View source for Andrius Velička

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name          = Andrius Velička
| image          = Velicka.jpg
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1979|4|5|df=y}} 
| birth_place = [[Kaunas]], [[Lithuanian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| height         = {{convert|1.83|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}}
| currentclub    = [[FK Spyris Kaunas]]
| clubnumber     = 17
| position       = [[Striker (association football)|Striker]]
| years1   = 1996–2008 |clubs1 = [[FBK Kaunas]]                                              |caps1 = 166  |goals1 = 89
| years2   = 2002      |clubs2 = → [[FC Anzhi Makhachkala|Anzhi Makhachkala]] (loan)         |caps2 = 5    |goals2 = 1
| years3   = 2003      |clubs3 = → [[FC Irtysh Pavlodar|Irtysh Pavlodar]] (loan)             |caps3 = 12   |goals3 = 0
| years4   = 2006–2008 |clubs4 = → [[Heart of Midlothian F.C.|Heart of Midlothian]] (loan)   |caps4 = 47   |goals4 = 19
| years5   = 2008      |clubs5 = [[Viking FK]]                                               |caps5 = 18   |goals5 = 6
| years6   = 2008–2011 |clubs6 = [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]]                                    |caps6 = 8    |goals6 = 4
| years7   = 2009–2010 |clubs7 = → [[Bristol City F.C.|Bristol City]] (loan)                 |caps7 = 1    |goals7 = 0
| years8   = 2010–2011 |clubs8 = → [[Aberdeen F.C.|Aberdeen]] (loan)                         |caps8 = 6    |goals8 = 1
| years9   = 2011–2012 |clubs9 = [[FK Ekranas]]                                              |caps9 = 43   |goals9 = 17
| years10  = 2012–2013 |clubs10 = [[AZAL PFC|AZAL]]                                          |caps10 = 15  |goals10 = 0
| years11  = 2013–2014     |clubs11 = [[VMFD Žalgiris Vilnius]]                                  |caps11 = 48   |goals11 = 11
| years12  = 2015     |clubs12 = [[FK Spyris Kaunas]]                                  |caps12 = 28   |goals12 = 12
| nationalyears1 = 1998–2013
| nationalteam1  = [[Lithuania national football team|Lithuania]]
| nationalcaps1  = 26
| nationalgoals1 = 2
| pcupdate = 19 June 2013
| ntupdate = 19 April 2010
}}

'''Andrius Velička''' (born 5 April 1979, in [[Kaunas]], [[Lithuanian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]) is a Lithuanian professional [[association football]]er who plays for [[FK Spyris Kaunas]].  He also played for the [[Lithuania national football team|Lithuania national team]].

==Club career==

===FBK Kaunas===
Velička began his career at [[FBK Kaunas]]. He had spells on loan at Russian side [[FC Anzhi Makhachkala|Anzhi Makhachkala]] and [[Kazakhstan]]i outfit [[FC Irtysh Pavlodar|Irtysh Pavlodar]]. During his time in Kaunas he played over 150 games and scored over one hundred goals for the club.

===Heart of Midlothian===
He joined [[Heart of Midlothian F.C.|Heart of Midlothian]] in the summer of 2006 in a [[FBK Kaunas to Hearts|loan deal]] and made his debut on 9 September 2006 in an [[Scottish Premier League|SPL]] against [[St Mirren F.C.|St Mirren]] during a 1–0 defeat, coming on as a substitute for [[Neil McCann]].<ref>[http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=494914 Hearts 0–1 St Mirren] Soccerbase, 9 September 2006</ref> On 15 October, Velička scored two goals in the [[Edinburgh derby]] against [[Hibernian F.C.|Hibernian]], earning 10-man [[Heart of Midlothian F.C.|Hearts]] a draw.<ref>[http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/6044570.stm "Hibernian 2–2 Hearts"] BBC Sport (15 October 2006)</ref>

He also scored in the 1–1 draw with [[Dunfermline Athletic F.C.|Dunfermline Athletic]] on 28 October. He netted yet another Hearts goal at Celtic Park, in a 2–1 defeat to the league champions, however Velička became Hearts top goalscorer as a result of his goal. He scored his first [[hat-trick]] for Hearts in a 4–0 [[Scottish Cup]] third round win against [[Stranraer F.C.|Stranraer]] on 6 January 2007.

