Imants Bleidelis (born 16 August 1975) is a Latvian former professional

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 ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He made 106 appearances for the Latvia national team.

Club career

Born 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 ...

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Bleidelis started his career at Skonto in 1992. In 1994, he played for Inter Skonto, and then between 1994 and 1999 he played 128 games scoring 24 games for Skonto. Skonto then sold him to English club,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

who were then in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, for £650,000, where he joined fellow countryman Marians Pahars. Bleidelis signed a three-and-a-half-year contract. He played only three league games in three seasons, and after being allowed to go on trial in Denmark with Superliga club, Viborg January 2003 Southampton released him on 26 January, and two days later he signed a two-year contract with Viborg, where he scored six goals in 57 appearances. He left Viborg in winter 2004 after turning down a new contract. Despite offers from two Latvian clubs, Skonto and Venta, in 2005, he moved to Austria to play for

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

club

Grazer AK Grazer Athletiksport Klub (; abbreviated as GAK), better known simply as Grazer AK, is an Austrian sports club based in the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria. The football section was once among Austria's most popular clubs, enjoying s ...

, where he signed a two-year contract. He made his debut for the club on 17 February 2005 in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

against English club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. He moved back to Latvia in 2006 with

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the ...

. In 2007, he moved to Liepājas Metalurgs. Bleidelis had his contract with Liepājas Metalurgs terminated on 7 July 2008, along with another Latvian international,

Andrejs Rubins Andrejs Rubins (26 November 1978 – 1 August 2022) was a Latvian professional footballer who played as a left midfielder. He was a member of the Latvia national team. After retiring as a player, Rubins worked as a football manager. Club caree ...

International career

Bleidelis played over 100 international matches and scored ten goals for the Latvia national team. He made his debut on 19 May 1995 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 ...

in the Baltic Cup. He played at the

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

finals and his 100th appearance came on 2 June 2007 against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

qualifier.

Honours

Skonto * Virsliga: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 *

Latvian Football 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 W ...

: 1995, 1997, 1998 Metalurgs *

Baltic League The Baltic League (officially known as the Triobet Baltic League) was a Baltic men's football club tournament held four times between the top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Launched in 2007 inspired by the now defunct Scandinavi ...

: 2007

References

External links

*
Profile at the Latvian Football Federation

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleidelis, Imants 1975 births Living people Footballers from Riga Men's association football midfielders Latvian men's footballers Latvia men's international footballers Skonto FC players Latvian Higher League players Premier League players Southampton F.C. players Viborg FF players UEFA Euro 2004 players Grazer AK players Austrian Football Bundesliga players FIFA Men's Century Club Latvian expatriate men's footballers Latvian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Latvian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria

Club career

International career

Honours

See also

References

External links