Vladimír Labant (born 8 June 1974) is a Slovak 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He represented the Slovakia national team.

Club career

Labant was a much sought after

after a successful spell with Czech club

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

. He joined rivals

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

in 1999 and was touted around Europe to several teams including

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

of the Netherlands. He eventually moved to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

for a fee just under £1 million in January 2002. He made his debut when he came on as a substitute in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

tie against Chelsea. His cross led to West Ham's equaliser from

Frédéric Kanouté Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla. Kanouté was named the 2007 African Foot ...

. He ended the 2001-02 season with 14 first team appearances for West Ham. The following season he was shunned even as the club fell into a relegation battle. Having made just one appearance for West Ham in the 2002-03 season thus far, in a 4–0 loss at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, he rejoined Sparta Prague on loan in December 2002, and eventually re-signed with them permanently the following summer. Labant finished his playing career with

Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Slovak league system, having participated in more seasons than any other club. Founded in ...

in the Slovak

Corgoň Liga The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Slovak football league system. It was formed in 1993 following the ...

International career

Labant made 27 appearances for the senior Slovakia national team. He made his debut against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in a

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

qualifier on 27 March 1999, a match in which he was sent off after receiving two yellow cards. Labant's final cap came against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

on 31 March 2004.

Honours

Slavia Prague *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 1961. The winner ...

: 1998–99 Sparta Prague *

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

: 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03 Individual * Slovak Footballer of the Year: 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labant, Vladimir 1974 births Living people Footballers from Čadca Slovak men's footballers Men's association football defenders Slovakia men's international footballers Slovak First Football League players Czech First League players Premier League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players MŠK Žilina players FK Dukla Banská Bystrica players FC VSS Košice players SK Slavia Prague players AC Sparta Prague players West Ham United F.C. players Admira Wacker players SK Rapid Wien players FC Spartak Trnava players Slovak expatriate men's footballers Slovak expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Slovak expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria