Igors Stepanovs

{{About|the defender|the midfielder|Igors Stepanovs (footballer, born 1966)}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Igors Stepanovs

| image = Igors Stepanovs.jpg

| upright = 1.1

| caption = Stepanovs playing for Latvia

| fullname =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1976|1|21}}

| birth_place = Ogre, Latvia

| height = 1.92 m

| position = Defender

| currentclub =

| years1 = 1992–1993

| clubs1 = Skonto Riga

| caps1 = 9

| goals1 = 0

| years2 = 1994

| clubs2 = Interskonto

| caps2 = 20

| goals2 = 2

| years3 = 1995–2000

| clubs3 = Skonto Riga

| caps3 = 129

| goals3 = 11

| years4 = 2000–2004

| clubs4 = Arsenal

| caps4 = 17

| goals4 = 0

| years5 = 2003–2004

| clubs5 = → Beveren (loan)

| caps5 = 21

| goals5 = 0

| years6 = 2004–2006

| clubs6 = Grasshoppers

| caps6 = 50

| goals6 = 0

| years7 = 2006

| clubs7 = FK Jūrmala

| caps7 = 9

| goals7 = 0

| years8 = 2007–2008

| clubs8 = Esbjerg fB

| caps8 = 17

| goals8 = 1

| years9 = 2008

| clubs9 = FC Shinnik Yaroslavl

| caps9 = 4

| goals9 = 0

| years10 = 2009–2010

| clubs10 = RFS/Olimps

| caps10 = 7

| goals10 = 0

| years11 = 2010–2011

| clubs11 = FK Jūrmala

| caps11 = 25

| goals11 = 1

| totalcaps = 306

| totalgoals = 15

| nationalyears1 = 1995–2011

| nationalteam1 = Latvia

| nationalcaps1 = 100

| nationalgoals1 = 4

| manageryears1 = 2010–2011 | managerclubs1 = FK Jūrmala (player/assistant coach)

| manageryears2 = 2012–2018 | managerclubs2 = Latvia U-17

| manageryears3 = 2017–2018 | managerclubs3 = Latvia U-18

| manageryears4 = 2019 | managerclubs4 = Auda

| manageryears5 = 2020–2021 | managerclubs5 = Maldives U-19

}}

Igors Stepanovs (born 21 January 1976) is a Latvian professional football coach and a former player who played as a defender. He was the manager of the Maldives under-19 national team. Stepanovs played 100 international matches and scored four goals for the Latvia national team. He made his debut in 1995, and played at Euro 2004.

Club career

=Skonto=

Born in Ogre, Stepanovs started his club career at Skonto-Metāls (later Skonto Riga). He made his debut in senior football at just 16 years old and won seven national titles. In 1995, he made his debut for Latvia national team and soon he became a regular member of the side. While playing with Skonto, Stepanovs played against teams like Inter Milan, Barcelona, and Chelsea. In these games, Skonto and Stepanovs performed well. In 2000, he attracted interest from many European teams.

=Arsenal=

In 2000, Arsenal captain Tony Adams was injured, prompting Arsène Wenger to sign Stepanovs for a transfer fee of £1.35 million. He started the season well, scoring a goal for Arsenal in a 2–1 League Cup defeat to Ipswich Town on his debut.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/worthington_cup/1000608.stm|title=Arsenal 1-2 Ipswich |publisher=BBC|date=1 November 2000 |access-date=3 November 2009}} His playing time grew until a match against Manchester United, when both sides were battling for the Premier League title. Arsenal lost this game 6–1 and their chances of winning the title were hit.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/1187685.stm|title=Man Utd hit Arsenal for six |publisher=BBC|date=25 February 2001 |access-date=14 April 2013}} After this disappointing performance, Stepanovs played only once again that season in a game against Manchester City.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/1270382.stm

