Kevin Luckassen (born 27 July 1993) is a Dutch 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 ...

who plays as a forward for

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

side

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

Club career

AZ Alkmaar

Born in Eindhoven, Luckassen started playing football in the street, leading him to play for his first youth club at Amstelveen Heemrad when he was eight after his mother took him there. He then played for AVV Zeeburgia and AFC Amsterdam before joining

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

in 2009, where he spent five years at the youth team before turning professionally. He was promoted to the AZ first team squad as an 18-year-old at the start of the 2011–12 season after signing his first professional contract.
He made his AZ Alkmaar debut in the second round of KNVB Cup against FC Groningen, which they went on to win 4–2 after the game went extra time. However, Luckassen did not make another first team appearance for the next two seasons. At the end of the 2012–13 season, he was released.

Ross County

In July 2013, he signed a three-year deal with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

club Ross County. He made his debut in a 2–1 defeat against Celtic at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

in the opening game of the season. Despite suffering from injuries, Luckassen continued to be used in first team ins and out in the first half of the season, making 16 appearances in all competitions.

Slovan Liberec

After six months at Ross County, Luckassen left Ross County to join

Gambrinus Liga The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Seasons typically ...

side

Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domesti ...

after the club accepted their bid. Luckassen made his Slovan Liberec debut, where he started and played for 73 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–2 draw against

FK Mladá Boleslav FK Mladá Boleslav is a Czech football club based in the city of Mladá Boleslav . The club currently plays in the Czech First League. Mladá Boleslav were runners up in the 2005–06 Czech First League and went on to play in the 2006–07 UEF ...

on 23 February 2014. Luckassen scored his first goal on 7 March 2014, as Slovan Liberec won 1-0 against

Zbrojovka Brno Pre-war Československá zbrojovka, akc.spol. (or a.s.) (Czechoslovak Armory)and post-war Zbrojovka Brno, n.p.(Brno Armory) was a maker of small arms, light artillery, and motor vehicles in Brno, Czechoslovakia. It also made other products and ...

. He followed up his second goal two weeks later on 21 March 2014, in a 3-0 win over Jablonec. On 22 August 2014, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against

FK Teplice FK Teplice is a Czech football club based in the city of Teplice. The club currently plays in the Czech First League. The club was founded after World War II in 1945. The club advanced to the Czechoslovak First League in just three years after ...

. By April, Lukassen scored two more goals against

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive in ...

and FK Teplice. Luckassen helped his side win the

Czech Cup The Czech Cup ( cs, Pohár FAČR), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 19 ...

after beating

FK Jablonec FK Jablonec () is a Czech professional football club based in Jablonec nad Nisou. The club has played in the top league of Czech football, Czech First League, since 1994. History Jablonec played its first season of top league football in the 197 ...

2–1 in the final. In the 2015–16 season, Luckassen scored on his first appearance of the season on 16 August 2015, in a 1–1 draw against

. Despite suffering from an injury setback, Luckassen went on to make 13 appearances and scored 3 times in all competitions.

SKN St. Pölten

Luckassen joined

SKN St. Pölten Sportklub Niederösterreich St. Pölten is an Austrian football club from Sankt Pölten, capital of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. St. Pölten currently play in the Austrian Football Second League, the second tier of the Austrian footbal ...

on 8 July 2016, signing a two–year contract with the club. Luckassen made his SKN St. Pölten debut, where he set up a goal for Manuel Hartl, who scored a header, in a 2–1 loss against Austria Wien in the opening game of the season. He then scored his first goal for the club on 15 October 2016, in a 1–1 draw against Admira Wacker Mödling. It wasn’t until 29 April 2017 when he scored a brace and set up one of the goals, in a 3–3 draw against Rheindorf Altach. However, ahead of the 2017–18 season, Luckassen's contract got terminated by the club on 19 July 2017, after a fight with a teammate during the training.

Northampton Town

On 8 March 2018, Luckassen joined EFL League One side

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

on a deal until the end of the season. Luckassen scored the equaliser in his debut against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

on 10 March 2018. However, he soon lost his first team place after suffering a back injury and was sidelined for the rest of the season. He was released by Northampton at the end of the 2017–18 season, following their relegation.

International career

Though born in Eindhoven,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Luckassen expressed desire to play for

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, as his parents are Ghanaian. He previously represented Netherlands U18 and Netherlands U19.

Personal life

Luckassen is an older brother of Derrick Luckassen, who like Kevin, started his professional career at AZ Alkmaar, and cousin of Samuel and

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

Brobbey. Growing up, he supported

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

, due to his association at Amstelveen Heemrad and growing up in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. In addition to speaking Dutch, Luckassen speaks English and currently learning Czech.

Honours

Slovan Liberec *

: 2014–15 *

Czech Supercup The Czech Supercup () was an annual football match between the winners of the Czech First League and the Czech Cup, organised by the Czech Football Association. It was last sponsored by Synot Tip and was therefore officially known as the Synot Tip ...

: 2015 Sepsi OSK * Cupa României: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luckassen, Kevin 1993 births Living people Footballers from Eindhoven Eerste Divisie players Almere City FC players Scottish Professional Football League players Ross County F.C. players Association football forwards Czech First League players FC Slovan Liberec players Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Romania Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Austria Dutch footballers Dutch sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in the Czech Republic Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey FC Politehnica Iași (2010) players FC Viitorul Constanța players Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe players Kayserispor footballers Liga I players English Football League players Northampton Town F.C. players Austrian Football Bundesliga players SKN St. Pölten players Netherlands youth international footballers