Igor Bališ (born 5 January 1970) is a Slovak former

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 ...

. He played for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in England. Bališ played club football in Slovakia for

Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Slovak league system, having participated in more seasons than any other club. Founded in ...

and Slovan Bratislava, making a combined 257 appearances, as well as the Slovakia national team at international level.

Career

Bališ made a combined total of 257 appearances for Slovak sides

and Slovan Bratislava between 1988 and 2000. In 1997 he finished fifth in voting for footballer of the year at the Slovak Footballer of the Year Awards behind winner Dušan Tittel. In February 2000 Bališ scored his only international goal, scoring from a left-footed shot in the 5th minute of a 2–0 away victory against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in the . Bališ joined

in November 2000 for a fee of £150,000. He made his Albion debut on 23 December 2000, coming on as a late substitute in a 3–0 victory against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. Bališ converted a dramatic stoppage time penalty against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

in the penultimate game of the 2001–02 season, which put Albion on the brink of promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. After completing a season in the Premiership with Albion, Bališ quit the club and returned to Slovakia due to a recurrence of

tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...

. He signed for

DAC Dunajská Streda DAC may refer to: Businesses and organisations * DacEasy, originally Dac Software, Inc. * Danish Architecture Centre, an international cultural attraction * Defense Ammunition Center (United States), of the United States Department of Defense * ...

but left the club without making an appearance, subsequently moving to Austria, where he played in the lower leagues.

References

External links

* * 1970 births Living people People from Trnava District Footballers from the Trnava Region FC Spartak Trnava players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Slovak men's footballers Slovak expatriate men's footballers Slovak First Football League players Premier League players Slovakia men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Expatriate men's footballers in England Slovak expatriate sportspeople in England {{Slovakia-footy-defender-stub