Alex Adrianus Antonius Schalk (born 7 August 1992) is a Dutch professional

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 lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

or a winger for club

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

. Schalk began his career at

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

, earning the nickname "'' Der Bomber'' van

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

" for his goal-scoring abilities. He went on to play for PSV,

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

, and Ross County, where he scored the decisive goal in the

2015–16 Scottish League Cup The 2015–16 Scottish League Cup was the 70th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition. It is also known as The Scottish League Cup presented by Utilita for sponsorship reasons. Ross County defeated Hiberni ...

final. Following a successful spell at

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

in Switzerland, where he made 100 league appearances, and a stint with

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

in Japan, Schalk returned to the Netherlands, signing with

in 2024.

Career

Schalk came through the youth ranks of

, earning the nickname of "'' Der Bomber'' van

" because of his reputation as a footballer with remarkable goalscoring instincts, comparable to legendary German striker

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

. On 1 May 2011, he made his senior debut for NAC against

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 33rd round of the 2010–11 Eredivisie season, replacing

Ömer Bayram Ömer Bayram (born 27 July 1991) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a left back for Amedspor. Club career Bayram played youth football for PCP and Baronie before moving to the youth academy of NAC Breda. He made his debut in th ...

in the 85th minute. The match ended in a 2–1 home loss. On 9 August 2011, Schalk agreed to a new two-year contract at NAC until June 2013. After losing perspective on playing matches for

, Schalk was sent on loan to PSV, where he played for

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

side

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively fo ...

. He scored six times in 16 matches for the

side. On 28 June 2014, Schalk signed a one-year deal with

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side

on a free transfer. Schalk moved to

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club Ross County in October 2015. On 13 March 2016, he scored a late winner as Ross County won their first major silverware with a 2–1 victory over

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

in the

Scottish League Cup final The Scottish League Cup is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football, organised by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). It is considered to be the second most important domestic cup competition in Scottish football, after the S ...

. On 16 April 2017, in the 88th minute of a Premiership match at home to

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, he won a penalty which was converted to earn Ross County a 2–2 draw. The act was described as a "clear dive" while Celtic manager

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...

accused Schalk of "blatant cheating". Days later, he was charged with committing an "act of simulation" and handed a two-game suspension by the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

's compliance officer which both he and his club accepted. After Ross County were relegated to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

, Schalk was allowed to leave and join the Swiss side

. He made headlines in October 2019 after giving the middle finger to

FC Sion Football Club Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss Association football, football club from the city of Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have wo ...

fans after scoring a goal. As a result, he was suspended for two games. On 25 March 2022, Schalk signed with

in Japan. On 15 December 2023, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over León in the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

second round. On 12 January 2024, Schalk signed a contract with

until June 2025, with an option to extend to 2026.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Ross County *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

: 2015–16 Servette *

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

: 2018–19 Urawa Red Diamonds *

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

Voetbal International profile

Netherlands stats
at OnsOranje
Profile at Eurosport.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schalk, Alex 1992 births Living people Footballers from Breda Men's association football forwards Dutch men's footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players NAC Breda players PSV Eindhoven players Go Ahead Eagles players Ross County F.C. players Servette FC players Urawa Red Diamonds players ADO Den Haag players Scottish Professional Football League players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players J1 League players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Japan 21st-century Dutch sportsmen