Ilmārs Liepiņš (1947–2007) was a Latvian football
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
who played for 10 years for
FK Daugava Rīga.
Ilmārs Liepiņš came from a football family – his father
Ēvalds Liepiņš was a striker for "Daugava" back in 1946-1948 and his brother Juris played for
ESR-Enerģija – one of the strongest times in the Soviet Latvian league.
After completion of
Riga football school Ilmārs played for
Elektrons Rīga
Elektrons Rīga (also known as FK Alfa) was a Latvian football club from Riga that was one of the leading clubs in the Latvian league in the 1970s and 1980s.
History
Elektrons was founded somewhere in the 1960s (exact year has to be determin ...
and soon was invited to join FK Daugava. In his first season Liepiņš played in 17 matches but already in 1970 he had become a crucial part of the team and was elected team captain. He played for Daugava until 1979 and was one of the most popular players on the team. In his 10 years for Daugava Liepiņš made 360 appearances and scored 74 goals.
Upon retiring from active football Liepiņš went on to coaching kids football in the Riga football school where he worked until his death in 2007. He died from wounds after being attacked by a group of teenagers.
A minute of silence before the game (in Latvian)
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liepins, Ilmars
1947 births
2007 deaths
Latvian men's footballers
Soviet men's footballers
FC Daugava Riga players
Footballers from Riga
Men's association football midfielders