Sjoerd Adrianus Theodorus Ars (Dutch pronunciation: [ɕuːrtˈɑrs]; born 15 April 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Career

Youth career

Ars played in the youth of DVC'26 from the town of Didam, and was later picked up by Dutch giants, Feyenoord. He never broke through to the first team, and chose to play professionally for De Graafschap.

Dutch second division

After one season in Doetinchem, he decided to sign with FC Omniworld, a club that became a licensed pro-club that year. In his first season in Almere, Ars scored 17 goals.

He later played four successful seasons for Go Ahead Eagles and RBC Roosendaal.

FC Zwolle

In 2010, Ars signed a contract at FC Zwolle. He started the season well by scoring 11 goals in his first 10 league matches. He finished the season with 28 goals, scored in 33 matches.

Levski Sofia

His great season with FC Zwolle was enough to be signed by Bulgarian side PFC Levski Sofia. Ars arrived in Sofia on 23 June 2011 and signed a three-year contract the next day. On 28 July 2011, in his official debut for Levski, he came on as a substitute and scored the winning goal for the 2–1 win over FC Spartak Trnava. Ars also netted a goal to open the scoring in the return leg, while Levski were eventually eliminated after losing the penalty shootout to decide the match (the aggregate score at the end of extra time was 3–3). On 6 November 2011, he scored a brace in the 3–2 home win over Loko Plovdiv in an A Group match.

Tianjin Teda

In February 2012, Ars went to Chinese Super League side Tianjin Teda on loan. Tianjin Teda also had an option to make the move permanent in the end of the 2012 league season. He made his official debut for Tianjin on 25 February, in a 2–1 CFA Super Cup defeat against Guangzhou Evergrande.

After spells in Turkey, Ars returned to the Netherlands to join NEC Nijmegen. He topped the Eerste Divisie top goalscorers charts at the end of the club's title winning 2014–15 season and moved on to NAC. In summer 2016, Ars left NAC Breda for Hungarian side Szombathelyi Haladás.

He played for De Treffers in the Dutch Tweede Divisie in the 2018–19 season before retiring in December 2018.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
De Graafschap2003–04Eerste Divisie13200——132
2004–05Eerste Divisie0000——00
Total13200——132
FC Omniworld2005–06Eerste Divisie361700——3617
Go Ahead Eagles2006–07Eerste Divisie381800—224020
2007–08Eerste Divisie361620—204016
Total743420—428036
RBC Roosendaal2008–09Eerste Divisie371710——3817
2009–10Eerste Divisie371524——3919
Total743234——7736
FC Zwolle2010–11Eerste Divisie332821—413930
Levski Sofia2011–12A PFG1460022—168
Tianjin Teda (loan)2012Chinese Super League29130060—3513
Konyaspor (loan)2012–13TFF First League14700—31178
Karşıyaka2013–14TFF First League35900——359
NEC2014–15Eerste Divisie352833——3831
2015–16Eredivisie2000——20
Total372833——4031
NAC Breda2015–16Eerste Divisie332100—413722
Szombathelyi Haladás2016–17Nemzeti Bajnokság I14100——141
Fortuna Sittard2016–17Eerste Divisie11000——110
De Graafschap (loan)2017–18Eerste Divisie31811——329
De Treffers2018–19Tweede Divisie16511——176
Career total464211121082155499228

Honours

NEC

External links