Shelton Demetrio Martis (born 29 November 1982) is a

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

an former 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 played as a defender. He began his career at

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

and

FC Eindhoven Football Club Eindhoven, commonly known as FC Eindhoven, is a professional association football, football club based in Eindhoven, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football ...

in the Dutch

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 ...

before spending a season at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. He then moved to

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 ...

of the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

in 2006, winning the

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 ...

in his only season. Martis then signed for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

for £50,000 and became the first Curaçaoan to play in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. After three and a half years at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

, and a season at Osotspa Saraburi in the

Thai Premier League The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

, he returned to the Netherlands with SteDoCo. Martis played three matches for the

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

in 2008. After a territorial reorganisation, he represented

Club career

Early career

Born in

Willemstad Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...

, Martis came through the youth ranks at Dutch club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

before making his debut for their

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

neighbours

, and

. He joined

English League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL) ...

club

in 2005, and made his debut for the Quakers on 6 August 2005 by playing the full 90 minutes as they began the season with a 1–1 draw at

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

. His first goal came the following 28 January in a 4–0 win against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

at the

Darlington Arena The Darlington Arena is a rugby union stadium, located in Darlington, County Durham. The arena was opened in the summer of 2003, as the new home ground of Darlington F.C., following the decision to leave their previous ground, Feethams, after ...

, exploiting a mistake by visiting captain

Alex Baptiste Alexander Aaron John Baptiste (born 31 January 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Club career Mansfield Town Born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Baptiste came up through the youth team at M ...

. He added another goal on 13 March, the only one in a home win against Chester City, heading in

Neil Wainwright Neil Wainwright (born 4 November 1977) is an English former footballer. Wainwright played most of his football on the wing or in more recent times at full back. His former clubs include Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham, Sunderland A.F.C., Sunderland and ...

corner kick A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

. After his only full season in

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

, Martis played on a week-to-week contract after turning down a full new contract.

Hibernian

Martis moved to

club

on 14 August 2006 on a three-year deal. He was signed by

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

, who stated that the team had been coveting him for some time as a young "composed, athletic and competitive defender". The transfer fee was nominal for a technicality because he was moving between countries. He made his debut five days later in a 3–1 win over

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-largest ...

; he had a chance to score but controlled the ball with his chest rather than heading it. He played all five of Hibs' matches as they won the

, coming on as an added-time substitute for

Steven Whittaker Steven Gordon Whittaker (born 16 June 1984) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player, currently serving as the assistant manager of Ayr United. Whittaker played as a defender, primarily at right-back. He began his senior c ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, a 5–1 win over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

on 18 March 2007. In his last match, a 2–0

Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any association football, football match played between Football in Scotland, Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs), the two o ...

loss away to Heart of Midlothian on 12 May, he made an error which led to a

Michal Pospíšil Michal Pospíšil (born 3 May 1979) is a Czech footballer who currently plays for UMF Grindavík. Career Pospíšil began his career as a youth player with Slavoj Zbraslav and Dukla Prague before joining Sparta Prague in 1992. He eventually ma ...

goal in the first 30 seconds, and he was substituted at half time for Kevin McCann. Towards the end of his season in the Scottish capital, Martis was one of several players who fell out with manager John Collins, leading to reports that he could return to Darlington.

West Bromwich Albion

Martis returned to England on 2 July 2007, signed for

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

club

for £50,000 on a two-year deal with the option for a third. He was again signed by Mowbray, who called him a player with potential although not the "finished article". He made his debut for the club on 25 September in a 4–2 League Cup third round defeat at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

against fellow division team

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. His league debut came on 8 December, a 2–1 win away to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. On 4 January 2008 Martis joined another Championship team,

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

, on loan for an initial period of one month. The following day, he made his debut for the Iron in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, a 1–0 loss at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

, and later played three league games for the team. After returning, he played only one more game for eventual champions West Brom, their 1–4 home loss to Leicester on 15 March. On 31 October 2008, Martis moved to Championship team

on loan for an initial period of one month to cover for some injured players. He made his debut the following day in a goalless draw against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

at the

Keepmoat Stadium The Eco-Power Stadium (formerly known as Keepmoat Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Doncaster, England, with a capacity of 15,231. It cost approximately £20 million to construct, as part of the wider Lakeside Sports Complex that it ...

, and in his next game two weeks later he scored the only goal of a 1–0 home win over

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

, heading the ball in for a first victory in 13 games. Martis made his first

appearance for the Baggies on 16 March 2009 in a goalless draw at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

; this made him the first player from Curaçao in the division. On 17 May, in the last game of the season at home to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, he was dispossessed by

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. He also equalised in a 3–1 home win over

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

on 12 September.

Doncaster

Martis signed for Doncaster Rovers on 1 February 2010, on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut five days later in a 2–1 home loss to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. On 24 April 2010, Martis scored a header from

Dean Shiels Dean Andrew Shiels (born 1 February 1985) is a Northern Irish former footballer and current manager, who last managed Coleraine. He played for Hibernian, Doncaster Rovers, Kilmarnock, Rangers, Dundalk, FC Edmonton and Dunfermline Athletic, and ...

' corner in the 89th minute against local rivals Scunthorpe, winning the match 4–3 at the Keepmoat. He played consistently often over the next three seasons, the last of which was in

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

. Marts was released on 21 February 2013 after 73 appearances and 3 goals.

Osotspa Saraburi

On 26 February 2014, Martis signed a one-year deal at

club Osotspa Saraburi. He made his debut on 9 March in the second game of the season, a 1–0 home loss to

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

, replacing Kriengsak Chumpornpong for the final minute. His only goal in Thailand came on 18 May, a penalty to open a 2–1 win over

Samut Songkhram Samut Songkhram (Pronunciation) is a city in Western Thailand region, the capital of Samut Songkhram province, a route to the south of Thailand. It is from Bangkok and has a population of 25,623 people as of 2023. Toponymy The word "samut" ori ...

at the Saraburi Stadium.

SteDoCo

In September 2015, Martis returned to the Netherlands for the first time in a decade, training at

Topklasse The Derde Divisie (; ), formerly known as Topklasse (; ), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league is placed between the Tweede Div ...

(third-tier) club SteDoCo. The following month, he signed for the team.

International career

Martis made his international debut for the

on 6 February 2008, in a 1–0 away win over

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

in the first round of qualification for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. He played two more games over the year. After territorial reorganisation, Martis returned to international football with

in 2014. He scored on his debut on 3 September, equalising for a 2–2 draw against Puerto Rico at the

Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel es:Estadio is the spanish language word for Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered s ...

in Bayamón, in qualification for the

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 23rd CONCACAF regional championship overall in the organization's fifty-four years of existence. It was held in the United States, with two matches bei ...

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Curaçao's goal tally first.''

Honours

Hibernian *

: 2006–07

References

External links

Shelton Martis player profile
at wba.co.uk * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martis, Shelton 1982 births Living people Footballers from Willemstad Curaçao men's footballers Dutch Antillean men's footballers Netherlands Antilles men's international footballers Excelsior Rotterdam players FC Eindhoven players Eerste Divisie players Dutch Antillean expatriate men's footballers Dutch Antillean expatriates in the United Kingdom Expatriate men's footballers in England Darlington F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Scottish Premier League players Hibernian F.C. players English Football League players Scunthorpe United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Premier League players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Men's association football defenders Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Shelton Martis Shelton Martis Derde Divisie players Curaçao men's international footballers Curaçao expatriate sportspeople in Thailand