|title=Arsenal trounce sorry Man City|publisher=BBC|date=11 April 2001 |access-date=14 April 2013}} He recovered to make six Premier League appearances the following season as Arsenal won the 2001–02 FA Premier League. Six would not normally be enough to earn a medal but he was an unused substitute on the day Arsenal clinched the title against Manchester United at Old Trafford, the scene of his lowest point the season before.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/1964495.stm|title=Arsenal clinch Double|publisher=BBC|date=8 May 2002 |access-date=14 April 2013}} Arsenal also won the FA Cup in 2002 and 2003 but Stepanovs was left out of both matchday squads. He contributed to their 2002 triumph when featuring in a game against Newcastle United during their run.{{cite web

|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/1860616.stm|title=Robert rescues Magpies|publisher=BBC|date=9 March 2002 |access-date=14 April 2013}}

Overall, he played just 17 times in the league for Arsenal, all of them starts, and 31 times in all competitions.

=Later years=

After unsuccessful years with Arsenal, Stepanovs was moved to K.S.K. Beveren, which had a co-operation agreement with the English club. There he gained back some confidence and he was again in good shape. Stepanovs played well in the Latvia national team, helping it to qualify for Euro 2004 where he played in all of Latvia's three games.

After Euro 2004, Stepanovs joined Grasshopper Club Zürich. There he played for two seasons, but was released. In 2006, he returned to Latvia and played some games for FK Jūrmala. On 26 January 2007, he moved to Danish Premier League side Esbjerg fB on a free transfer, but after just a year he moved to the Russian FC Shinnik Yaroslavl. He was released by Shinnik on 9 July 2008 and in April 2009 he signed for Latvian side RFS/Olimps, but a year later re-joined his previous team FK Jūrmala. He played there for two seasons, making 25 league appearances, scoring a solitary goal. In August 2011, the player announced his retirement from professional football. On 10 August 2011, Stepanovs was called up to the Latvia national team for a friendly match against Finland. He played his 100th and last match for Latvia then, and was honoured during the match for his long-term commitment to the national squad.{{cite web|url=http://www.sarauj.com/lv/futbols/Latvija/4826-igors-stepanovs-aizvads-pdjo-spli-latvijas-izlas|title=Igors Stepanovs |language=lv |website=Sarauj.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216183243/http://www.sarauj.com/lv/futbols/Latvija/4826-igors-stepanovs-aizvads-pdjo-spli-latvijas-izlas|archive-date=16 February 2013}}

Coaching career

During his time at FK Jūrmala, Stepanovs worked as a player-coach assisting the club's manager Vladimirs Babičevs. In March 2012, Stepanovs was appointed as the manager of Latvia under-17 national team.{{Cite web|url=http://sportacentrs.com/futbols/latvijas_izlase/06032012-u_17_futbola_izlasi_vadis_stepanovs_u19_b|title = U-17 futbola izlasi vadīs Stepanovs, U19 - Babičevs|date = 6 March 2012}}

Honours

Arsenal

Premier League: 2001–02{{cite web |url=https://www.premierleague.com/players/1832/Igors-Stepanovs/overview |title=Igors Stepanovs: Overview |publisher=Premier League |access-date=18 April 2018}}
FA Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03

Individual

Latvian Footballer of the Year: 2005{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

References

External links

{{Soccerbase|name=Igors Stepanovs (incomplete)}}
[https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/stepanovs-intl.html Stepanovs International Appearances]
{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.vi.nl/vi/show/id=40053/dbid=19528/typeofpage=40054/sc=8f5caa Voetbal International]
{{in lang|lv}} [http://www.lff.lv/public/?id=53&ln=lv&std_id=96 Latvian Football Federation]
[http://www.legioner.kulichki.com/index.php?id=11&lang=en&player=74 Stepanov at "legioner"]
{{NFT|3728}}

Category:1976 births

Category:Living people

Category:Latvian people of Russian descent

Category:People from Ogre, Latvia

Category:Sportspeople from Vidzeme

Category:Latvian men's footballers

Category:Men's association football defenders

Category:Latvia men's international footballers

Category:FIFA Men's Century Club

Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players

Category:Latvian Higher League players

Category:Premier League players