Evald Tipner (13 March 1906 – 18 July 1947) was an Estonian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

widely regarded as one of the greatest Estonian goalkeepers of all time. He was capped 66 times for

Estonian national football team The Estonia national football team ( et, Eesti jalgpallikoondis) represents Estonia in international football matches and is controlled by the Estonian Football Association, the governing body for football in Estonia. Estonia's home ground is ...

, 7 times for bandy national team and once for ice hockey team. Tipner was also a good

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete. In 2012, the

Estonian Football Association The Estonian Football Association (EJL; et, Eesti Jalgpalli Liit) is the governing body of football, beach soccer and futsal in Estonia, established on 14 December 1921. It organizes the football league, including the championship which is calle ...

named the

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

competition after him. Some sources report him as the first goalscorer in the history of World Cup preliminary competition, having scored what would be an own goal for Sweden against Estonia 7 minutes into the game, on 11 June 1933, in Stockholm. Some other sources consider this was not an own goal, and that it was actually scored by Swedish captain Knut Kroon.

Football

Despite allegedly having offers from foreign clubs, Evald Tipner played for

Tallinna Sport SK Tallinna Sport is a defunct Estonian football club, founded in 1912 and then re-established in 2003. The club won nine domestic league titles before Estonia became a part of Soviet Union. The club also played bandy in the interwar years, becom ...

his whole career, throughout which he was crowned Estonian champion 8 times. Tipner also lifted the first ever

, after beating TJK in the 1938 final. Tipner was mainly a goalkeeper, but he also played in his club as a striker. He was a good penalty taker as well. After his death on 18 July 1947, Estonian newspaper

Noorte Hääl ''Noorte Hääl'' (meaning ''Voice of Youth'' in English) was a daily newspaper published in Estonia between 1940 and 1995. History Before the independence of Estonia ''Noorte Hääl'' was owned by the Estonian branch of the Komsomol, the Leni ...

remembered Evald Tipner in the following tribute (''translated from Estonian to English)'': ''"As a result of a long and serious illness, one of the most popular athletes of our older generation, Evald Tipner, died in Tallinn on Friday. /.../ Evald Tipner's fame was not limited to his homeland. His rare abilities were admired in Paris, Stockholm and many other European centers. In Estonia, Tipner was known even in places where there was no interest in sports. When Tallinn was visited by the famous Vienna football team WAC in 1931, then the team's goalkeeper Hiden, considered the best in the world at the time, said of Tipner after the game, "A person can only play as phenomenally as Tipner once in a lifetime." That was not right. Tipner always performed brilliantly - at home and away. /.../"''

Bandy

Tipner played 7 games and scored 9 goals for the national team during 1927–1934.

Ice hockey

In 1924 he played one game for national hockey team.

Honours

Football

Club

* Sport Tallinn ** Estonian Top Division: 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933 **

: 1938

National

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

** Baltic Cup: 1929, 1931, 1938

Bandy

* Estonian Champion: 1924, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935

References

1906 births 1947 deaths Sportspeople from Tallinn People from the Governorate of Estonia Estonia international footballers Estonian bandy players Estonian footballers Estonian ice hockey players Olympic footballers of Estonia Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Association football goalkeepers Burials at Liiva Cemetery {{bandy-bio-stub