Evald Tipner (13 March 1906 – 18 July 1947) 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 ...

widely regarded as one of the greatest Estonian goalkeepers of all time. He was capped 66 times 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 ...

, 7 times for bandy national team and once for ice hockey team. Tipner was also a good

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete. Tipner was one of the most prominent Estonian sportspeople during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

and was known for his reflex saves and imposing presence in goal. Throughout his career, he earned the nicknames ''Eesti kuldväravavaht'' () and ''kummikätega mees'' (), of which the latter was given by the Swedes who were strongly impressed by his performance in Sweden in 1927. Tipner was often hailed by the foreign newspapers after his performances on international level and he has also been regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the Northern European region of his era. In 2012, the

Estonian Football Association The Estonian Football Association (EJL; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football, beach soccer and futsal in Estonia. Established on 14 December 1921, it organizes the football league, including the championship which is called Mei ...

named the

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup () is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. Finals ...

competition after him.

Football club career

Despite reportedly having offers from foreign professional clubs, Evald Tipner played for Tallinna Sport his whole career, throughout which he was crowned Estonian champion eight times. Tipner also lifted the first-ever

, after beating TJK in the 1938 final. Despite being a goalkeeper, he often took penalties for Sport as well, scoring four in

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

from 1930 to 1935. Since 1936, Tipner occasionally also played as a striker and scored his first hat-trick on 1 October 1936 against TJK. He scored seven goals in the following 1937–38 season and in total scored 19 goals in the Estonian top division. After his death on 18 July 1947, Estonian newspaper

Noorte Hääl ''Noorte Hääl'' (meaning ''Voice of Youth'' in English) was a daily newspaper published in Estonia between 1940 and 1995. History Before the independence of Estonia, ''Noorte Hääl'' was owned by the Estonian branch of the Komsomol, the Le ...

remembered Evald Tipner in the following tribute (''translated from Estonian to English)'': ''"As a result of a long and serious illness, one of the most popular athletes of our older generation, Evald Tipner, died in Tallinn on Friday. /.../ Evald Tipner's fame was not limited to his homeland. His rare abilities were admired in Paris, Stockholm and many other European centers. In Estonia, Tipner was known even in places where there was no interest in sports. When Tallinn was visited by the famous Vienna football team WAC in 1931, then the team's goalkeeper Hiden, considered the best in the world at the time, said of Tipner after the game, "A person can only play as phenomenally as Tipner once in a lifetime." That was not right. Tipner always performed brilliantly - at home and away. /.../"''

Football international career

Evald Tipner was first called up to

for 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 ...

, where he was the reserve goalkeeper behind August Lass. He made his debut after Estonia had been knocked out of the Olympics and faced

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in a friendly match on 3 June 1924 in

Colombes Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest city in France. ...

. In total, Tipner made 66 appearances for the national team and was Estonia's most capped player during the country's first period of independence. He also won the Baltic Cup three times - in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

. Some sources report him as the first goalscorer in the history of World Cup preliminary competition, having scored what would be an own goal for Sweden against Estonia 7 minutes into the game, on 11 June 1933, in Stockholm. Some other sources consider this was not an own goal, and that it was actually scored by Swedish captain Knut Kroon.

Bandy career

Tipner played 7 games and scored 9 goals for the national team during 1927–1934.

Ice hockey career

In 1924 he played one game for the national ice hockey team.

Legacy

In 2012, the

named the

after him and the competition has since then unofficially carried the name ''Evald Tipneri karikas'' ().

Honours

Football

Club

Sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

* Estonian champion:

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

International

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 ...

* Baltic Cup:

Bandy

* Estonian Champion: 1924, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tipner, Evald 1906 births 1947 deaths Footballers from Tallinn People from the Governorate of Estonia Estonia men's international footballers Estonian bandy players Estonian men's footballers Estonian ice hockey players Olympic footballers for Estonia Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Men's association football goalkeepers Burials at Liiva Cemetery SK Tallinna Sport players