Joonas Kolkka


Joonas Einari Kolkka 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.

Club career

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. 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, 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. He scored at both Anfield and Old Trafford during his stay at the club, and also scored in the thrilling 3–3 draw with Norwich. 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. 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

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

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
126 October 1994Tallinn, Estonia7–0Friendly
216 February 1995Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago.2–2Friendly
36 October 1996Helsinki, Finland2–31998 [FIFA World Cup qualification]
45 September 1998Helsinki, Finland3–2UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
59 October 1999Helsinki, Finland4–1UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
69 October 1999Helsinki, Finland4–1UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
715 August 2001Helsinki, Finland4–1Friendly
85 September 2001Helsinki, Finland5–12002 [FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|2002 FIFA World Cup qualification]
927 March 2002Porto, Portugal4–1Friendly
107 June 2003Helsinki, Finland3–0UEFA [Euro 2004 qualifying]
1111 October 2003Tampere, Finland3–2Friendly

Honours

MyPa
PSV
Finland