Andrejs Rubins (26 November 1978 – 1 August 2022) was a Latvian professional footballer who played as a left midfielder. He was a member of the Latvia national team. Rubins worked as a football manager.
 Rubins playing for Inter Baku | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 26 November 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union | ||
| Date of death | 1 August 2022 (aged 43) | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1996 | FK Auda | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996 | FK Auda | 0 | (0) |
| 1997 | Östers | 11 | (0) |
| 1998–2000 | Skonto | 67 | (14) |
| 2000–2003 | Crystal Palace | 31 | (0) |
| 2003 | Spartak Moscow | 0 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 51 | (4) |
| 2005–2007 | Spartak Moscow | 5 | (0) |
| 2006 | → Shinnik Yaroslavl (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2007 | → Liepājas Metalurgs (loan) | 18 | (1) |
| 2008–2010 | Inter Baku | 49 | (9) |
| 2010–2011 | Qarabağ | 12 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Simurq PFC | 18 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 1998–2011 | Latvia | 117 | (9) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2014–2016 | FK Ogre (assistant) | ||
| 2019 | FK Auda | ||
| 2022 | Spartaks Jūrmala (assistant) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editBorn in Riga, Rubins started his career in 1996 at FK Auda in the Latvian 2nd Division. The following year he moved to Sweden with Östers, where he made eleven league appearances, before moving back to Latvia in 1998 to play for Skonto Riga. He played there for the next three seasons, and managed to win three consecutive league titles in a row. He also won the Latvian Cup twice. All in all, over those three seasons he helped his team, scoring 14 goals in 67 league matches.
In 2000, Rubins moved to England, joining English Football League First Division club Crystal Palace. He made just 31 appearances in three seasons at the club, but still managed to impress, scoring twice in the League Cup against Leicester City[1] and Liverpool.[2]
In December 2002, Rubins moved to Russia, initially to play for Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League on a free transfer.[3] However, three months later, without playing a game, he moved to Shinnik Yaroslavl,[4] where he played 51 games in two seasons, scoring 4 times. In January 2005, Rubins signed a four-year contract with Spartak Moscow, who were then managed by Latvian manager Aleksandrs Starkovs.[5] After struggling to settle, he made just five appearances, and the club sent him on loan back to Shinnik Yaroslavl in January 2006 for 12 months.[6][7]
In June 2007, he was linked with another loan move, this time with English Football League Championship club Blackpool, [6] but he eventually went on loan to the Latvian Higher League club Liepājas Metalurgs on 27 July for six months.[8] He was released by Metalurgs together with his international team-mate Imants Bleidelis after half-season for unexplained reasons. Bleidelis retired from professional football then, but Rubins signed a contract with the Azerbaijan Premier League club Inter Baku in August 2008.[9] He spent two successful seasons there, becoming a vital starting eleven player for the club, scoring nine goals in 49 league games. Rubins also managed to become the champion of Azerbaijan in the 2009–10 with Inter.[10]
He started the 2010–11 season with another Azerbaijan Premier League club Qarabağ from Aghdam, joining on a two-year contract on a free transfer.[11] Rubins suffered several injuries that caused limited game time, and he only managed to appear in 12 league games and was released at the end of the season. In 2011, he was signed by Azerbaijan Premier League club Simurq PFC.[12] Rubins scored one goal in 18 matches for the club, and in July 2012 he was released.
Struggling with a long-term hip injury, Rubins announced his retirement from professional football on 13 March 2013, saying: "If I cannot play for 100%, that's not worth it."
International career
editRubins made his international debut for the Latvia national team on 10 November 1998 in a friendly match 3–0 loss against Tunisia.[13] With 117 international caps he is the second most capped player in the history of Latvia national team, 50 matches short of Vitālijs Astafjevs.[14] Rubins also participated at the EURO 2004 in Portugal.
Coaching career
editAfter his retirement Rubins started coaching children and youngsters in Ikšķile.[15] Prior to the 2014 Latvian First League season Rubins was appointed the assistant manager of FK Ogre.[16]
As of 2022 he was an assistant coach to FK Spartaks Jūrmala.[17]
Death
editRubins died on 1 August 2022,[18] the Latvian Football Federation announced his death on 3 August.[19]
Career statistics
edit- As of 26 September 2013
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Crystal Palace | 2000–01[20] | Football League First Division | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | – | 27 | 2 | |
| 2001–02[21] | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2002–03[22] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 2 | ||
| Inter Baku | 2008–09[23] | Azerbaijan Premier League | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 6 | ||||
| 2009–10[24] | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||||||
| Total | 49 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 9 | ||||||
| Qarabağ | 2010–11[25] | Azerbaijan Premier League | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Simurq | 2011–12[26] | Azerbaijan Premier League | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | 19 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 110 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 124 | 12 | ||
Honours
editSkonto
- Virslīga: 1998, 1999, 2000
- Latvian Cup: 1998, 2000; runners-up 1999
Spartak Moscow
- Russian Premier League runners-up: 2005
Liepājas Metalurgs
- Virslīga runners-up: 2007
- Baltic League: 2007
Inter Baku
- Azerbaijan Premier League 2009–10; runners-up 2008–09
Latvia
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Leicester 0–3 Crystal Palace". BBC Sport. 1 November 2000. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ "Palace leave Liverpool red-faced". BBC Sport. 10 January 2001. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ "Rubins wings his way to Spartak". UEFA. 10 December 2002. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ^ "Trio strengthen Spartak ranks". UEFA. 12 March 2003. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ^ "Rubins ready for Spartak". UEFA. 5 January 2005. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ^ a b "Pool _target Spartak Moscow player". Blackpool Gazette. 28 June 2007. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ^ "Basinas makes Mallorca move". UEFA. 20 January 2006. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ^ "Metalurgs bring Rubins home". UEFA. 5 January 2005. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ^ "Rubins paraksta līgumu ar Baku Inter". 19 June 2008.
- ^ "Ziņas - Rubins un Karlsons - Azerbaidžānas čempioni". www.efutbols.lv. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ "Rubins pāriet uz "Karabakh"". 21 July 2010.
- ^ "Pie Jurana spēlēs Rubins un Grebis". parsportu.lv. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ "Latvijas Futbola federācija".
- ^ "Latvijas Nacionalā izlase / Latvian national team". Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
- ^ "Rubins: "Ja nevaru spēlēt par simts procentiem, tad nav vērts"". 13 March 2013.
- ^ "Prohorenkovs un Rubins trenēs 1.līgas jaunpienācēju "Ogri"". 31 March 2014.
- ^ "Pāragri mūžībā aizsaukts Andrejs Rubins" [Andrejs Rubins died too soon]. FK Spartaks Jūrmala. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ^ Sports, Delfi (5 August 2022). "Atvadīšanās no Andreja Rubina notiks 9. augustā". delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ "Pāragri mūžībā aizsaukts Andrejs Rubins". Latvijas Futbola federācija (in Latvian). 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ^ "Games played by Andrejs Rubins in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
- ^ "Games played by Andrejs Rubins in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
- ^ "Games played by Andrejs Rubins in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
- ^ "Premier League Stats 2008/09" (PDF). Peşəkar Futbol Liqası. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ "Premier League Stats 2009/10" (PDF). Peşəkar Futbol Liqası. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ "Premier League Stats 2010/11" (PDF). Peşəkar Futbol Liqası. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
- ^ "Premier League Stats 2011/12" (PDF). Peşəkar Futbol Liqası. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
External links
edit- Andrejs Rubins at Soccerbase
- Andrejs Rubins at National-Football-Teams.com
- Andrejs Rubins at Latvian Football Federation (in Latvian)
