Arnold Pihlak (17 July 1902 – 1 November 1985) was an Estonian

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 ...

. After joining

Austria Vienna Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Austr ...

in 1928, he became the first-ever Estonian professional footballer.

Club career

Pihlak began playing football as a school pupil in

Pelgulinn Pelgulinn (Estonian for 'refuge/hiding town') is a subdistrict () of Põhja-Tallinn (North Tallinn) in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is located about northwest of the city centre. Pelgulinn borders Kalamaja to the east, Kelmiküla to the ...

, but his studies and sporting aspirations were interrupted by his voluntary participation in the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the War of Freedom in Estonia, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the ...

, where he served on the armoured train No. 2. After the war, Pihlak was invited to play for Tallinna Kalev. He was initially a defender, until his attacking talent was discovered by coach

Antal Mally Antal Mally (or Antal Maly; 21 September 1890 Budapest – 1958) was a Hungarian football coach. 1927 and 1935 he was the team manager of Estonian national football team. Besides Estonia, he coached also teams in Italy (US Triestina, A.C. Venezia ...

. Pihlak made a strong impression during the 1927 FIFA Helsinki tournament and in the April of the following year, while playing for TJK in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, he was approached by

Karl Kurz Karl Kurz (born 21 November 1898; died 26 November 1933 in Basel, Switzerland) was an Austrian football player and manager. Playing career Club Kurz played mostly as a winger but by the end of his career he had been deployed as a central midfield ...

with a proposal to join

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...

Pihlak made his unofficial debut for Austria Wien in December 1928 during their tour in Italy. Pihlak impressed on his official first team debut, scoring two goals in the club's 3–0 victory in the

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

match against SC Westmark Wien on 20 January 1929. In 1930, Pihlak became one of the founding members of JS Estonia Tallinn. He retired from football in 1934, after he had been injured in a car accident the previous year, when his truck was hit by an oncoming train at an

Ülemiste Ülemiste is a subdistrict () in the district of Lasnamäe, Tallinn, the capital of 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 ...

intersection.

International career

Pihlak made his debut for

Estonia national football team The Estonia men's national football team () represents Estonia in international football matches and is controlled by the Estonian Football Association, the governing body for football in Estonia. Estonia's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium ...

at 18 years old, when he was part of the country's first-ever national team match on 17 October 1920 against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. He also participated in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In total, Pihlak made 44 appearances for the national team and scored 16 goals. He was Estonia's third highest goalscorer during the country's first period of independence.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pihlak, Arnold 1902 births 1985 deaths Footballers from Tallinn People from Kreis Harrien Estonian men's footballers Estonia men's international footballers Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Estonia JK Tallinna Kalev players Estonian expatriate men's footballers Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria FK Austria Wien players Men's association football midfielders SK Tallinna Sport players JS Estonia Tallinn players