiga club FC Inter. 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. He won the Veikkausliiga in the 2008 season. 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.
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. 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.
Ethnikos Achna In May 2011, Purje signed for Ethnikos Achna. He made his debut for the club on 27 August 2011, in a 0–1 loss to Anorthosis.
KuPS On 3 April 2012, Purje signed a one-year contract with Veikkausliiga club KuPS. 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. 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. On 30 May 2015, he won his fourth Estonian Cup. 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.
Tallinna Kalev For the 2021 Season Purje returned to Estonia signing for the Esiliiga club Tallinna Kalev while also managing their under-21 team in the Esiliiga B.
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. 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.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupIncludes the Estonian Cup, Finnish Cup and Cypriot CupLeague CupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSC Real2001IV liiga174————1742002III liiga1717——— 1717Total3421——— 3421Maardu2002Esiliiga87 ———87M.C. Tallinn2003Esiliiga128————128Levadia-Juunior2003II liiga53————53200412————12Total65————65Levadia II2003Meistriliiga6121———822004Esiliiga12200———122200542————42200773————73Total29821———319Levadia2003Meistriliiga11410—1Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup0—134200417820—1000208200512410—2Appearances in UEFA Champions League05One appearance in Livonia Cup, three appearances in Commonwealth Cup, one appearance in Estonian Supercup02042006301020—52—3712200716731—007Three appearances and one goal in Commonwealth Cup, four appearances in Baltic League1269Total863391—9212111637FC Inter2008Veikkausliiga1972184——29122009214206020—314Total40114114420—6016AEP2010–11Cypriot First Division26531———296Ethnikos Achna2011–12Cypriot First Division6100———61PK-372013Kakkonen1000——0010KuPS2012Veikkausliiga27641005Appearances in UEFA Europa League1—36820132042084——30820142993452——37152015000020——20Total76199515651—10531Nõmme Kalju2015Meistriliiga331631—41—40182016281410—50003414Total613041—91007432KuPS2017Veikkausliiga32852———3710Career total41715636122910254121519183
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsEstonia200610200710200881200960201092201191201270201330201431201593201640201741201851Total6910
International goals As of 9 June 2018. Estonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Purje goal. + International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competitionNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition120 August 2008A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia91–12–1Friendly23 March 2010 Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia171–11–2Friendly37 September 2010A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia221–03–3Friendly42 September 2011Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia292–12–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying58 September 2014A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia461–01–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying69 June 2015Veritas Stadion, Turku, Finland491–02–0Friendly72–0811 November 2015A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia551–03–0Friendly912 June 2017Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia612–12–1Friendly109 June 2018A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia651–31–3Friendly
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
External links