Alberts Šeibelis (26 December 1906 – 12 April 1972) was a Latvian

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 ...

, one of the most popular Latvian footballers in the era before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 54 matches for Latvia he scored 14 goals

Biography

Šeibelis was born in the provincial town

Sabile Sabile (; german: Zabeln) is a town in Talsi Municipality, Latvia. Sabile was first mentioned in chronicles in 1253. From the 14th century to the 16th century, it was a site of a castle of the Livonian Order and a village near the castle. Sabile ...

. In 1922 he joined the newly founded

Rīgas FK Riga FK (''Rīgas futbola klubs'', short – RFK) was a Latvian football club which was founded December 14, 1923. It was the strongest and most popular Latvian football club in 1920s and 1930s, it was also the base team for Latvia national foo ...

which later became the dominant Latvian football club of the 1920s-30s. In RFK Šeibelis for a long time had to play with the reserves squad, however in 1925 he made his debut with the

Latvia national football team The Latvia national football team ( lv, Latvijas futbola izlase) represents Latvia in international football and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FI ...

which was looking to include more young players. In his first years Šeibelis more played as a forward but later he became a central midfielder. He organized both the defense and attack, and also scored goals. He was considered one of the best footballers of the

Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

for several years. In 1928 Šeibelis was on the Latvian team which won the first Baltic Cup, in the decisive match against

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, and t ...

he organized the winning goal and was injured by a frustrated Estonian forward who could not go past Šeibelis. In 1936 when Latvia won another Baltic Cup scored a winning goal against Lithuania in the last minute. In his club career in 1931 Šeibelis left

and joined V.Ķuzes FK and

Rīgas Vilki Riga Vanderer (sometimes written as Wanderer, in later years – Rīgas Vilki, also – RV) was a Latvian football (soccer), football club that was founded in 1927, disbanded in 1940, restored a year later and disbanded again in 1944. History F ...

(he played with both clubs at the same time for several seasons). In 1938 Šeibelis with Rīgas Vilki won the Latvian Cup - a huge success for the club which was not among the elite of Latvian football. In 1939 he played his last international match for Latvia as it lost 3–0 to

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

. After the Second World War Šeibelis lived in the United States, coached a football club in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

.Ivars Ošiņš. Golden 100 of Latvian sports

Honours

* Champion of Latvia: 1925, 1926, 1930 * Latvian Cup: 1938

References

1906 births 1972 deaths People from Sabile Latvian footballers Association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Latvia international footballers Latvian football managers {{Latvia-footy-bio-stub