HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Stanislav Varga (born 8 October 1972) is a Slovak football
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...
and former player, currently in charge of Polish
I liga I liga ( pl, Pierwsza liga, ), currently named Fortuna I liga due to its sponsorship by Fortuna, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga ...
club
Sandecja Nowy Sącz Sandecja Nowy Sącz is a Polish football club formed in 1910. In the 2016–17 season, Sandecja won I liga, which promoted the club to the Polish Ekstraklasa, Poland's highest professional football league, for the first time in the club's histo ...
.


Career

Varga, a tall and commanding centre-back, was recruited by
Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield ta ...
for £875,000 from Slovan Bratislava during the summer of 2000. Varga began his career at the
Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in Engla ...
with an impressive opening day display in Sunderland's 1–0 victory over
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, picking up the man of the match award. He scored his first Sunderland goal in a 2–0 win over West Ham in January 2001. A regular in the international side with over fifty caps to his name, Varga has also captained his country on a number of occasions. He was first spotted by Peter Reid when playing for
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
in a friendly game against
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
before
Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...
and impressed the Black Cats' boss with the way he kept
Tore André Flo Tore André Flo (born 15 June 1973) is a Norwegian former professional football striker and coach who is the manager of 1. divisjon club Sogndal. He was capped 76 times, scoring 23 goals for Norway, and represented his country in 1998 FIFA Wo ...
and
Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his ...
out of the game. He spent the end of 2001–02 on loan with
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...
, helping the club get promoted to the
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
. The towering centre back returned from a long-term injury to find himself out of the first team picture and his last game before going on loan ended when he was taken off at half-time at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after We ...
, where
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
lost 4–1. With
Björklund Björklund or Bjørklund or Bjorklund is a surname of Swedish and Norwegian origin. Notable people with the surname include: Björklund *Anders Björklund (born 1945), Swedish neuroscientist *Elina Björklund (born 1970), Finnish business executive ...
and
Jody Craddock Jody Darryl Craddock (born 25 July 1975) is an English former professional footballer and artist who played as a centre back in the Premier League for Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Craddock broke into league football at Cambridge Uni ...
ahead of him, Varga never really found his way back into the team, and was released in January 2003. Less than a month later and
Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his pla ...
had snapped up the defender on a short-term deal. Despite only making one appearance for Celtic in that time, he was rewarded with a two-year contract in July 2003. He was an ever-present in the side during the 2003–04 campaign and helped his new teammates to domestic glory, winning the domestic double of Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup. In the League, Varga helped Celtic concede only 25 goals, which allowed the club to set a new league record of 25 straight wins (32 games unbeaten from the start of the season) and 77 home league games without defeat. He also contributed 7 goals in all competitions. Successive titles evaded Celtic in the 2004–05 season as they threw away the SPL title on the final day of the season, but they did manage to take consolation in the Scottish Cup Final, beating
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in ...
1–0, with Alan Thompson scoring the only goal of the game after 8 minutes from a free-kick. Throughout this season Varga proved to be a rock in the Celtic defence. He even got up-field to score six times, including one in Celtic's 3–1 defeat to A.C. Milan in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
Group Stage. During this time he, like Stilian Petrov before him, had his name abbreviated by the Celtic following, Stanislav would now simply be known as "Stan" Varga to the Hoops supporters and Scottish media. On 31 August 2006, he returned to Sunderland under new manager
Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during h ...
, a former colleague from Celtic, alongside Celtic's
Ross Wallace Ross Wallace (born 23 May 1985) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a winger. He has previously played for Celtic, Sunderland, Preston North End, Burnley, Sheffield Wednesday, Fleetwood Town, and once played in a full ...
, for a combined fee of up to £1,100,000. He scored his first goal in his second spell at Sunderland in a 4–1 loss at Preston North End in October 2006. His strong and powerful presence, ability in the air and no nonsense defending has made him a rising fan favourite at the Stadium of Light. Having to act as a substitute behind first choice centre half Nyron Nosworthy, the Slovak chose a one-month loan deal to
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...
on 4 January 2008 to regain match-fitness. He was named in the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
Team of the Week for his performance in Burnley's 1–0 win over
Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...
, his first league game for the club. Sunderland released Varga at the end of the 2007–08 season.


Honours


As player

; Celtic: *
Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...
: 2003–04, 2005–06 *
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2003–04, 2004–05 *
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay 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 exist ...
: 2005–06 ; Sunderland: *
Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
: 2006–07


As coach

; Tatran Prešov: * DOXXbet Liga: 2015–16 ; Dukla B.Bystrica: * Druha Liga runners-up: 2021–22


References


External links

*
Sunderland AFC profileStanislav Varga
profile, detailed club and national team statistics, honours (palmares) and timeline {{DEFAULTSORT:Varga, Stanislav 1972 births Living people People from Lipany Slovak footballers Slovakia international footballers Slovak expatriate footballers Association football central defenders Slovak football managers 1. FC Tatran Prešov players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players Sunderland A.F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Slovak Super Liga players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Slovak expatriate sportspeople in England Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Scotland ŠK Odeva Lipany managers 1. FC Tatran Prešov managers FK Dukla Banská Bystrica managers Sandecja Nowy Sącz managers 2. Liga (Slovakia) managers Slovak Super Liga managers I liga managers Slovak expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Poland