Alex Schalk (; born 7 August 1992) 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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

or a winger for Japanese club

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the ...

. He scored the winning goal for Ross County in the

2015–16 Scottish League Cup The 2015–16 Scottish League Cup was the 70th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition. It is also known as The Scottish League Cup presented by Utilita for sponsorship reasons. Ross County defeated Hibernia ...

final.

Career

Schalk came through the youth ranks of

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

, earning the nickname of "Der Bomber van Breda" because of his reputation as a footballer with remarkable goalscoring instincts, comparable to legendary German striker

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscor ...

. On 1 May 2011, he made his senior debut for NAC against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

in the 33rd round of the 2010–11 Eredivisie season, replacing

Ömer Bayram Ömer Bayram (born 27 July 1991) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a left back for Eyüpspor. Club career Bayram played youth football for PCP and Baronie before moving to the youth academy of NAC Breda. He made his debut in the ...

in the 85th minute. The match ended in a 2–1 home loss. On 9 August 2011, Schalk agreed to a new two-year contract at NAC until June 2013. After losing perspective on playing matches for

, Schalk was sent on loan to

PSV PSV may refer to: * Partial specific volume * PlayStation Vita, a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment * Petit Saint Vincent, an island south of St. Vincent in the Grenadine islands * Platform supply vessel, a specific typ ...

, where he played for

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as th ...

side

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively for ...

. He scored six times in 16 matches for the

side. On 28 June 2014, Schalk signed a one-year deal with

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

side Go Ahead Eagles on a free transfer. Schalk moved to

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 in October 2015. On 13 March 2016, he scored a late winner as Ross County won their first major silverware with a 2–1 victory over Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup final. On 16 April 2017, in the 88th minute of a Premiership match at home to

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

, he won a penalty which was converted to earn Ross County a 2–2 draw. The act was described as a "clear dive" while Celtic manager

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...

accused Schalk of "blatant cheating". Days later, he was charged with committing an "act of simulation" and handed a two-game suspension by the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility fo ...

's compliance officer which both he and his club accepted. After Ross County were relegated to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

, Schalk was allowed to leave and join the Swiss side

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpor ...

. He made headlines in October 2019 after

giving the middle finger In Western culture, "the finger", or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger, the bird or flipping someone off) is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent i ...

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

fans after scoring a goal. As a result, he was suspended for two games. On 25 March 2022, Schalk signed with

in Japan.

Career statistics

Honours

Ross County *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in exist ...

: 2015–16 Servette *

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

Voetbal International profile

Netherlands stats
at OnsOranje
Profile at Eurosport.com
1992 births Living people Footballers from Breda Association football forwards Dutch footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players NAC Breda players PSV Eindhoven players Go Ahead Eagles players Ross County F.C. players Servette FC players Urawa Red Diamonds players Scottish Professional Football League players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate footballers in Japan {{Netherlands-footy-forward-stub