Vladas Tučkus (November 21, 1932 – November 19, 1988) was a Soviet Lithuanian football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who played for Spartak Vilnius,

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

and FK Daugava Rīga.

Playing biography

Aged just 17 Tučkus won the Lithuanian Cup with Eļņias

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...

, a year later he won the 3rd place in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

youth championship and after just one more year he already played 20 matches for Spartak Vilnius in the Soviet B league. In 1953 with Tučkus in goal Spartak earned a promotion to

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The professional top level ...

. In 1954 Tučkus joined one of the strongest teams in Soviet football -

and in the first season with Spartak won silver medals. The same result (with Tučkus playing approximately half of matches) was repeated in 1955. In 1956 Spartak and Tučkus won Soviet gold, in that season Tučkus was the undisputed number one goalkeeper in Spartak (he played in 20 matches out of total 22), he was also a candidate for the

USSR national football team The Soviet Union national football team ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по футбо́лу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po futbólu) was the national football team of the former Soviet Union. After the breakup of the Union the team was transformed i ...

. 1957 was his last season with Spartak - he played in only 10 matches and Spartak finished third in the championship. Because of problems with discipline off the field Tučkus' career seemed finished and by 1960 he was living in

Brocēni Brocēni (; german: Brotzen) is a town in Saldus Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia. The town is situated along the river Ciecere, near lake Cieceres, which contains a large deposit of limestone, which is used in the manufacturing of ...

, Latvia without a job and a perspective. But then he was offered to return to football and to play for FK Daugava Rīga which in 1960 because of a decision from above had got a place in the Soviet top league. Tučkus returned to training and soon proved that he still was a very good goalkeeper and it was largely his contribution that allowed Daugava to finish in the middle of the table in 1960. However, because of problems with discipline Tučkus had to leave Daugava in 1961. He continued playing on amateur level for Kompresors Rīga for some years. Tučkus died at the age of 55 in Riga, Latvia.Miķelis Rubenis. History of Latvian football, 2000, pp. 87–94 (in Latvian)

Achievements

**Winner: 1 (1956) **Runner-up: 2 (1954, 1955) **3rd position: 1 (1957) *

Soviet First League The Soviet First League in football (russian: Первая лига СССР по футболу) was the second highest division of Soviet football,Evgeni Kazakov. The Soviet First Football League (Первая лига СССР по футбо ...

**Runner-up: 1 (1952) *

Soviet Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (russian: Кубок СССР),, be, Кубак СССР, uz, СССР Кубоги, kk, КСРО Кубогы, ka, სსრკ თასი, az, ССРИ кубоку, lt, TSRS taurė, ro, Cupa URSS ( Moldov ...

**Runner-up: 1 (1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuckus, Vladas 1932 births 1988 deaths Soviet footballers Lithuanian footballers FK Žalgiris players Daugava Rīga players FC Spartak Moscow players Sportspeople from Šiauliai Lithuanian expatriate sportspeople in Latvia Association football goalkeepers Soviet Top League players