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Lars Veldwijk

Lars Veldwijk (born 21 August 1991) is a professional soccer player who plays for Thai club BG Pathum United as a striker. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the South Africa national team.

Club career

Excelsior

Veldwijk represented Eerste Divisie side Excelsior in the 2013–14 season, and scored 35 goals in 45 appearances across all competitions.

Nottingham Forest

On 12 June 2014, Veldwijk signed for Nottingham Forest from Excelsior for a fee of £500,000 that could rise to £1 million depending on various clauses. He made his debut on 16 August 2014 against Bolton Wanderers at the Macron Stadium as a 92nd-minute substitute for fellow striker Matty Fryatt. Veldwijk made his first start for Forest on 26 August 2014 in a 2–0 win against Huddersfield Town in the second round of the League Cup.

Loan to PEC Zwolle

Veldwijk went on loan to PEC Zwolle for the 2015–16 season, during which time he scored 14 goals in 33 league appearances. Upon his return to Forest he scored his first and only goal for the club in a 2–1 EFL Cup win against Millwall on 23 August 2016.

KV Kortrijk

In the middle of 2016, Veldwijk joined Belgian side KV Kortrijk and only made 9 appearances and scored just 1 goal for the club, he would go on loan to Aalesund in Norway.

Loan to Aalesund FK

On 31 March 2017, Veldwijk joined Norwegian club Aalesund FK on a season long loan due to the extended January transfer window in Norway with an option to buy, he would go on to impress in the Eliteserien by being involved in 8 goals in 16 appearances.

FC Groningen

Veldwijk joined Dutch side FC Groningen from Kortrijk and started well in his first season back in Dutch football since 2016 but got into trouble when he refused to come on as a late substitute in an Eredivisie league match against ADO Den Haag which led to the club and the player parting ways.

Sparta Rotterdam

On 1 July 2018, despite interest from clubs in the Eredivisie, as well from foreign clubs like reigning Scottish Premiership champions Celtic F.C, clubs in Russia, Belgium and Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia Veldwijk signed for then Eerste Divisie side Sparta Rotterdam on a free transfer and in his first season with the club he almost single-handedly promoted them back into the Eredivisie for the following season while being involved in 27 goals,scoring 24 goals and providing 3 assists, his highest goal contribution to date, it attracted top Dutch clubs and even won him a return to the national team after 2 years away from Bafana Bafana

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

On 15 January 2020, having previously been in negotiations with an unnamed club in South Africa,as well as Eredivisie sides also showing interest in him. Veldwijk signed for South Korea's reigning K League 1 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. He made his official debut for the club in March, during a 2–2 AFC Champions League draw against Sydney FC, but had to wait until May to feature in the league for the first time after football was suspended in South Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After recovering from a minor knee injury, he marked his K League 1 league debut with a 93rd-minute winner against Busan IPark, before making his first start two weeks later.

Suwon FC

On 17 July 2020, Veldwijk dropped down a division to join K League 2 side Suwon FC on a permanent deal. He signed with Suwon FC for a contract that runs out until 31 December 2022.

During the 2021 K League 1 he managed to score 18 goals in 32 appearances and having 6 assists.

On 30 September 2023, Suwon FC terminated contract with Veldwijk after being arrested by the police and having his driver's license revoked when he was driving drunk in South Korea.

CD Castellon

On 1 February 2024, After failing to join South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns over a mix of a break down of transfer talks and a division of the technical team over what he can offer to the team, Veldwijk opted to return to Europe and joined Spanish side CD Castellon who were campaigning in the third tier of spanish football on a 6th month contract with an option to extend and apart from a few games, ended up missing the rest of the season through injury missing out on the team's promotion to the Spanish Second division but did play into two of their promotional play off games providing an assist in one of them and now he's preparing for the new season though his contract is ending on the 30th of June 2024.

International career

Although born in the Netherlands, and having spent his formative years progressive through the Dutch youth system at club level, Veldwijk was eligible to represent South Africa through his paternal lineage. He received his maiden call for the nation's 2018 World Cup qualifier against Senegal in October 2016 before debuting in a 1–1 friendly tie with Mozambique the following month. After a spell away from the team, he then returned to the national fold to feature in his first international tournament in 2019, making five substitute appearances as South Africa reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.