Ernestas Šetkus (; born 25 May 1985) is a retired Lithuanian 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 lea ...

. He played for the Lithuania national team.

Career

Early career

Šetkus started his senior career with Žalgiris first team in 2005, before moved to Tauras in 2009. For the 2010 season he returned to Žalgiris and earned 16 appearances in the

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...

. Šetkus played the first match of his second spell at Žalgiris on 21 March 2010, a 1–1 draw against Tauras and kept seven clean sheets.

Cyprus, Bulgaria and Belarus

In August 2010, Šetkus joined Cyprus side

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia (, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a Cypriot football club based in Nicosia and competes in the . The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cyprus Football Association. The club colors are black and green. ...

. He made his debut on 2 October 2010 against Paphos. During the 2010–11 season he kept two clean sheets in 18 league games. He began the following season as backup to his

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n rival Andrejs Pavlovs. Šetkus played his first match of the campaign on 21 November 2011, keeping a clean sheet in the 0–0 draw against

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a professional Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the A ...

. Later in the season Šetkus returned to be the senior goalkeeper of the team. On 7 January Šetkus got MVP of the Game award in a game against AEK Larnaca which finished 1–1. In April 2012 he was linked with Hibernian and Hearts. During the summer of 2012, Šetkus signed a contract with newly promoted Parva liga club

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

. Šetkus made his official debut in the 3–0 home win over Slavia Sofia on 11 August 2012. On 31 January Šetkus was released from the club by Stanimir Stoilov. In March 2013 he was very close to sign a contract with Scottish side Kilmarnock. On 28 March he signed short-term contract with Vysheyshaya Liga team

Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...

. Few days later he got hamstring injury. After an injury on 23 June he made his first game in Vysheyshaya Liga in the 1–0 loss to Shakhtyor Soligorsk. A week later he helped his team to win 2–0 against Dynamo Brest keeping a clean sheet.

Greece, Turkey and the Netherlands

In July 2013, Šetkus came back to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

signing a one-year contract with

Nea Salamina Nea Salamis Famagusta or Nea Salamina Famagusta () is a Cypriot sports club based in Ammochostos (also known by its romanized name, Famagusta), Cyprus. The club is named after Salamis, Cyprus, Salamis (or Salamina), an ancient city near present- ...

. After the successful season in Cyprus, in July 2014, Šetkus signed one-year contract with Kerkyra playing in

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

. On the 2015–16 season Šetkus signed for

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

from the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

for one year. At the end of the season he went down with his team to the

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

. On the 2016–17 season, Šetkus signed

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

from the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

for one year. At the end of the season, he finished with his team in 11th place in the Eredivisie.

Israel

On 12 July 2017, Šetkus signed Hapoel Haifa from

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

for two seasons. On 2 August, Šetkus made his debut in a 0–1 loss to Hapoel Acre at Sammy Ofer Stadium in the

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat ha'Al, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

. On 19 August, Šetkus made his debut in 3–1 victory over Hapoel Ashkelon at Sammy Ofer Stadium in the Israeli Premier League. On 9 May 2018, Šetkus helped his team win the

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

after 44 years after a 3–1 win over the Beitar Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium. At the end of the season Šetkus won the title of "goalkeeper of the season". On 4 July 2018, Šetkus concluded his terms at Hapoel Be'er Sheva, but on 5 July, the deal was blown after Hapoel Haifa club owners changed the agreement between the teams on their own. January's transfer window signed Šetkus in the Beitar Jerusalem for two seasons, concluding with him joining next season. By the end of this season, Šetkus had made 30 appearances in the Israeli Premier League and was a part of the Hapoel Haifa campaign in the qualifying European League. On 20 June 2019, Šetkus signed Hapoel Be'er Sheva for two seasons after receiving permission from Beitar Jerusalem to leave for no consideration. On 11 July, Šetkus made his debut in Hapoel Be'er Sheva uniforms in a 1–1 draw against Laçi as part of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

at Laçi Stadium. On 25 August, Šetkus made his debut in the

in a 0–0 draw against the Beitar Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium.

International career

Šetkus was called up by Raimondas Žutautas to the full Lithuania national team squad for the friendly match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He made his debut on 25 March 2011 at the Darius and Girėnas Stadium,

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. He came on at half time for Žydrūnas Karčemarskas with Lithuania 2–0 up. On 3 June 2011, Šetkus made his first Lithuania start in their 2–0 loss in

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

in a Euro 2012 qualifying game. On 7 June 2011, Šetkus played in a friendly game against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in Oslo. In 83rd minute he saved a penalty but Morten Gamst Pedersen scored on the rebound. The game finished 1–0 for Norway. On 29 May 2012, Šetkus kept a clean sheet in a friendly game against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in Nyon, Switzerland. Following the appointment of coach Edgaras Jankauskas to the Lithuania in June 2016, Šetkus became the team senior goalkeeper.

Honours

Hapoel Haifa *

: 2017–18 * Israel Super Cup:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Hapoel Be'er Sheva *

: 2019–20 Individual *Goalkeeper of the season in Israel: 2017–18 * Lithuanian Footballer of the Year: 2019

References

External links