Andrejs Rubins (26 November 1978 – 1 August 2022) was a Latvian 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 lea ...

who played as a

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He was a member of the Latvia national team. After retiring as a player, Rubins worked as a football manager.

Club career

Born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Rubins started his career in 1996 at FK Auda in the Latvian 2nd Division. The following year he moved to Sweden with Östers, where he made eleven league appearances, before moving back to Latvia in 1998 to play for Skonto Riga. He played there for the next three seasons, and managed to win three league titles in a row. He also won the

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company ...

twice. All in all, over those three seasons he scored 14 goals in 67 league matches. In 2000, Rubins moved to England, joining English

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

club Crystal Palace. He made just 31 appearances in three seasons at the club, but still managed to impress, scoring twice in the League Cup against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. In December 2002, Rubins moved to Russia, initially to play for Spartak Moscow in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

on a free transfer. However, three months later, without playing a game, he moved to Shinnik Yaroslavl, where he played 51 games in two seasons, scoring 4 times. In January 2005, Rubins signed a four-year contract with Spartak Moscow, who were then managed by Latvian manager Aleksandrs Starkovs. After struggling to settle, he made just five appearances, and the club sent him on loan back to Shinnik Yaroslavl in January 2006 for 12 months. In June 2007, he was linked with another loan move, this time with English

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

club

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, but he eventually went on loan to the

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Footbal ...

club Liepājas Metalurgs on 27 July for six months. He was released by Metalurgs together with his international team-mate Imants Bleidelis after half-season for unexplained reasons. Bleidelis retired from professional football then, but Rubins signed a contract with the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

club Inter Baku in August 2008. He spent two successful seasons there, becoming a vital starting eleven player for the club, scoring nine goals in 49 league games. Rubins also managed to become the champion of Azerbaijan in the 2009–10 with Inter. He started the 2010–11 season with another

club Qarabağ from

Aghdam Aghdam () is a town and the nominal capital of the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan. Founded in the 18th century, it was granted city status in 1828 and grew considerably during the Soviet period. Aghdam lies from Stepanakert at the eastern foot ...

, joining on a two-year contract on a free transfer. Rubins suffered several injuries that caused limited game time, and he only managed to appear in 12 league games and was released at the end of the season. In 2011, he was signed by Azerbaijan Premier League club Simurq PFC. Rubins scored one goal in 18 matches for the club, and in July 2012 he was released. Struggling with a long-term hip injury, Rubins announced his retirement from professional football on 13 March 2013, saying: "If I cannot play for 100%, that's not worth it."

International career

Rubins made his international debut for the Latvia national team on 10 November 1998 in a 3–0 loss in a friendly match against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. With 117 international caps he is the second most capped player in the history of Latvia national team, 50 matches short of

Vitālijs Astafjevs Vitālijs Astafjevs (born 3 April 1971) is a Latvian professional association football, football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an assistant manager of Cypriot club Aris Limassol FC, Aris Limassol having previously hel ...

. Rubins also participated at the

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. Th ...

in Portugal.

Coaching career

After his retirement Rubins started coaching children and youngsters in

Ikšķile Ikšķile (, ; , or ; ; ) is a town in Ogre Municipality, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It was the first capital of the Roman Catholic Bishopric of Livonia, known by the List of German exonyms for places in Latvia, German name of Uexküll, ...

. Prior to the 2014

Latvian First League The Latvian First League () is the second tier of football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. Since 2021, its full name is Nākotnes Līga (''Future League''). History The league was founded together with other Latv ...

season Rubins was appointed the assistant manager of FK Ogre. As of 2022 he was an assistant coach to FK Spartaks Jūrmala.

Death

Rubins died on 1 August 2022. The Latvian Football Federation announced his death on 3 August.

Career statistics

Honours

Skonto *

Virslīga Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Football F ...

: 1998, 1999, 2000 *

: 1998, 2000; runners-up 1999 Spartak Moscow *

runners-up:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Liepājas Metalurgs *

runners-up:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

Inter Baku *

2009–10; runners-up 2008–09 Latvia * Baltic Cup:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

References

External links

* *
Andrejs Rubins
at Latvian Football Federation {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubins, Andrejs 1978 births 2022 deaths Latvian people of Russian descent Footballers from Riga Latvian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Latvia men's international footballers FIFA Men's Century Club Allsvenskan players English Football League players Russian Premier League players Azerbaijan Premier League players Östers IF players FC Spartak Moscow players FC Shinnik Yaroslavl players Crystal Palace F.C. players UEFA Euro 2004 players Skonto FC players Latvian Higher League players FK Liepājas Metalurgs players Shamakhi FK players Qarabağ FK players Simurq PIK players Latvian expatriate men's footballers Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Latvian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Latvian football managers