Marián Kello (born 5 September 1982) is a Slovak former

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

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who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Kello played for

1. FC Košice 1. is the ordinal form of the number one in a number of European languages. 1. may also refer to: Association football Austria * 1. FC Vöcklabruck, a defunct Austrian association football club Czech Republic * 1. FC Karlovy Vary, a Czech ass ...

FC Vítkovice FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

FBK Kaunas Kauno futbolo ir beisbolo klubas, commonly known as FBK Kaunas, was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas. History Banga Kaunas (1960–1993) The roots of the club can be traced back to 1960 when Banga Kaunas was founded and they p ...

, Heart of Midlothian,

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, St Mirren,

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 ...

and has represented

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Club career

He began his career at Slovak side

in 2001, where he spent a year of his career before moving to Czech side,

at the age of 19. After a four-year spell with Vítkovice, he moved to Lithuanian champions

. He became first choice goalkeeper for Kaunas with his impressive displays against Scottish side,

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

and Danish champions AaB Aalborg which helped earn him a move to Hearts.

Hearts

On 14 August 2008 Kello joined Hearts on loan from Kaunas. He made his debut on 23 August 2008 in a 2–1 victory against St Mirren at Tynecastle. He maintained his place in the team until the

Edinburgh Derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any association football, football match played between Football in Scotland, Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs), the two o ...

on 19 October 2008 when he suffered a head injury in a clash with Hibs striker

Colin Nish Colin John Nish (born 7 March 1981) is a Scottish former football player, coach and manager. Nish played for Dunfermline Athletic, Alloa Athletic, Clyde, Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Hartlepool United, Dundee, Portland Timbers, Dumbarton and Co ...

and had to be replaced by János Balogh at half-time. He subsequently lost his place in the team to the Hungarian and made only two further appearances before the

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. He returned to the team for Hearts' final six games of the season and conceded only three goals as the ''Jambos'' secured third place in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

and a place in the inaugural UEFA Europa League. Kello saved a Danny Cadamarteri penalty in a 0–0 draw with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

on 12 December 2009. On 2 August 2010, Hearts announced he had signed a two-year deal with the club, after his contract at

expired. The 2009–10 season saw Kello entrenched in a three-way battle to be first-choice goalkeeper with Balogh and Jamie MacDonald with Balogh narrowly making the most appearance over the course of the season. He went on to establish himself as Hearts' first-choice goalkeeper during the 2010–11 season. On 2 October 2010 Kello turned in a heroic performance against

only for Hearts to succumb to a stoppage time goal from Steven Naismith in a 2–1 loss at Tynecastle. His save to deny

Steven Davis Steven Davis (born 1 January 1985) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made his full international debut in 2005 and made 140 appearances at senior level, scoring 13 goals, to become the most cappe ...

in this match was voted Save of the Season at the SPL end of season awards. On 20 November Kello paid tribute to legendary Hearts goalkeeper

Jim Cruickshank James Fergus Cruickshank (13 April 1941 – 18 November 2010) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Heart of Midlothian through most of the 1960s and 1970s, making nearly 400 league appearances. He had brief spe ...

, who had died two days earlier, by tying a goalkeeper shirt with Cruickshank's name and number printed on the back in the net of his goal. Hearts defeated

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

2–0 with Kello saving a Simon Mensing penalty. After the match manager Jim Jefferies praised Kello saying "Jim Cruickshank was a great penalty saver. How fitting is it that Marian comes out with the jersey and makes a fantastic save from a penalty on the day we paid our respects to him?" He once again produced his best form against Rangers as he made a string of saves to keep a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory at Tynecastle which saw Hearts keep pace with the

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

at the summit of the table. His impressive form continued as he saved a stoppage time penalty from David Goodwillie to preserve a 2–1 win against

as Hearts extended their lead in third place in the

. This along with other impressive performances saw him awarded the SPL Player of the Month award for February 2011. He picked up three awards at Hearts' end of season awards winning the Hearts' Player of the Season, Save of the Season and Fans' Player of the Season awards. Following the dismissal of Jefferies as manager at the start of the 2011–12 season and appointment of Paulo Sérgio Kello continued as first-choice goalkeeper. On 31 January 2011, the last day of the winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, it was rumoured that Hearts had agreed a deal with

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...

