Igors Stepanovs

Not to be confused with Igors V. Stepanovs.
Igors Stepanovs

Stepanovs playing for Latvia
Personal information
Full name Igors Nauris Stepanovs
Date of birth (1976-01-21) 21 January 1976
Place of birth Ogre, Latvia
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Latvia U-17 (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1993 Skonto Riga 9 (0)
1994 Interskonto 20 (2)
1995–2000 Skonto Riga 129 (11)
2000–2004 Arsenal 17 (0)
2003–2004 → K.S.K. Beveren (loan) 21 (0)
2004–2006 Grasshopper 50 (0)
2006 FK Jūrmala 9 (0)
2007–2008 Esbjerg fB 17 (1)
2008 FC Shinnik Yaroslavl 2 (0)
2009–2010 RFS/Olimps 7 (0)
2010–2011 FK Jūrmala 25 (1)
Total 306 (15)
National team‡
1995–2011 Latvia 100 (4)
Teams managed
2010-2011 FK Jūrmala (playing assistant coach)
2012- Latvia U-17

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 January 2013.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 January 2013

Igors Nauris Stepanovs (born 21 January 1976 in Ogre) is a former Latvian football defender, currently a manager. Stepanovs has played 100 international matches and scored 4 goals for the Latvia national team. He made his debut in 1995, and played at Euro 2004.

Club career

Skonto

He started his club career at Skonto-Metāls (now Skonto Riga). He made his debut in senior football at early age, being just 16 years old. Together with Skonto Riga he won 7 national titles. In 1995 he made his debut for Latvia national team and soon he became regular member. While playing with Skonto, Stepanovs played against teams, like Inter Milano, Barcelona and Chelsea. In few games against such football grands, Skonto and Stepanovs showed good performance. In 2000 he attracted interest from many European teams.

Arsenal

In 2000, Arsenal captain Tony Adams was injured, prompting Arsène Wenger to sign Stepanovs for a transfer fee of £1.35 million. He started the season well, scoring a goal for Arsenal in a 2-1 League Cup defeat against Ipswich Town on his debut.[1] His playing time grew until a match against Manchester United, when both sides were battling for the Premier League title. Arsenal lost this game 6-1 and their chances of winning the title were hit.[2] After this disappointing performance, Stepanovs played only once again that season in a game against Manchester City.[3] He recovered to make 6 Premier League appearances the following season as Arsenal won the 2001–02 FA Premier League. 6 would not normally be enough to earn a medal but he was an unused substitute on the day Arsenal clinched the title against Manchester United at Old Trafford, ironically the scene of his lowest point the season before.[4] Arsenal also won the FA Cup in 2002 and 2003 but Stepanovs was left out of both match day squads. He contributed to their 2002 triumph when featuring in a game against Newcastle United during their run.[5]

Overall, he played just 17 times in the league for Arsenal, all of them starts, and 31 times in all competitions.

Later years

After unsuccessful years with Arsenal, Stepanovs was moved to K.S.K. Beveren, which had co-operation agreement with English club. There he gained back some confidence and he was again in good shape. Stepanovs played well in Latvia national team, together with it qualifying to Euro 2004. He played all 3 games there and there again were some teams, who had interest about him. After Euro 2004 Stepanovs joined Grasshopper Club Zürich. There he played for 2 seasons, but later he was released. In 2006 he came back to Latvia and played some games for FK Jūrmala. On 26 January 2007 he moved to Danish Premier League side Esbjerg fB on a free transfer, but after just a year he moved to the Russian FC Shinnik Yaroslavl. He was released by Shinnik Yaroslavl on July 9, 2008 and in April 2009 he signed for RFS/Olimps from Latvia, but just in the same time next year joined his previous team FK Jūrmala. Playing there for 2 seasons, Stepanovs made 25 league appearances, scoring 1 goal. In August 2011 the player announced his retirement from professional football. On 10 August 2011 Stepanovs was called up to the Latvia national football team for a friendly match against Finland. He played his 100th and last match for Latvia then, and was honoured during the match for his great long-term commitment to the national squad.[6]

Coaching career

During his time at FK Jūrmala, Stepanovs worked as a playing coach, assisting the club's manager Vladimirs Babičevs. In March 2012 Stepanovs was appointed by Latvian Football Federation to become the manager of Latvia national under-17 football team.[7]

Honours

Club

Arsenal

Skonto

  • 1992, 1995-2000
  • 2005

References

  1. ↑ "Arsenal 1-2 Ipswich". BBC. 1 November 2000. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "Man Utd hit Arsenal for six". BBC. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Arsenal trounce sorry Man City". BBC. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Arsenal clinch Double". BBC. 8 May 2002. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Robert rescues Magpies". BBC. 9 March 2002. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  6. ↑ http://www.sarauj.com/lv/futbols/Latvija/4826-igors-stepanovs-aizvads-pdjo-spli-latvijas-izlas
  7. ↑ http://sportacentrs.com/futbols/latvijas_izlase/06032012-u_17_futbola_izlasi_vadis_stepanovs_u19_b
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