Ken Kallaste (''

né A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth reg ...

'' Akerta; born 31 August 1988) is an Estonian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football (soccer), football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-p ...

club

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and the Estonia national team.

Club career

Flora

Kallaste came through the

youth system. He made his debut in the

playing for Flora affiliated

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

on 12 March 2006, in a 0–6 away loss to Maag Tartu. In July 2006, Kallaste moved to Flora's first team. He made his debut for the club on 9 July 2006, in a 0–1 home loss to Levadia. In July 2008, Kallaste joined Tulevik on loan until the end of the season.

Nõmme Kalju

On 6 January 2010, Kallaste signed a three-year contract with Nõmme Kalju. He made his debut for the club on 9 March 2010, in 1–0 home victory over Tulevik. Kallaste helped Nõmme Kalju win the Meistriliiga title in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. From 8 May 2010 to 20 July 2013, Kallaste played every single minute of 116 consecutive league matches, earning himself the nickname ''Raudmees'' (Iron Man).

Górnik Zabrze

On 22 December 2015, Kallaste signed for Polish club

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...

on a one-and-a-half year deal, with an option to extend the contract for another year. He made his debut in the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

on 13 February 2016, in a 0–3 away loss to

Cracovia Cracovia is the Latin name for the Polish city of Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh cen ...

. Górnik Zabrze were relegated at the end of the 2015–16 season and on 25 June 2016, Kallaste was released from his contract by mutual consent.

Korona Kielce

On 27 June 2016, Kallaste signed a two-year contract with

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce, , (Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish football club, which will compete in Ekstraklasa in the 2022–23 Ekstraklasa, 2022–23 season. In the year ...

. He made his debut for the club on 17 August 2016, in a 0–4 away loss to

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by local members of the ''Yo ...

. Kallaste scored his first Ekstraklasa goal on 25 November 2017, in a 3–2 home win over

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

GKS Tychy

On 17 June 2019, Kallaste signed for

I liga I liga ( pl, Pierwsza liga, ), currently named Fortuna I liga due to its sponsorship by Fortuna, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga vi ...

side

GKS Tychy GKS Tychy is a Polish professional football club, based in Tychy, Poland, that plays in the Polish I Liga. The club was founded on 20 April 1971. It played in the Ekstraklasa between 1974–1977. The biggest success of GKS Tychy was the 2nd plac ...

on a one-year deal, with an option to extend his contract for another year.

International career

Kallaste has represented Estonia at under-17, under-18, under-19, under-21 and under-23 levels. On 1 November 2012, Kallaste was named in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

's squad for a friendly match against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

on 8 November 2012, and made his senior international debut in the 2–1 away win.

Personal life

Kallaste was born Ken Akerta, but changed his last name to Kallaste in 2006. He is the son of former professional footballer and Estonian international

Risto Kallaste Risto Kallaste (born 23 February 1971) is an Estonian football manager and former Estonian international footballer who is currently the manager of Flora U19 team. He played as a full back. Kallaste made his first appearance for the Estonia ...

. Kallaste has a daughter (born 2012).

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Flora *

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

: 2008–09 *

Estonian Supercup The Estonian Supercup ( et, Eesti Superkarikas) is Estonian football's annual super cup, contested between the champions of the previous Meistriliiga season and the holders of the Estonian Cup. If the Meistriliiga champions also won the Estoni ...

: 2009 ;Nõmme Kalju *

: 2014–15

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kallaste, Ken 1988 births Living people Footballers from Tallinn Estonian footballers Association football defenders Esiliiga players JK Tervis Pärnu players Meistriliiga players FC Warrior Valga players FC Flora players Viljandi JK Tulevik players Nõmme Kalju FC players Ekstraklasa players Górnik Zabrze players Korona Kielce players I liga players GKS Tychy players Estonia youth international footballers Estonia under-21 international footballers Estonia international footballers Estonian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Poland Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Poland