Pāvels Mihadjuks (born 27 May 1980) is 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 retired 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 ...

Club career

Early career

As a youth player Mihadjuks played for his local club Liepājas Metalurgs, passing his first training at the age of 7. He started his career as a forward, but quickly developed into an imposing centre half. He was taken to the first team at the age of 18 and in the 1999 season, which was his debut season with the club, Metalurgs finished as the runner-up of 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 ...

. During three seasons with the club Mihadjuks appeared only in 3 league matches, proving to be unable to compete with the more experienced players at the club. At the start of 2002 Mihadjuks moved to RKB Arma-Rīga and in his debut season with the club he helped it win the

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 ...

and earn a promotion to the top tier championship. In 2003 Arma-Rīga finished the season in the 8th position of the table and this was the first significant experience for Mihadjuks in the Lartvian Higher League. Due to financial issues the club was dissolved at the end of the season and in 2004 Mihadjuks joined Ditton Daugavpils. There he became a first eleven player, playing 24 league matches throughout the season. Ditton finished 7th in the league while Mihadjuks individual performance attracted attention from bigger Latvian clubs.

FK Rīga and FK Ventspils

Mihadjuks local breakthrough came in 2005, when he joined

FK Rīga FK Rīga was a Latvian football club based in Riga. They played in the Virslīga, the top division in Latvian football. They played their home games at Latvijas Universitātes Stadions. In 1999, its first year of existence, the club won the La ...

. Over the next four seasons with the club he played 92 league matches, scoring 6 goals. In 2007 they finished 3rd in the league and earned a spot in the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

qualification. In 2008 Mihadjuks made his debut in the tournament as FK Rīga managed to beat the Icelandic club

Fylkir Íþróttafélagið Fylkir (, ) is a multi-sport club in Árbær, in the eastern part of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. It features departments in football, handball, volleyball, gymnastics and karate. Kit The Fylkir official home kit is ...

in the first round and the Irish side

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

in the second round of the tournament. In the 3rd round they lost on aggregate to the Swedish club Elfsborg. During the season FK Rīga were struck by major financial difficulties which led to dissolving of the club after the 2008 season. Being in vast debts with players, coaches, team personnel and other parties, the club broke off contracts with its top players already during the season and in mid-summer 2008 Mihadjuks became a free agent. In July 2008 he joined that time Latvian champions and cup winners

FK Ventspils FK Ventspils was a Latvian professional football club based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils. It was one of the most prominent football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virslīga since 1997. It folded in July ...

. With Mihadjuks' appearance at the club they managed to win the league for the second year in a row in 2008. In addition, Ventspils managed to beat the Norwegian champions

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann is a Norwegian professional football club based in Bergen. Founded on 26 September 1908, Brann has played in the first tier of Norwegian football for 67 out of 80 seasons, the second most of any club. They play their hom ...

2–1 in the second round of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifiers.

Scottish Premier League

In January 2009 Mihadjuks went on trial with the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

club

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 ...

.Inverness Caledonian Thistle give trial to Latvian stopper Pavels Mihadjuks
'' Daily Record'', 7 January 2009. He joined the club's trainings and signed a contract with them until the end of the 2008–09 season a few days later. Mihadjuks made his Inverness debut in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in a

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

match against Hearts. After the end of the 2008–09 season he left Scotland and returned to his former club FK Ventspils for a short period of time. On 8 February 2010 it was announced that

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

had completed the signing of Mihadjuks on loan from Ventspils until the end of the season. He made his debut for Dundee United on 10 February 2010 in a league match against

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

. Mihadjuks helped Dundee United win the

2009–10 Scottish Cup The 2009–10 Scottish Cup was the 125th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The competition was sponsored by the Scottish Government and for sponsorship reasons was known as the Active Nation Scottish Cup. Calen ...

. Having appeared in 3 league matches during the loan spell, Mihadjuks returned to Latvia after the season.

Return to Latvia

Following long-term talks in July 2010 Mihadjuks reached an agreement with that time Latvian champions Liepājas Metalurgs and signed a contract with them for 1,5 years. That season they participated in the

, losing to the Czech club

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

on aggregate. In 2011 Mihadjuks helped Metalurgs finish the league as runners-up and they also ended their cup campaign as runners-up losing to

in the final. After the end of the 2011 season Mihadjuks extended his contract for another year and played in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. In a period of three years with Liepājas Metalurgs Mihadjuks played 46 league matches, scoring 4 goals. Before the start of the 2013 season he moved to

Daugava Rīga FK Daugava Rīga was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. They played in the Latvian Higher League. The last manager of the team was Armands Zeiberliņš. From the club's foundation in 2003 till 2009 the club was kno ...

. He played 21 league matches for Daugava and scored 1 goal, helping them achieve the best success in the club's history as they managed to finish the season in the top four and qualify for the UEFA Europa League. At the start of 2014 Mihadjuks moved to

FC Jūrmala FC Jūrmala was a Latvian association football, football club from Jūrmala, founded in 2008. They last played in the Latvian First League. The home ground was Sloka Stadium in Jūrmala with capacity of 5,000 people. Until 2015, FC Jūrmala was o ...

on a one-year deal and, furthermore, was elected as the club's captain for the following season. Soon after the start of the season the club experienced major financial difficulties and its results subsequently worsened. Being in debts with its players, the club let go of its leaders and in July 2014 Mihadjuks joined the newly formed

FK Liepāja FK Liepāja is a Latvian professional football club established in 2014. The club is based at the Daugava Stadium in Liepāja. FK Liepāja plays in the Latvian Higher League. In their first season they finished 4th in the 2014 Latvian Higher ...

. He helped the club finish the season in the top four. In 2015 Mihadjuks became champion of Latvia with

, but in the next two seasons he managed to repeat the success with Spartaks Jūrmala, club to which Mihadjuks moved in June 2016.

FK Tukums 2000

In 2019, Mihadjuks joined

FK Tukums 2000 FK Tukums 2000 is Latvian professional football club located in Tukums. Since its foundation, the club has been training young boys and girls. In 2007 the club formed a men's team that could play in the second-highest division of Latvian footbal ...

at the age of 38, where he now works as a youth coach.

International career

Mihadjuks was a member of Latvia U-18 and Latvia U-21 football teams. He made his debut 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 ...

on 12 August 2009 in a friendly match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Mihadjuks scored his first international goal for Latvia on 7 June 2011 in a friendly match against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Mihadjuks played his last international match up to date on 7 June 2013 against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

International goals

Honours

RKB Arma-Rīga

champion ** 2002

FK Ventspils

champion ** 2008

Dundee United

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 ...

champion ** 2015

FK Spartaks Jūrmala

champion ** 2016, 2017

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mihadjuks, Pavels 1980 births Living people Footballers from Liepāja Latvian people of Ukrainian descent Latvian men's footballers Latvia men's international footballers FK Liepājas Metalurgs players FC Daugava players FK Rīga players FK Ventspils players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Latvian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland FK Daugava (2003) players FC Jūrmala players FK Liepāja players FK Spartaks Jūrmala players Men's association football defenders