Initially, his loan deal at Hearts ended without being renewed but he returned for the [[2007–08 in Scottish football|2007–08 season]] days later. In the early part of that season he was used as an impact substitution to great effect, scoring on numerous occasions after coming off the bench, in particular when scoring both goals in the 2–0 victory away to Celtic in the [[Scottish League Cup]] quarter final on 31 October. He scored the 500th goal Hearts have scored in the [[Scottish Premier League|SPL]] against [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]] at [[Ibrox Stadium|Ibrox]].

===Viking FK===
Rumours in the press linking him with a move to Norwegian club [[Viking FK]] proved true when it emerged that Hearts had accepted a bid of [[£]]1&nbsp;million.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/7264648.stm "Velicka seals Stavanger transfer"] BBC Sport (26 February 2008)</ref> On 26 February 2008 he signed a four-year contract with Viking and completed the move.
Velicka scored his first goal for Viking in his debut match against [[Hamarkameratene]] on 6 April 2008 but Viking lost the match 3–2, and Velicka stated that he could not be happy about his goal because of the team failing to win the match. He played 18 games and scored 6 goals in Norway.

===Rangers===
On 14 June Viking accepted a bid believed to be around £1&nbsp;million from [[Glasgow]] side [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]] for Velička. They received permission to hold signing talks with a view to agreeing personal terms over a move. He signed a three-year contract on 16 June and became a Rangers player on 14 July on their tour of Germany a day after he finished the Norwegian spring part season with Viking FK.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/7444234.stm "Velicka completes Rangers switch"] BBC Sport. 16 June 2008.</ref>

Velička made his debut for the club in a [[UEFA Champions League]] qualifier on 30 July 2008 against his old team [[FBK Kaunas]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7528547.stm "Rangers 0–0 FBK Kaunas"] BBC Sport (30 July 2008)</ref> He came on as a substitute in the second leg, and after missing an easy chance, Kaunas scored to knock Rangers out. Velička had a better time when he played his first league game for the club, scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 win over [[Falkirk F.C.|Falkirk]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7548329.stm "Falkirk 0–1 Rangers"] BBC Sport. 9 August 2008.</ref> Despite the goal and a start the following week against former club Hearts, Velička fell out of favour at [[Ibrox Stadium|Ibrox]] and did not make another first team appearance until an away league match at Falkirk in April 2008. His next start came the following weekend, against [[Motherwell F.C.|Motherwell]] and he opened the scoring in the first two minutes of the match.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7992276.stm "Rangers 3–1 Motherwell"] BBC Sport (11 April 2009)</ref> He scored again the following week against Hibernian at [[Easter Road Stadium|Easter Road]] in a 3–2 win for the Gers, and bagged his third in three games with a fine finish against [[St Mirren F.C.|St Mirren]] in the Scottish Cup. He then scored another against former club [[Heart of Midlothian F.C.|Hearts]], a fine finish inside the box, to make it four goals in four starts.

====Bristol City (loan)====
On 17 August 2009 Velička joined [[Bristol City F.C.|Bristol City]] on a year-long loan, as his first team opportunities were limited at Rangers.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/8202572.stm "Velicka secures Bristol City loan"] BBC Sport (17 August 2009)</ref> He made his debut for City against [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]] the following day as a 64th-minute substitute.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/8195572.stm "Bristol City 1–0 QPR"] BBC Sport (18 August 2009)</ref> He lasted just minutes before injuring himself and leaving the field on a stretcher with a suspected serious knee injury. The 2009–10 season for Velička was confirmed as over as scans showed he had suffered an [[anterior cruciate ligament]] injury.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/8209239.stm "Velicka's season is already over"] BBC Sport (20 August 2009)</ref>

====Aberdeen (loan)====

On 31 August 2010 Velička joined [[Aberdeen F.C.|Aberdeen]] on a season-long loan deal from Rangers.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/8958497.stm "Aberdeen agree swap with Rangers for Velicka and Foster"] BBC Sport. 31 August 2010.</ref> He scored his only goal for Aberdeen against [[Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.|Inverness Caledonian Thistle]] on 9 November 2010.

On 31 January 2011, it was announced that Velička had been released from his loan contract with Aberdeen and became a free agent.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/9383023.stm |title=Aberdeen sign Steven Smith on loan from Norwich |publisher=BBC Sport |date=31 January 2011 |accessdate=2 February 2011}}</ref>

===Later career===
On 11 February 2011 Velička joined [[FK Ekranas]] on a three-year deal. At the beginning of the 2013/2014 season Velička bought out the last 6 months of his contract at Lithuanian side FK Ekranas in order to return to Glasgow, Scotland.

==International career==
Velička made his international debut as an 80th-minute substitute, replacing [[Valdas Trakys]], during a 1–1 draw against [[Moldova national football team|Moldova]] in [[Kaunas]] on 16 August 1998.<ref>[http://www2.omnitel.net/almis/ltuteamgam98.html "Lithuania 1–1 Moldova"] Omnitel.net (15 June 2008)</ref> He had to wait almost four years for his second cap which came in April 2002, against [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]].

He scored his first goal in a game against [[Estonia national football team|Estonia]] on 3 July 2003 in [[Valga, Estonia|Valga]], during a 5–1 win. He had been on the pitch five minutes before netting the third in the 72nd minute.<ref>[http://www2.omnitel.net/almis/ltuteamgam03.html Estonia 1–5 Lithuania] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621213321/http://www2.omnitel.net/almis/ltuteamgam03.html |date=21 June 2008 }} Omnitel.net, 15 June 2008</ref>

===International goals===
<!---DO NOT DELETE REPEAT ENTRIES!!! REPEAT ENTRIES REPRESENT Andrius Velička SCORING MULTIPLE GOALS IN A GAME!!!--->
''Scores and results list Lithuania's goal tally first. ''
{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
|-
| 1 || 3 July 2003|| [[Valga, Estonia]] || {{fb|EST}} || align=center|3–1 || align=center|5–1 || [[Baltic Cup 2003|Baltic Cup]]
|-
| 2 || 11 February 2009|| [[Albufeira]], Portugal || {{fb|AND}} || align=center|1–0 || align=center|3–1 || [[Friendly match]]
|}

==Honours==
===Club===
;Rangers
*'''[[Scottish Premier League]]: [[2008–09 Scottish Premier League|2009]]

===International===
;Lithuania 
*'''[[Baltic Cup (football)|Baltic Cup]]: [[Baltic Cup 2005|2005]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{Soccerbase|name=Andrius Velicka}}
* [http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/players/velickaandrius.html Appearances] at londonhearts.com

{{A Lyga Player of the Year}}
{{A Lyga Top Scorers}}

{{Use British English|date=September 2010}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velicka, Andrius}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Lithuanian footballers]]
[[Category:Lithuania international footballers]]
[[Category:Lithuanian expatriate footballers]]
[[Category:Association football forwards]]
[[Category:FBK Kaunas footballers]]
[[Category:FK Ekranas players]]
[[Category:FK Žalgiris Vilnius players]]
[[Category:FK Kauno Žalgiris players]]
[[Category:FC Anzhi Makhachkala players]]
[[Category:FC Irtysh Pavlodar players]]
[[Category:Heart of Midlothian F.C. players]]
[[Category:Viking FK players]]
[[Category:Rangers F.C. players]]
[[Category:Bristol City F.C. players]]
[[Category:Aberdeen F.C. players]]
[[Category:AZAL PFK players]]
[[Category:A Lyga players]]
[[Category:Russian Premier League players]]
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[[Category:Scottish Premier League players]]
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[[Category:Expatriate footballers in Russia]]
[[Category:Lithuanian expatriates in Russia]]
[[Category:Expatriate footballers in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Lithuanian expatriates in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Expatriate footballers in Scotland]]
[[Category:Lithuanian expatriates in Scotland]]
[[Category:Expatriate footballers in Norway]]
[[Category:Lithuanian expatriates in Norway]]
[[Category:Expatriate footballers in England]]
[[Category:Lithuanian expatriates in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Lithuanian expatriates in Azerbaijan]]