Serhiy Atelkin


Serhiy Atelkin is a retired Ukrainian footballer. Atelkin became the first player from the independent Ukraine who played in the Italian Seria A.

Playing career

Atelkin made his name playing as a striker for the likes of Shakhtar Donetsk, U.S. Lecce and Boavista FC. Despite success in domestic competitions, Atelkin only played for the Ukrainian national football team twice. In 1996 Atelkin spent a short stint in Kremenchuk for FC Kremin Kremenchuk. During the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Atelkin was noticed by the Lecce's scouts during the second round match between Shakhtar and Vicenza. After that he signed a three-year contract with the Italian club that just got promotion to the Serie A. In 1998 Atelkin got injured and lost his sports form, while U.S. Lecce got relegated. Due to more strict limitations on foreign players Atelkin lost his place on the team, but was loaned out to play in Portugal. However he never fully regained his former form and was not able to make a team. At the end of the 1999 season he returned to Lecce to find out that he was not needed. Atelkin through legal proceedings broke his three-year contract to become a free agent.
Next year Atelkin was able to sign a new contract with his former club Shakhtar Donetsk, for which he only played 14 games in two seasons. In 2002 Atelkin signed with Metalurh Donetsk, but only played one game. He returned to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2003 where he is a scout.

Achievements

He was also notable for joining Oleh Matveyev as one of the better forward duets in the 1990s in the Ukrainian Premier League. Together with Andriy Shevchenko he holds a record for the most goals scored in the finals of the Ukrainian Cup. He also had three seasons of scoring over 10 goals. In 2002, he finally became the champion of Ukraine with FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Atelkin also is a four-time holder of the Ukrainian Cup.

Personal life

According to official web-site of , Sergey Atelkin suffered from a heart attack in the beginning of December 2008.

Career statistics

Club

International games

GameDateVenueOpponentMinutesResultCompetition
1.1997-10-11Yerevan, Armenia10WonWC 1998 Qual
2.1997-10-29Zagreb, Croatia54LostWC 1998 Qual