Jordi Balk (born 26 April 1994) is a retired Dutch professional footballer who played as a centre back during his career, for Ross County, FC Oss, St Patrick's Athletic, FC Lienden, VV DUNO, DOVO and Sportlust '46.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jordi Balk | ||
| Date of birth | 26 April 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Cothen, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| SVF Cothen | |||
| SV Houten | |||
| FC Utrecht | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014 | Ross County | 4 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | FC Oss | 68 | (1) |
| 2017 | St Patrick's Athletic | 12 | (1) |
| 2018 | FC Lienden | 28 | (0) |
| 2019 | VV DUNO | 8 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | DOVO | 19 | (0) |
| 2020–2022 | Sportlust '46 | 16 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:51, 30 January 2023 (UTC) | |||
Club career
editRoss County
editBalk, who had previously played in the youth academy of Dutch club Utrecht, signed for Scottish Premiership club Ross County in July 2014.[1] He made his debut appearance on 16 August 2014, in a 2–1 defeat against Kilmarnock. Balk was released from his contract in November 2014.[2]
FC Oss
editIn January 2015, he signed with Dutch Eerste Divisie side FC Oss until the end of the season.[3] He stayed with FC Oss until 2017.
St Patrick's Athletic
editAfter 3 seasons with FC Oss, Balk went on trial with League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic, from the capital city of Dublin. On 5 July 2017 he played the full 90 minutes as a trialist in a 1–0 friendly win over Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian at Richmond Park. After impressing fans and coaching staff with his passing, positional sense and tackling, Balk signed a contract with the Saints on 7 July 2017, becoming the first Dutch player to play for the club.[4] Balk made his full debut on 9 July in a narrow 1–0 defeat away to league leaders Cork City.[5] He scored his first goal in the clubs crucial 4-2 win against Cork which helped St Pats stay in League of Ireland Premier Division.[6]
Return to Holland
editOn 19 December, Balk announced to his fans via his Instagram account that despite St Patrick's Athletic offering him a multi-year contract, he would be leaving Dublin and returning home to sign for FC Lienden of the Tweede Divisie on a 1.5 year contract.[7]
Balk signed with Voetbalvereniging Duno Doorwerth, better known as VV DUNO, in the beginning of 2019.[8] However, already on 12 February 2019 it was confirmed, that Balk would join DOVO from the upcoming season.[9]
Balk played for Sportlust '46 from 2020 until he retired from football in July 2022.
On 9 September 2023, Balk returned to Dublin to play in a friendly for a St Patrick's Athletic legends team for Ian Bermingham's testimonial match.[10]
Career statistics
edit- As of 19 December 2017.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ross County | 2014–15[11] | Scottish Premiership | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 |
| FC Oss | 2014–15[11] | Eerste Divisie | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| 2015–16[11] | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 33 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17[11] | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 17 | 1 | ||
| Club Total | 68 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | 70 | 1 | ||
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2017[11] | League of Ireland Premier Division | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| FC Lienden | 2017–18[11] | Tweede Divisie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 84 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 89 | 2 | ||
- ^ Appearances in Promotion Play-offs
References
edit- ^ "Ross County boss Derek Adams snaps up trio of new faces". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ^ Ross County: Jim McIntyre targets signings as three exit, BBC Sport
- ^ Balk maakt seizoen af bij FC Oss Archived 2015-01-13 at the Wayback Machine (Dutch). 12 January 2015.
- ^ "Jordi Balk Joins the Saints".
- ^ "League Report: Cork City 1 - 0 St Patrick's Athletic".
- ^ "League Report: St Patrick's Athletic 4 - 2 Cork City".
- ^ "Jordi Balk sluit per direct aan bij tweede divisie selectie".
- ^ Duno start 2019 met makkelijke oefenzege, hoogenlaag.nl, 5 January 2019
- ^ Ex-prof Jordi Balk van Duno naar DOVO in Veenendaal, gelderlander.nl, 12 February 2019
- ^ "Testimonial Squads Confirmed". www.stpatsfc.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "Nederlands - J.Balk". Soccerway. soccerway.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/relegation-threatened-st-pats-were-11729219
- https://www.dublinlive.ie/sport/liam-buckley-praises-jordi-balk-14075897
- https://www.gelderlander.nl/voetbal-arnhem/jordi-balk-van-schotland-ierland-en-lienden-naar-duno-in-doorwerth~af821231/
- https://www.elfvoetbal.nl/Avonturiers/270135/Zo-wil-Jordi-Balk-via-Ierland-zijn-Engelse-droom-waarmaken
- https://www.the42.ie/jordi-balk-league-of-ireland-st-patricks-athletic-3617685-Sep2017/
External links
edit- Profile - Voetbal International
- Jordi Balk at Soccerbase
- VV Duno profile
