Sergio Hellings (born 11 October 1984) is a Dutch

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who is without a club having last played for

Roeselare Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. ...

Career

A natural defender, Hellings was snapped up by

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

at an early age, and was nurtured through the Dutch side's world-famous youth system as one of the biggest talents. He has represented his country at all youth levels up to Under-21 next to now top players, Nigel de Jong, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and John Heitinga. Hellings didn't wait to play for the first team, so he joined

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

side

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as th ...

for €2 million on 11 October 2002, signing a five-year contract. He only made it to 7 pre-season friendlies for Anderlecht.

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

originally wanted to sign Hellings, but the clubs could agree on the transfer fee.

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

were also interested in signing Hellings, but the club took too long in deciding to pursue a deal. In the 2004–05 winter break he returned to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and joined

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as th ...

, with whom he won promotion to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

. The next season, he helped Heracles Almelo to remain in the Eredivisie, and made it to the Netherlands national under-21 football team. He moved back to the Eerste Divisie himself when he joined

AGOVV Apeldoorn AGOVV () is a Dutch association football club based in Apeldoorn. It was established on 25 February 1913. The club played in professional football from 1954 to 1971 and from 2003 to 2013. AGOVV's male first squad plays in 2022–23 in the Tweede ...

, making 25 appearances. Hellings was signed by

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

on 19 June 2007 under manager

Martin Allen Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...

, Manager Martin Allen that signed Hellings lasted for only 4 months, so he was transfer listed by Ian Holloway on 23 December. He came close to making his senior debut against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match on 31 October, but was left on the substitute bench as Leicester lost 4–3. He has recently been on trial at Luton town and scored twice for their reserve

Hellings didn't got a chance due to manager switches on short terms and on 30 July 2008 he parted company with Leicester City by mutual consent, having secured a two-year deal (with an option of a third year) at Belgian Jupiler League side K.V.C. Westerlo, Westerlo two days earlier.

Coaching

Since leaving Westerlo, unable to find another club Hellings has been volunteering in a coaching capacity at Ajax Amsterdam.

Honours

;Heracles Almelo *Winner **

: 2004/05

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hellings, Sergio 1984 births Living people AGOVV Apeldoorn players Dutch footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Association football midfielders Heracles Almelo players Leicester City F.C. players Footballers from Amsterdam R.S.C. Anderlecht players K.V.C. Westerlo players K.S.V. Roeselare players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players