Vīts Rimkus (born 21 June 1973) is a Latvian former professional

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 ...

who played as a striker. Rimkus is of Lithuanian descent.

Club career

Born in Riga, Vīts Rimkus started his career in 1993 with Pārdaugava Rīga, scoring twice in 14 league appearances. After a promising start youngster was transferred to

DAG Rīga Dag, or variant forms, may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''DAG'' (American TV series), 2000–2001 * ''Dag'' (Norwegian TV series), 2010–2015 * ''DAG'' (newspaper), a former free Dutch newspaper * DAG (band), an American funk band * D ...

in 1994. He played 15 league games for the team and scored three goals that season. He kept changing clubs and the next season was spent with another club from Riga, Amstrig Rīga. The 1995 season turned out to be a loud start of his career as he managed to net eight times in 26 matches. Several offers to go abroad appeared and the player chose to move to Switzerland, signing a contract with

FC Winterthur FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Super League, the first tier of Swiss football, and appeared regularly in the Nationalliga A during the 20th century. Their home is the Stadi ...

. Scoring eight goals in ten matches that season, he moved to Germany in 1996, signing for 1. FC Nürnberg. Despite the loud boom in Switzerland, Rimkus couldn't prove himself in Nürnberg, so he was given away to another German club,

FC Erzgebirge Aue Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. Liga in 2008–09, ...

. Ten matches with no goals made him return to Latvia then. In 1998, he was signed by

Skonto Riga Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...

. After a really successful season the player was given away to

FK Valmiera Valmiera Football Club or shortly Valmiera FC is a Latvian football club, playing in the Virslīga, the highest division of Latvian football. The club is based in the city of Valmiera. By winning the 2017 Latvian First League, the team was prom ...

, where he played for two years, showing great performance. In 2001

FK Ventspils FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but has ...

signed Rimkus for free and had him playing there until 2004. Scoring 70 goals in 100 matches, he attracted attention from many Russian clubs and was signed by

FC Rostov FC Rostov (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб Ростов) is a Russian professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast. The club are members of the Russian Premier League, and play at the Rostov Arena. After the ...

in 2005. Staying goalless in nine games he was soon released and he returned to FK Ventspils. In the next five seasons, as a player of FK Ventspils, Rimkus scored 66 league goals in 109 matches. In 2009, he left the club after rumors about betting on his own team results, but nothing was proved in the end, and later it turned out to be a serious conflict with the board of the club. In 2010 Rimkus moved to Lithuania, signing a one-year contract with

FK Ekranas Panevėžio Ekranas is a Lithuanian football club, from the city of Panevėžys. It won 7 top-tier champion and 5 national cup titles throughout its existence. The club was founded in 1964 and for 44 years competed in the top tier of Lithuanian ...

. He became the highest scorer of the team that season with 15 goals in 26 matches respectively, just one goal behind the top scorer of the league Povilas Lukšys. After the season Rimkus moved to Cyprus, signing a half-season contract with the

Cypriot Fourth Division The Cypriot Fourth Division ( el, Τέταρτη Κατηγορία) was the fourth tier football league competition in Cyprus, ran by the Cyprus Football Association. Each year, the top finishing teams of the league were promoted to the Cypriot T ...

club Finikas Ayias Marinas Chrysochous. In July 2011 he returned to Latvia and signed a contract with the

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is O ...

newcomers FC Jūrmala. Despite joining in mid-season, with ten goals in 18 games he became the team's highest scorer in the league. In March 2012 Rimkus was signed by the

newcomers

FK Spartaks Jūrmala FK Spartaks is a Latvian football club that is based in Sloka, Jūrmala. In 2012, they finished 3rd in the Latvian First League championship and after winning the play-offs against JFK Olimps were promoted to the Latvian Higher League. The clu ...

, but after just playing one match he was released. In January 2013 Rimkus joined the

Latvian First League The Latvian First League ( lv, Latvijas Pirmā līga, 1. līga) is the second tier of football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. History The league was founded together with other Latvian football competitions in 19 ...

club

FB Gulbene FB Gulbene ''(formerly "FB Gulbene-2005")'' is a Latvian football club based in Gulbene. The club plays its home matches at the Gulbenes Sporta Centrs stadium with capacity of 1,500 people. They were promoted to the Latvian Higher League for the ...

. With 20 goals in 23 matches during the 2013 season Rimkus became his club's second best top scorer. Despite Rimkus scoring a goal in the promotion/relegation play-offs, his team lost to

FS METTA/Latvijas Universitāte FK Metta (also called FK Metta/Latvijas Universitāte from 2007 till the end of 2018 season) is a professional Latvian football club in Riga. As of 2012 they play in the Latvian Higher League. Metta play their home games at Daugava Stadium. ...

5–2 on aggregate and failed to secure a place in the

for the 2014 season. Prior to the 2014 Latvian First League season Rimlus moved to AFA Olaine. Aged 40, he scored four goals in the first three league appearances for the club, but then left the team turning to playing indoor football. Before the start of the

2016 Latvian First League The 2016 Latvian First League The Latvian First League ( lv, Latvijas Pirmā līga, 1. līga) is the second tier of football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. History The league was founded together with other Lat ...

season Rimkus returned to association football at the age of 42, joining

Skonto FC Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Latv ...

. Throughout the season Rimkus participated in 19 league matches, scoring 13 goals.

International career

Rimkus has played 73 international matches and scored 11 goals for the Latvia national team. He debuted in 1995, and played at

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

Honours

* CIS Cup top goalscorer: 2009 (shared)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rimkus, Vits 1973 births Living people Footballers from Riga Latvian footballers Association football forwards Latvia international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players Latvian Higher League players Russian Premier League players FC Winterthur players 1. FC Nürnberg players FC Erzgebirge Aue players Skonto FC players FK Ventspils players FC Rostov players FK Ekranas players FC Jūrmala players FK Spartaks Jūrmala players FB Gulbene players AFA Olaine players Latvian expatriate footballers Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Russia Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Expatriate footballers in Lithuania