Kārlis Tīls (1906-196?) was a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defender and football manager, one of the most legendary footballers in the history of

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

Biography

At the age of 17 Tīls was one of the footballers who played in the first ever official match of

Olimpija Liepāja Olimpija Liepāja was a Latvian football club. It was based in Liepāja and founded in 1922. It won the Latvian Top League on seven occasions between 1927 and 1939, becoming the first non-Riga team to win the title. Otto Fischer moved in 1936 ...

as the club lost 1 - 2 to LNJS Liepāja. Together with Olimpija he went through all the club's glories and disasters. He was with Olimpija as it won its six Latvian league titles and the

Riga Football Cup Riga Football Cup () was a knockout tournament held in Latvian football from 1910 to 1913 and then from 1925 to 1936. Clubs from cities other than Riga were allowed to participate in the tournament from 1925. In 1937 it was replaced by the Latvia ...

three times in a row. From 1926 to 1931 Tīls played 9 international matches for

Latvia national football team The Latvia national football team () represents Latvia in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FIF ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when Olimpija was disbanded and a new club - Daugava Liepāja was formed, Tīls was appointed as the club's head coach. Despite his veteran age he also played for Daugava in his first two seasons with the club. His last match as a player was on 22 September 1946 as Daugava won 4 - 1 against Lokomotīve Rīga. He worked with Daugava for 4 seasons winning both the Latvian league and 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 ...

in 1946 and 1947. In 1946 the battle for the title was especially tough as Daugava had to win against league leaders AVN 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 ...

yet despite losing 0 - 1 against the first half Tīls managed to convince the players of their straight and win 4 - 1. Before the 1948 season 6 best footballers of Daugava left the club as they were sent to play with

clubs in the Soviet league and Daugava finished only 6th in the Latvian league and was merged with Dinamo Liepāja with a new head coach. Tīls didn't coach any other football clubs afterwards and worked in a store until the end of his days.

Honours

As player

* Latvian league winner: 7 (1927–1929,1933, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1946) *

winner: (1946)

As head coach

* Latvian league winner: 2 (1946, 1947) *

winner: 2 (1946, 1947)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tils, Karlis Latvian men's footballers Latvian football managers Latvia men's international footballers 1906 births Year of death missing FK Liepājas Metalurgs managers Footballers from Liepāja Men's association football defenders