Alberts Šeibelis (26 December 1906 – 12 April 1972) was 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 ...

, one of the most popular Latvian footballers in the era before

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 ...

. In 54 matches for Latvia he scored 14 goals

Biography

Šeibelis was born in the provincial town

Sabile Sabile (; ) is a town in Talsi Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. Sabile was first mentioned in chronicles in 1253. From the 14th century to the 16th century, it was a site of a castle of the Livonian Order and a village near the cas ...

. In 1922 he joined the newly founded

Rīgas FK The Riga Football Club (''Rīgas futbola klubs'' or ''Rīgas Futbolklubs'', RFK or Rīgas FK) was a Latvian football club which was founded on December 14, 1923 in Riga. It was the strongest and most popular Latvian football club in the 1920s an ...

which later became the dominant Latvian football club of the 1920s-30s. In RFK Šeibelis for a long time had to play with the reserves squad, however in 1925 he made his debut with the

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 ...

which was looking to include more young players. In his first years, Šeibelis played mainly as a forward but later he became a central midfielder. He organized both the defense and attack, and also scored goals. He was considered one of the best footballers of the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

for several years. In 1928 Šeibelis was on the Latvian team which won the first Baltic Cup. In the decisive match against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, he organized the winning goal and was injured by a frustrated Estonian forward who could not go past Šeibelis. In 1936 when Latvia won another Baltic Cup, Šeibelis scored a winning goal against Lithuania in the last minute. In his club career in 1931 Šeibelis left

and joined V.Ķuzes FK and Rīgas Vilki (he played with both clubs at the same time for several seasons). In 1938 Šeibelis with Rīgas Vilki won 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 ...

- a huge success for the club which was not among the elite of Latvian football. In 1939 he played his last international match for Latvia as it lost 3–0 to

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 ...

. After the Second World War Šeibelis lived in the United States, coached a football club in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

.Ivars Ošiņš. Golden 100 of Latvian sports

Honours

* Champion of Latvia: 1925, 1926, 1930 *

: 1938

References

1906 births 1972 deaths People from Sabile Latvian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Latvia men's international footballers Latvian football managers {{Latvia-footy-bio-stub