Nauris Bulvītis (born 15 March 1987) is 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for FK Spartaks Jūrmala.

Club career

Bulvītis started his professional career in 2007 with Daugava Daugavpils. Having played there for one season, he made 7 league appearances and scored no goals. In 2008, he had a one-year spell in the Lithuanian

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...

with

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

, playing 21 games and scoring once. In 2009 Bulvītis returned to his homeland, signing a contract with Tranzit. That season he played 17 matches and scored 1 goal in 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 ...

, before being loaned to the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

side

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

. He signed on loan until January 2010 after a successful trial spell at the club. He was recommended to join the club by fellow Latvian and former Inverness defender Pāvels Mihadjuks. Bulvītis made his debut for ''Caley Thistle'' in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

match against Annan Athletic. He scored his first goal against

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

in the League cup. FC Tranzit permitted Bulvītis to extend his loan spell at Caley until the end of the season. Bulvītis left Inverness at the end of the 2009–10 season. Bulvitis signed for the Latvian Higher League club

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

before the start of the Eurocups. He played 10 matches for Ventspils, scoring no goals. In January 2011 he went on trial with the

Slovak Super Liga The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Football in Slovakia, Slovak football league system. It was formed ...

club

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 signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with them. Because of a long-term injury he was released by the Slovak side in the middle of 2011. Bulvītis then returned to Latvia, joining Spartaks Jūrmala. During three seasons with the club he scored nine goals in 56 league matches. In July 2013 Bulvītis joined

Skonto Riga Skonto FC was a Latvian professional 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 cor ...

on a three-year contract. He played 15 league matches and scored three goals for the club before leaving the club in January 2014 due to a long-term delay of salary payment. On 24 January 2014 Bulvītis signed a one-year contract with the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

with an option to extend it for another season. In April 2014 his contract was extended for another year. During his first season in the Swiss Super League Bulvītis played 18 matches, scoring no goals. In February 2016, Bulvītis went on trial with

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

side Shakhter Karagandy. On 29 June 2016,

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

confirmed Bulvītis as a new signing. Bulvitis had scored all 3 of his Argyle goals in the month of August, netting his first in a 2–1 win away to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

, quickly followed by the only goal in a 1–0 win away to

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 ...

, and then another goal in a 4–1

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

game at home to Newport County. This early season run of form saw Bulvītis make an appearance as an auxiliary striker in Argyle's 1–0 defeat to

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 an FA Cup third round replay. Bulvītis' back half of the season was plagued with injury problems as he eventually lost his centre half place to January signing Jakub Sokolík. At the end of a promotion winning 2016–17 season, Bulvītis was released by Argyle along with eight other professionals. In September 2017, Bulvītis re-signed for

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 ...

side

in his native Latvia, making 6 appearances between then and the end of the season in November as Ventspils came 4th in the Latvian Higher League on

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. Finishing 4th saw Ventspils qualify for the

2018–19 UEFA Europa League The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Olympic Sta ...

, with Bulvītis not featuring in their first qualifying round 8-3 aggregate win over Albanian side Luftëtari, but featuring off the bench in both legs of Ventspils'

second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

3-1 aggregate defeat to French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Girondins Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

. On 27 December 2018, Bulvītis signed with Rīgas FS for the 2019 season. In January 2020, Bulvītis returned to FK Spartaks Jūrmala.

International career

Bulvītis has been capped internationally at under-19 and under-21 levels. In 2012

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 ...

coach

Aleksandrs Starkovs Aleksandrs Starkovs (born 26 July 1955) is a Latvian football coach and a former footballer who played as a forward. Most recently he coached FK Liepāja. Starkovs has managed clubs such as Spartak Moscow in Russia, FK Baku in Azerbaijan and ...

called him up for the 2012 Baltic Cup. Nauris played 2 matches, helping

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 ...

win the tournament. Bulvītis scored his first international goal on 6 September 2013 in a 2–1

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

qualification match victory over

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. In May 2014 he helped Latvia win the Baltic Cup for the second time in a row, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory over

in the final of the tournament. As of March 2015 Bulvītis has played 19 international matches and scored two goals for Latvia.

International goals

Honours

;Inverness CT *

champions: 2009–10 ;FK Ventspils *

runners-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

;Skonto Riga *

runners-up:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

;Plymouth Argyle *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

runners-up: 2016–17 ;Latvia National Team * Baltic Cup champions:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

* * *
Nauris Bulvītis
at Rīgas FS {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulvitis, Nauris 1987 births Living people Footballers from Riga Latvian men's footballers 21st-century Latvian sportsmen Men's association football defenders Latvian expatriate men's footballers Latvia men's international footballers Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland FC Daugava players Expatriate men's footballers in Lithuania Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Scottish Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland FK Ventspils players FC Spartak Trnava players FK RFS players Slovak First Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia FK Spartaks Jūrmala players Skonto FC players FC Aarau players Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Swiss Super League players English Football League players