Lars Veldwijk (born 21 August 1991) is a professional soccer player who plays as a striker for UAE First Division League club Emirates Club. Born in the Netherlands, he represented the South Africa national team.
Club career
Excelsior
Veldwijk represented
Eerste Divisie side Excelsior in the 2013–14 season, and scored 35 goals in 45 appearances across all competitions.
Nottingham Forest
On 12 June 2014, Veldwijk signed for Nottingham Forest from Excelsior for a fee of £500,000 that could rise to £1 million depending on various clauses.
He made his debut on 16 August 2014 against Bolton Wanderers at the
Macron Stadium as a 92nd-minute substitute for fellow striker
Matty Fryatt.
Veldwijk made his first start for Forest on 26 August 2014 in a 2–0 win against Huddersfield Town in the second round of the League Cup.
Loan to PEC Zwolle
Veldwijk went on loan to
PEC Zwolle for the 2015–16 season, during which time he scored 14 goals in 33 league appearances.
Upon his return to Forest he scored his first and only goal for the club in a 2–1
EFL Cup win against Millwall on 23 August 2016.
KV Kortrijk
In the middle of 2016, Veldwijk joined Belgian side
KV Kortrijk and only made 9 appearances and scored just 1 goal for the club, he would go on loan to
Aalesund in Norway.
Loan to Aalesunds FK
On 31 March 2017, Veldwijk joined Norwegian club
Aalesunds FK on a season long loan due to the extended January transfer window in
Norway with an option to buy, he would go on to impress in the
Eliteserien by being involved in 8 goals in 16 appearances.
FC Groningen
Veldwijk joined Dutch side
FC Groningen from Kortrijk and started well in his first season back in Dutch football since 2016 but got into trouble when he refused to come on as a late substitute in an
Eredivisie league match against ADO Den Haag which led to the club and the player parting ways.
Sparta Rotterdam
On 16 June 2018, despite interest from clubs in the
Eredivisie, as well from foreign clubs like reigning Scottish Premiership champions Celtic F.C, clubs in Russia, Belgium and Bulgarian side
CSKA Sofia Veldwijk signed for then
Eerste Divisie side
Sparta Rotterdam on a free transfer and in his first season with the club he almost single-handedly promoted them back into the Eredivisie for the following season while being involved in 27 goals,scoring 24 goals and providing 3 assists, his highest goal contribution to date, it attracted top Dutch clubs and even won him a return to the national team after 2 years away from
Bafana Bafana
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
On 15 January 2020, having previously been in negotiations with an unnamed club in South Africa,as well as Eredivisie sides also showing interest in him. Veldwijk signed for South Korea's reigning K League 1 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
He made his official debut for the club in March, during a 2–2 AFC Champions League draw against Sydney FC, but had to wait until May to feature in the league for the first time after football was suspended in South Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After recovering from a minor knee injury, he marked his K League 1 league debut with a 93rd-minute winner against
Busan IPark, before making his first start two weeks later.
Suwon FC
On 17 July 2020, Veldwijk dropped down a division to join K League 2 side
Suwon FC on a permanent deal. He signed with
Suwon FC for a contract that runs out until 31 December 2022.
During the 2021 K League 1 season he managed to score 18 goals in 32 appearances and having 6 assists, which made him the top goalscorer amongst South Africans anywhere in the world, which added confusion on why South Africa coach Hugo Broos didn't call him up for Bafana Bafana duty that season for the CAF qualifiers of the 2022 World Cup and then further snubbing him in the 2023 AFCON Qualifiers or for the 2023 Africa Cup Of Nations itself during that time despite being on form and worthy of a recall.
During a pre season friendly game for K-League Xl against English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, After coming from the bench Veldwijk scored the second equalizer early in the second half in an impressive performance as his side went on to lose 6-3 against Spurs.
On 30 September 2023, Suwon FC terminated contract with Veldwijk after being arrested by the police and having his driver's license revoked when he was driving drunk in South Korea, he leaves the club after scoring 40 goals in 110 appearances.
Castellón
On 1 February 2024, After failing to join South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns over a mix of a break down of transfer talks and a division of the technical team over what he can offer to the team, Veldwijk opted to return to Europe and joined Spanish side CD Castellón who were campaigning in the third tier of spanish football on a 6th month contract with an option to extend and apart from a few games, ended up missing the rest of the season through injury missing out on the team's promotion to the Spanish Second division but did play into two of their promotional play off games providing an assist in one of them and now he's preparing for the new season though his contract is ending on the 30th of June 2024.
BG Pathum United
After leaving Castellón and despite being linked with a return to
FC Groningen and a move to greek side Aris in the summer, Veldwijk opted to return to Asia joining Thailand side BG Pathum United but injuries made him sit out the first half of the season with the exception of a few games including the 4-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund where he got an assist, before he and the club agreed to terminate his contract making the 33 year old Veldwijk as of 1 January 2025 once again a
Free agent. He is however looking to continue his playing career and is interested in joining either a Dutch club or a foreign club this transfer window.
Gulf United
Veldwijk despite being heavily linked with a return to his native Netherlands or at least Europe as a whole, postponed that return once again by joining UAE First Division League side
Gulf United during the January transfer window, where he hit the ground running by scoring on debut in a 2-1 win over
Majd FC and to date he seemed to have returned to his prolific best.
Dibba Al-Hisn
On 1 June 2025, Veldwijk joined side Dibba Al-Hisn.
International career
Although born in the Netherlands, and having spent his formative years progressive through the Dutch youth system at club level, Veldwijk was eligible to represent South Africa through his paternal lineage.
He received his maiden call for the nation's 2018 World Cup qualifier against Senegal in October 2016 before debuting in a 1–1 friendly tie with Mozambique the following month.
After a spell away from the team, he then returned to the national fold to feature in his first international tournament in 2019, making five substitute appearances as South Africa reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Personal life
Veldwijk was in a relationship with television presenter and former vlogger
Monica Geuze and they have a daughter together.
Their daughter was born in July 2018.
Geuze and Veldwijk split up in November 2019.
He also has a son who was born in 2015 from a previous relationship.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Individual
External links
