Joost van Aken

In this Dutch name, the surname is van Aken, not Aken.
Joost van Aken
Personal information
Full name Joost Maurits van Aken[1]
Date of birth (1994-05-13) 13 May 1994 (age 30)[2]
Place of birth Haarlem, Netherlands
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
1999–2002 SV Vogelenzang
2002–2005 SV Hoofddorp
2005–2006 HFC Haarlem
2006–2009 Ajax
2009–2010 HFC Haarlem
2010–2014 SC Heerenveen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2017 SC Heerenveen 84 (3)
2017–2021 Sheffield Wednesday 32 (0)
2019–2020 → VfL Osnabrück (loan) 22 (1)
2021–2022 Zulte Waregem 1 (0)
2022–2023 SC Heerenveen 18 (1)
International career
2014 Netherlands U21 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 May 2023

Joost Maurits van Aken (born 13 May 1994) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He started his senior career at SC Heerenveen, and has also played for Sheffield Wednesday, VfL Osnabrück and Zulte Waregem. Internationally, he has played for the Netherlands under-21s.

Career

SC Heerenveen

Van Aken made his first appearance for SC Heerenveen on 16 February 2014 against the then champions AFC Ajax. Around two months later, van Aken scored his first goal for the club against Go Ahead Eagles.

In June 2015, van Aken signed a new three-year contract running until 2018.[3] He went on to make 92 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring three goals.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 30 August 2017, Sheffield Wednesday announced that they had signed van Aken from Eredevisie side SC Heerenveen for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract.[4] He was assigned the number 4 shirt.[5] van Aken made his Football League debut on 9 September, playing the entire ninety minutes in a 3–1 victory over Nottingham Forest.

On 14 August 2019, van Aken joined VfL Osnabrück on a loan deal until the end of 2019–20 season.[6]

On 12th September 2020 Van Aken returned to the Sheffield Wednesday starting line up and had a very impressive game against Cardiff City FC. He was sent off at home to Luton Town resulting in defeat on 24 October 2020, ending a run of games since his return to the club.[7] On 20 May 2021 it was announced that he would leave Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract.[8]

Zulte Waregem

On 15 May 2021, Zulte Waregem announced that van Aken had signed a two-year deal with the Belgian club.[9] He made his competitive debut on 24 July in the Jupiler Pro League against OH Leuven, getting sent off in a 1–1 draw.[10] On 25 January 2022, he was released from his contract.[11]

Return to Heerenveen

On 7 February 2022, van Aken returned to SC Heerenveen until the end of the 2021–22 season, signing as a free agent.[12]

Career statistics

As of match played 1 May 2022[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SC Heerenveen 2013–14 Eredivisie 6 2 0 0 — 2 0 8 2
2014–15 Eredivisie 30 0 0 0 — 3 0 33 0
2015–16 Eredivisie 20 0 1 0 — — 21 0
2016–17 Eredivisie 26 1 2 0 — 0 0 28 1
2017–18 Eredivisie 2 0 — — — 2 0
Total 84 3 3 0 — 5 0 92 3
Sheffield Wednesday 2017–18 Championship 14 0 0 0 — — 14 0
2018–19 Championship 1 0 0 0 1 0 — 2 0
2019–20 Championship 0 0 — — — 0 0
2020–21 Championship 17 0 0 0 0 0 — 17 0
Total 32 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 33 0
VfL Osnabrück (loan) 2019–20 2. Bundesliga 22 1 0 0 — — 22 1
Zulte Waregem 2021–22 Belgian First Division A 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
SC Heerenveen 2021–22 Eredivisie 3 1 0 0 — 0 0 3 1
Career total 142 5 3 0 1 0 5 0 151 5

References

  1. ^ "EFL Released and Retained List 2017-18" (PDF). English Football League. p. 37. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Joost Van Aken". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  3. ^ "Joost van Aken extends contract at SC Heerenveen". SC Heerenveen. SC Heerenveen. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  4. ^ "First interview with Joost van Aken". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Owls land Dutch defender". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  6. ^ "VfL Osnabrück nimmt van Aken unter Vertrag" (in German). VfL Osnabrück. 14 August 2019. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Report: Wednesday 0-1 Luton". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Owls confirm 2020/21 retained list". www.swfc.co.uk.
  9. ^ "Welcome Joost van Aken!". S.V. Zulte Waregem. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  10. ^ Vanbuggenhout, Kevin (24 July 2021). "Brys en Dury bespreken prestaties van hun teams én strafschopgeval: "Het is gefloten, geen zin in polemiek"". Voetbalkrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Essevee and Joost Van Aken end collaboration". S.V. Zulte Waregem. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  12. ^ "JOOST VAN AKEN KEERT TERUG OP HET OUDE NEST" (Press release) (in Dutch). SC Heerenveen. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  13. ^ Joost van Aken at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 October 2017.