Christian Eissele
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christian Eissele | ||
| Date of birth | 23 June 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Orlando, Florida, United States | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Palloseura Kemi Kings | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Richmond International Football Academy[1] | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2014 | Palloseura Kemi Kings | 52 | (44) |
| 2014–2015 | Brage | 39 | (15) |
| 2015– | Palloseura Kemi Kings | 37 | (8) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 October 2016. | |||
Christian Eissele (born 23 June 1992) is an American professional footballer who plays as a striker for Palloseura Kemi Kings in the Veikkausliiga.
Eissele was born in Orlando, Florida and played his youth football at the Richmond International Football Academy before starting his professional career in Finland with Palloseura Kemi Kings.[1][2] After moving to Palloseura Kemi Kings in 2012, Eissele scored an impressive 44 goals in 52 appearances for the Kemi club. After two years in Finland, Eissele left to join Swedish Football Division 1 outfit Brage. The American played 29 times, scoring 15 goals, for Brage before leaving in July 2015 to rejoin Palloseura Kemi Kings where he won the 2015 Ykkönen.[3]
Early life
Eissele was born in Orlando, Florida. His father, Bill, works as a high school drama teacher and football coach. His mother, Susan, plays the piano for a local church. Eissele also has a sister who works as a lieutenant who is stationed in Valdosta, Georgia. At a young age, Eissele had a keen interest in tennis however football was, with the help of his tennis coach Steve, his chosen sport.[4]
He left the United States to go to Europe in order of finding a professional contract. He first traveled to Leeds, England to join the Richmond International Football Academy. Despite developing at the Academy, Eissele's hopes of playing professionally were stopped due to the American not being eligible for a work permit. In March 2012, he landed a trial at Finnish club Palloseura Kemi Kings and subsequently received a professional contract which he signed at the age of 19.[4]
Playing career
Palloseura Kemi Kings
Eissele made his Palloseura Kemi Kings debut on 29 April 2012, in a 0–2 home defeat to KPV. He scored his first professional goal against YPA on 12 May, scoring a penalty to draw the match level at 1–1 and Palloseura Kemi Kings went on to win 3–1. After scoring goals in matches against Santa Claus and, again, YPA, Eissele scored his first career hat-trick in a 5–0 home victory against HauPa, with all three goals coming within 16 minutes.[2]
Eissele wasn't done there though, as little over three weeks later he scored five goals in one match against Warkaus. The match ended 8–0 in Palloseura Kemi Kings' favour. Warkaus' results from that season were cancelled in August 2012 due to Warkaus not turning up to a Kakkonen fixture against TP-47 and therefore were kicked out of the league, but the Football Association of Finland decided that statistics from all matches involving Warkaus would still stand.[5] In the club's final Kakkonen fixture, Eissele scored another hat-trick in a 3–1 win versus Kajaani.[2]
The following season, 2013, went just as good for Eissele with the forward scoring seven goals between April and May. However, June was Eissele's standout month as he scored ten goals in five matches, including two hat-tricks and two braces. The hat-tricks came against ORPa and Tervarit while the braces were scored against KPV, the team he played on his professional debut, and GBK Kokkola. Eissele scored seven more goals, including another hat-trick (versus KPV), in the remainder of 2013.[2]
At the start of 2014, Eissele had trials at two Veikkausliiga clubs. In February, he spent time with RoPS and featured in a Finnish League Cup tie against Honka in which he played 62 minutes without scoring.[6] Around two months later, in March, Eissele had a trial at KuPS and again played as a trialist in a League Cup tie. He participated in the full match versus SJK but didn't score.[7]
He left Palloseura Kemi Kings on 29 March 2014.[2]
Brage
On 29 March 2014, Eissele moved to Sweden to join Brage, signing a three-year contract.[8] He made his first appearance for Brage on 21 April 2014 in a 2–1 win versus AFC United, he played 90 minutes before being substituted for Viktor Ekervik-Eriksson. It took Eissele eight matches to score his first goal for the club when he scored a 54th-minute equaliser against Umeå. Around a month later Eissele scored two goals in a 1–3 win away to Valsta Syrianska, but again didn't score for another month. However, he then scored in five consecutive matches in August and September which included a hat-trick in the final of those five matches against Huddinge. He scored once more in the 2014 season when he scored an equaliser against Valsta Syrianska to earn a draw for Brage on 19 October.[2]
2015 was less successful for Eissele at Brage as he scored just four goals in thirteen matches, but did get two of those goals in his penultimate appearance for the club on 28 June versus Nyköpings. His last match for Brage was against Carlstad United 5 July.[2] He left the club on 28 July.[9]
Return to Palloseura Kemi Kings
After his release from Brage, Eissele returned to Finland to sign for former club Palloseura Kemi Kings.[9] He made his second debut for Palloseura Kemi Kings against VIFK, he scored two goals to complete a comeback win for the club. He then scored in the following fixture versus Jazz which ended 0–4. He scored three future goals in August and September to continue his fine return to Palloseura Kemi Kings.[2] In total in 2015, Eissele scored seven goals in eleven appearances which helped Palloseura Kemi Kings win the Ykkönen and gain promotion to the Veikkausliiga for 2016.[3] He made his Veikkausliiga debut on 9 April 2016 in a 3–0 home win against reigning champions SJK.[10] He scored his first Veikkausliiga goal on 13 August versus Inter Turku.[11]
Career statistics
- As of match played 1 October 2016.[2]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Palloseura Kemi Kings | 2012 | Kakkonen | 26 | 20 | 0 | 0 | – | 26 | 20 | |
| 2013 | Kakkonen | 26 | 24 | 1 | 0 | – | 27 | 24 | ||
| Total | 52 | 44 | 1 | 0 | – | 53 | 44 | |||
| Brage | 2014 | Swedish Football Division 1 | 26 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 11 |
| 2015 | Swedish Football Division 1 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 | |
| Total | 39 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 15 | ||
| Palloseura Kemi Kings | 2015 | Ykkönen | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | – | 11 | 7 | |
| 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 2 | |
| Total | 37 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 39 | 9 | ||
| Career total | 128 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 131 | 68 | ||
Honours
After starting his professional football career in 2012, Eissele won his first major honour in 2015 when he and Palloseura Kemi Kings won the 2015 Ykkönen.[3]
- Palloseura Kemi Kings
References
- 1 2 Richmond University. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Soccerway. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- 1 2 3 Football Association of Finland. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- 1 2 ChristianEissele.com. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ↑ Football Association of Finland. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ↑ Soccerway. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ↑ Soccerway. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ↑ IK Brage. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- 1 2 IK Brage. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ↑ Soccerway. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ↑ Soccerway. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.