Igors Labuts (born 7 June 1990), is a
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
n
footballer who currently plays as a
goalkeeper for the
Latvian First League club
FC New Project.
Club career
Born in
Daugavpils
Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...
, Labuts career started in
Ditton Daugavpils, being a member of the youth system since 2002. After five years, in 2007, at the age of 16, he was invited to join the
Latvian Higher League newcomers
Blāzma Rēzekne. Initially, he was the club's third-choice keeper, later that season he became the second choice. Labuts made his debut for Blāzma on 8 November 2008 in a 2-2 draw against
Vindava Ventspils for the
Latvian First League.
In summer of 2009 Labuts moved abroad, joining the
League of Ireland Premier Division
The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...
club
Sporting Fingal. After six months, with the Irish club unable to pay the requested transfer fee for a further stay, Labuts returned to Latvia.
In January 2010, he joined the Latvian First League club
FB Gulbene, helping them win the league and earn a promotion to the Latvian Higher League for the 2011 season. For the next two seasons Labuts played in the top tier of Latvian football, but after Gulbene's relegation in 2012, he switched clubs and moved to the incumbent Latvian champions
Daugava Daugavpils
FC Daugava was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium, in the city of Daugavpils. They lastly played in the Latvian Second League in 2015. They were one of two clubs with the name ''Daugava'' and should not be confused with FK ...
at the beginning of 2013. Serving as a back-up keeper for half a season, Labuts was loaned out to
Ilūkstes NSS in July 2013 in order to retain playing practice.
Before the start of the 2014 season, Labuts joined the Latvian Higher League club
FC Jūrmala
FC Jūrmala is a Latvian association football, football club that is based in Jūrmala. They play in the Latvian First League. Club plays its home matches at the Slokas Stadium in Jūrmala with capacity of 5,000 people. Until 2015 FC Jūrmala was ...
. After the club was struck by financial problems, he was let go and eventually ended up in Portugal, joining the Portuguese
Segunda Liga club
Atlético CP
Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to:
Sports Teams Athletico
*Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy
*Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...
. On 9 August 2014 Labuts made his professional debut with
Atlético in a Segunda Liga match against
Freamunde.
In September 2017 the FAI banned Labuts and teammate Dragos Sfrijan for 12 months after a UEFA investigation found "clear and overwhelming betting evidence" of
fixing of Athlone's 29 April match against
Longford Town in the
2017 League of Ireland First Division
The 2017 League of Ireland First Division season is the 33rd season of the League of Ireland First Division. The league began on 24 February 2017 and concludes on 7 October 2017. The 2017 season had no promotion/relegation play-off system like t ...
.
The
Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland said the decision was based on "half-baked innuendo". Labuts' appeal against his suspension was rejected in October 2018.
[
Labuts moved to Latvia's First League to FC New Project in 2019.
]
International career
Labuts was a member of Latvia U-17, Latvia U-18 and Latvia U-19 football teams, but has not been called up to the senior side yet.
Honours
;FB Gulbene
* Latvian First League (1): 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
Personal life
Aside from his own professional footballer's career Labuts also works at the Just4Keepers International Goalkeeper Academy as a youth coach for aspiring keepers in Latvia. While playing in Latvia, Labuts was also studying at the Latvian Sports Academy, acquiring a bachelor's degree in Sports Science.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Labuts, Igors
1990 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Daugavpils
Latvian men's footballers
Match fixers
Men's association football goalkeepers
SK Blāzma players
Sporting Fingal F.C. players
Latvian expatriate men's footballers
Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Ireland
Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland
League of Ireland players
FB Gulbene players
FC Daugava players
FC Jūrmala players
FK Spartaks Jūrmala players
Atlético Clube de Portugal players
Liga Portugal 2 players
Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
Augšdaugavas NSS players