for Kello only for him to turn down the transfer. He missed the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,St Johnstone the following weekend, it was originally reported his absence was due to a back injury. However, after the match manager Paulo Sérgio revealed that the goalkeeper's exclusion was "a political thing" and that he was instructed to drop him. Two days later Kello confirmed that he had turned down the Austria Wien transfer and that

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 Foot ...

had also expressed an interest in him. With his contract set to expire in June 2012 he also revealed that he would not be signing a new contract with Hearts thus confirming that he would depart the club at the end of the season. With interest from

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and other English clubs to sign a pre-contract agreement, on 5 April 2012 Kello agreed to an early termination to his Hearts contract. After being released by the club Kello joined Ipswich Town on trial. He featured in two pre-season friendlies as a trialist but, despite impressing manager Paul Jewell, a permanent move was ruled out. He then joined

on trial and played the full match in a pre-season friendly against AFC Telford United in a 2–0 victory but again no permanent deal was agreed.

Astra Giurgiu

Kello joined Romanian

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club

after having a trial for ten days He made his debut for the club on 5 October 2012 in a 1–1 home draw with

FC Vaslui Fotbal Club Vaslui, commonly known as FC Vaslui, or simply as Vaslui (), was a Romanian professional football club based in Vaslui, Vaslui County, founded in 2002 and dissolved in 2014. Its official club colours were yellow and green, hence t ...

. With Romanian international Silviu Lung Jr. firmly established as first-choice goalkeeper Kello made only two appearances before being released by the club in December.

Wolves

On 28 March 2013 Kello signed for

English Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divis ...

club

in a short-term deal until the end of the 2012–13 season as cover for their injured goalkeepers Wayne Hennessey and Carl Ikeme. The club however also recalled youth goalkeeper Aaron McCarey, who instead acted as substitute goalkeeper for the remainder of the season as the team unsuccessfully battled relegation.

St Mirren

Kello signed a short-term contract with Scottish Premiership club St Mirren in October 2013. He made his debut for the club on 26 October against

Tannadice Park Tannadice Park, officially known as The CalForth Construction Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Du ...

, a game that finished 4–0 to the home side. After the match, Manager Danny Lennon quoted on his debut: "I felt sorry for Marian Kello in goal for us on his debut but he actually made some good saves so it's just a case of trying to forget about this one." The next match on 9 November 2013, Kello got his first clean sheet in a 3–0 victory over

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

. Since a 3–0 win over Partick Thistle, Kello added two more clean sheets in the league and established himself as a first-choice goalkeeper for the club. Manager Lennon expressed interest to extend Kello contract to stay at the club. On 31 December 2013, it was announced that Kello had extended his deal to stay at St Mirren, until at least the summer of 2014. In a match against St Johnstone, Kello sustained an injury and was substituted for Christopher Dilo, which St Mirren lost 1–0 and this was Kello's appearance of the season. Kello sustained a groin injury and was out for a week. Though Kello returned to the squad, Kello remained as a substitute goalkeeper for the rest of the season. At the end of the season, Kello was offered a new contract with the club. During the negotiations, Kello was linked with a move return to Hearts, under new management. Nevertheless, Kello signed a one-year contract extension with the club, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2015. Kello failed to hold down a regular first-team place in the 2014–15 season, making 17 appearances. On 29 May 2015 he was released by the club, having made 41 appearances in a two-season stay.

Aris Limassol

In June 2015, Kello signed for

who play in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

MFK Tahanovce

On 20 August 2017, Kello was an unused sub for MFK Tahanovce.

International career

Kello's impressive form for Hearts in early 2011 saw him called up to the

squad and he made his international debut on 9 February 2011, as a substitute against

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in a 2–1 defeat.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;FBK Kaunas *

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. ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* Lithuanian Cup: 2008 * Lithuanian Super Cup: 2007

Individual

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

Player of the Month: February 2011 *

Save of the season: 2010–2011

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kello, Marian 1982 births Men's association football goalkeepers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus FBK Kaunas footballers FC Astra Giurgiu players MFK Vítkovice players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Liga I players Living people FC VSS Košice players FC Košice (2018) players People from Gelnica Footballers from the Košice Region Scottish Premier League players Cypriot First Division players Slovak expatriate men's footballers Slovak expatriate sportspeople in England Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Romania Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Slovak First Football League players Slovak men's footballers Slovakia men's international footballers St Mirren F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Aris Limassol FC players 3. Liga (Slovakia) players 5. Liga players 21st-century Slovak sportsmen