| Niko Sigur | |
| Fullname: | Niko Kristian Sigur |
| Birth Date: | 9 September 2003 |
| Birth Place: | Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada |
| Height: | 1.80 m[1] |
| Position: | Defensive midfielder, right-back |
| Currentclub: | Hajduk Split |
| Clubnumber: | 8 |
| Youthclubs1: | Mountain United FC |
| Youthclubs2: | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
| Youthyears3: | 2021 |
| Youthclubs3: | Vaughan Azzurri |
| Youthyears4: | 2022 |
| Youthclubs4: | NK Radomlje |
| Youthyears5: | 2022–2023 |
| Youthclubs5: | Hajduk Split |
| Collegeyears1: | 2021 |
| College1: | York Lions |
| Collegecaps1: | 11 |
| Collegegoals1: | 2 |
| Years1: | 2023– |
| Clubs1: | Hajduk Split |
| Caps1: | 41 |
| Goals1: | 1 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2023–2024 |
| Nationalteam1: | Croatia U21 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 6 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Pcupdate: | 26 May 2024 |
| Ntupdate: | 25 December 2023 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2024- |
| Nationalteam2: | Canada U23 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 0 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
Niko Kristian Sigur (born 9 September 2003) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Prva HNL club Hajduk Split.[2] [3] [4] Born in Canada, Sigur has represented Croatia at the youth international level.
Sigur was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada and first began playing soccer with Mountain United FC in Burnaby, [5] in which he won the 2016 BC provincial championship and the 2018 BCSPL League Cup title.[1] He was then selected to play for the Whitecaps FC Academy, winning the USSDA Northwest Division championship in 2018. He attended at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School at the high school level, where he won the 2019 BC AA provincial championship.[1]
Sigur played one year of university soccer at York University in 2021. During his university career he started in 10 of 11 matches, scoring 2 goals and registering 1 assist. He was named York's athlete of the week in November for his semi final playoff performance, which saw him score the winning goal against Ryerson in the 119th minute and recording an assist in the same game. York would later finish with a silver medal the OUA championship during his only season.[1]
Sigur played for Vaughan Azzurri's "C" team in 2021, making 2 appearances for the club.[6] He then moved to Slovenia in early 2022, joining Radomlje's youth setup.[7]
In 2022 Sigur transferred to Hajduk Split in Croatia to play for their academy, registering 2 goals and 3 assists in his first youth season.[8] He was ineligible to play in Hajduk Split's historic UEFA Youth League run due to a special rule where older players in the junior ages must have at least two years of club experience in order to be eligible to play.[9]
After injuries to Dino Mikanović and Gergő Lovrencsics, Sigur made his official senior debut as a right back in a 2–0 win against Varaždin on April 22, 2023.[10] He scored his first goal for Hadjuk Split against Varaždin on February 24, 2024.[11]
Sigur is described as a very technical midfielder who can impact the game on both ends.[1] Sigur regards himself as a defensive midfielder who can also play in several midfield positions.[8] He is also able to play as a right back, as shown on his senior professional debut.[10]
Born in Canada, Sigur is of Croatian descent. In May 2023, he received call ups to the Croatia U-21 side ahead of the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and the Canadian national team, and opted to represent the former.[12] [13] In August 2024, the Croatian Football Federation announced that Sigur had decided to switch his international allegiance and would be representing Canada moving forward.[14] [15]
| Club | Season | League | Croatian Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Hajduk Split | 2022–23 | Croatian First Football League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | Croatian First Football League | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| Total | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |||
Hajduk Split