Urko Vera

Urko Vera Mateos (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈuɾko ˈβeɾa];[lower-alpha 1] born 14 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Club Portugalete as a centre forward.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Vera and the second or maternal family name is Mateos.
Urko Vera
Personal information
Full name Urko Vera Mateos[1]
Date of birth (1987-05-14) 14 May 1987
Place of birth Barakaldo, Spain
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre forward
Club information
Current team
 Portugalete
Number 17
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– Portugalete 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 December 2020

Club career

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

Eibar

Jeonbuk Hyundai

CFR Cluj

Notes
  1. In isolation, Vera is pronounced [ˈbeɾa].

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Oldham Athletic" (PDF). English Football League. p. 50. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  2. Urko Vera, de mileurista al cielo (Urko Vera, from mileurista to the sky); El Mundo, 16 March 2011 (in Spanish)
  3. Urko Vera ficha por el Athletic hasta 2012 (Urko Vera signs with Athletic until 2012); Canal Athletic, 26 January 2011 (in Spanish)
  4. Easy for Bilbao; ESPN Soccernet, 5 February 2011
  5. Vera rescues point for Bilbao; ESPN Soccernet, 14 March 2011
  6. El Mirandés ficha a Urko Vera y Aitor Fernández (Mirandés sign Urko Vera and Aitor Fernández); Mundo Deportivo, 13 August 2014 (in Spanish)
  7. 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)
  8. Los goles de la Liga Adelante tienen pasaporte español (Liga Adelante goals have a Spanish passport); La Liga, 9 June 2015 (in Spanish)
  9. 루이스-우르코 베라,'전북의 새 외국인 선수' (Luiz Henrique-Urko Vera, 'Jeonbuk Hyundai's new foreign players'); Osen, 26 July 2015 (in Korean)
  10. Urko Vera y Manuel, nuevos jugadores de Osasuna (Urko Vera and Manuel, new players of Osasuna); CA Osasuna, 10 January 2016 (in Spanish)
  11. Urko Vera llega a la SD Huesca (Urko Vera arrives at SD Huesca); SD Huesca, 19 August 2016 (in Spanish)
  12. Urko Vera, nuevo jugador del Club Deportivo Mirandés (Urko Vera, new player of Club Deportivo Mirandés); CD Mirandés, 23 January 2017 (in Spanish)
  13. "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.
  14. "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.
  15. "Urko Vera and Sonhy Sefil: Oldham Athletic sign duo". BBC Sport. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  16. "Urko Vera departs". Oldham Athletic A.F.C. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  17. "Urko Vera ficha por el Guijuelo" [Urko Vera signs for Guijuelo] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  18. "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.
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