Steve Leo Beleck A'Beka (born 10 February 1993) is a

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian 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 striker. Beleck began his career at Greek team

Panthrakikos Panthrakikos Football Club () is a Greek football club based in Komotini, Thrace in North Eastern Greece founded in 1963. The club competed in Super League Greece during the 2008–09 season for the first time. History Early years (1963–2001) ...

, breaking into the first team at age 16. Following a successful second half to the 2009–10 season, Beleck joined Udinese of the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

for an undisclosed fee, signing a five-year deal in July 2010. A year later, Beleck returned to Greece, this time joining

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

on a season-long loan. He played regularly, and returned to his parent club at the end of the 2011–12 season. A month after returning to his parent club, Beleck was loaned out for a second time, joining English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side Watford on a one-year loan agreement. In January 2013, Beleck was re-loaned from Watford to Stevenage for the remainder of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. In August 2013, Beleck was signed on a season-long loan for RAEC Mons but returned to Udinese in January 2014.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

, Cameroon, Beleck joined Greek side

at the age of 15. He played for the club's first team in January 2010, starting in a 3–1 away defeat to Iraklis. He received a red card five minutes into the second half, and consequently missed Panthrakikos' next two matches. Beleck scored four goals in February 2010: once in a 2–1 loss to

, twice in a 2–0 away victory against

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

, and a further goal in a 3–1 home defeat to

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

. He also scored on the last day of the regular season, netting from the penalty spot to briefly restore parity in an eventual 3–1 defeat to

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou Atromitos Yeroskipou () was a Cy ...

. It turned out to be his final appearance for the club. Beleck made 13 league appearances during the season, scoring five goals, although Panthrakikos were relegated at the end of the campaign.

Udinese and loans

Beleck ultimately joined Udinese for an undisclosed fee on 22 July 2010, signing a contract until 2015. Beleck did not make any first-team appearances during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, only appearing as an unused substitute in an away game against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in May 2011. He was subsequently loaned out to

in July 2011, on a season-long loan, ahead of the 2011–12 campaign. He made his debut for AEK in the club's 1–0 home win over

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its Association football, football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating ...

on 18 August 2011, in the play-off round of Europa League qualification, playing the whole match. Beleck's first goal for the club came in a 3–1 away defeat to

OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Club 1925 FC''), commonly referred to as OFI, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is part of the O.F.I. (sports club), OFI mul ...

on 23 October 2011, coming on as a half-time substitute with the team losing by two goals and scoring on the hour mark to briefly reduce the deficit. He also scored in a 3–2 defeat to rivals

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

in November 2011. Later that month, Beleck was on hand to score twice in a 2–0 away win against

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club (), or with its full name officially romanized as Panaitolikós Gymnastikós Filekpaideftikós Sýllogos (''; Pan- Aetolian Gymnastic and Educational Club''), is a Greek professional football club. It is based in Agrini ...

, as well as scoring the only goal of the game a week later in the 1–0 defeat of

Kerkyra Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is admin ...

. He took his goal tally to six for the season when he scored the winning goal as AEK progressed to the Fifth Round of the Greek Cup courtesy of a 1–0 win over

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

on 22 December 2011. Despite his strong end to 2011, Beleck did not score during the second half of the season. He made 34 appearances in all competitions, scoring six times, helping AEK Athens secure a fifth-place finish in the

Greek Superleague The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

. Following the completion of his one-year loan agreement at AEK, Beleck briefly returned to Udinese before subsequently joining English

side

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in July 2012, on a season-long loan for the 2012–13 season. Beleck was one of ten players loaned to Watford from Udinese. He made his first starting appearance for the club in a home defeat against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

in the second round of the League Cup on 28 August 2012, having also made an injury-time substitute in a league match against

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 ...

a week earlier. In January 2013, having only made six first-team appearances for Watford during the first half of the season, Beleck joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

side

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2012–13 season. The move caused a great deal of curiosity, as Beleck was on loan at Watford from Udinese at the time of his move from Watford to Stevenage. It was revealed that international loans are recognised as regular transfers, meaning the player can be re-loaned as long as the deal stretches between two transfer windows. Beleck had scored a hat-trick against Stevenage a month prior to his move, in a behind-closed-doors friendly match. He made his first appearance for Stevenage a day after signing, coming on as a 61st-minute substitute in the club's 2–1 away victory at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

. Beleck returned to Udinese at the end of the season, having made 13 appearances during his time on loan at Stevenage. In August 2013, Beleck again left Udinese on loan, moving to Belgian side R.A.E.C. Mons.

Rieti

On 2 September 2019, he returned to Italy, signing with

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club

Rieti Rieti (; , Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina region. T ...

. His contract with Rieti was terminated by mutual consent on 31 January 2020.

Catania

On 7 February 2020, Beleck joined

club

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

until the end of the 2019–20 season.

Petrolul Ploiești

On 23 October 2020 he joined Petrolul Ploiești.

Yverdon

On 8 July 2021, he signed with

Yverdon Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Ancient Rome, Roman era) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Jura-North Vaudois District, Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It ...

in Switzerland.

International career

Beleck has represented

at both the U17 and

U20 U20 or U-20 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Great truncated cuboctahedron * Meizu U20, a smartphone * Roland U-20, a synthesizer * Small nucleolar RNA S ...

levels.

Honours

Club

CFR Cluj *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beleck, Steve Leo 1993 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Cameroonian men's footballers Panthrakikos F.C. players Udinese Calcio players AEK Athens F.C. players Watford F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players R.A.E.C. Mons (1910) players FC Crotone players Mantova 1911 players CFR Cluj players FC Rieti players Catania FC players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Yverdon-Sport FC players Super League Greece players English Football League players Belgian Pro League players Serie B players Serie C players Liga I players Liga II players Challenge League (Switzerland) players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Cameroon men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football forwards Ümraniyespor footballers