Vīts Rimkus

Vīts Rimkus

Rimkus playing for FK Ventspils
Personal information
Full nameVīts Rimkus
Date of birth21 June 1973
Place of birthRiga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union (now Republic of Latvia)
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionStriker (retired)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1993Pārdaugava Rīga14(2)
1994DAG Rīga15(3)
1995Amstrig Riga26(8)
1995–1996FC Winterthur10(8)
1996–19971. FC Nuremberg13(2)
1997–1998FC Erzgebirge Aue10(0)
1998Skonto Riga15(11)
1999–2000FK Valmiera38(6)
2001–2004FK Ventspils100(70)
2005FC Rostov9(0)
2005–2009FK Ventspils109(66)
2009-2010FK Ekranas26(15)
2011–2012FC Jūrmala18(10)
2012FK Spartaks Jūrmala1(0)
2013FB Gulbene23(20)
2014AFA Olaine3(4)
National team‡
1995–2008Latvia73(11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 January 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 December 2011

Vīts Rimkus (born 21 June 1973 in Riga) is a Latvian former football striker. He last played for AFA Olaine in the Latvian First League. Rimkus is of Lithuanian descent.[1]

Club career

Vīts Rimkus started his career in 1993 with Pārdaugava Rīga, scoring twice in 14 league appearances. After a promising start youngster was transferred to DAG Rīga in 1994. He played 15 league games for the team and scored 3 goals that season. He kept changing clubs and the next season was spent with another club from Riga - Amstrig Rīga. The 1995 season turned out to be a loud start of his career as he managed to net 8 times in 26 matches.

Several offers to go abroad appeared and the player chose to move to Switzerland, signing a contract with FC Winterthur. Scoring 8 goals in 10 matches that season, he moved to Germany in 1996, signing for 1. FC Nuremberg. Despite the loud boom in Switzerland, Rimkus couldn't prove himself in Nurnberg, so he was given away to another German club - FC Erzgebirge Aue. 10 matches with no goals made him return to Latvia then.

In 1998 he was signed by Skonto Riga. After a really successful season the player was given away to FK Valmiera, where he played for 2 years, showing great performance. In 2001 FK Ventspils signed Rimkus for free and had him playing there until 2004. Scoring 70 goals in 100 matches, he attracted attention from many Russian clubs and was signed by FC Rostov in 2005.[2] Staying goalless in 9 games he was soon released and taken back by FK Ventspils. In the next 5 seasons, as a player of FK Ventspils, Rimkus scored 66 league goals in 109 matches. In 2009 he left the club after rumors about betting on his own team results, but nothing was proved in the end, and later it turned out to be a serious conflict with the board of the club.[3]

In 2010 Rimkus moved to Lithuania, signing a one-year contract with FK Ekranas.[4] He became the highest scorer of the team that season with 15 goals in 26 matches respectively, just one goal behind the top scorer of the league Povilas Lukšys.[5] After the season Rimkus moved to Cyprus, signing a half-season contract with the Cypriot Fourth Division club Finikas Ayias Marinas Chrysochous.[6] In July 2011 he returned to Latvia and signed a contract with the Latvian Higher League new-comers FC Jūrmala.[7] Despite joining in mid-season, with 10 goals in 18 games he became the team's highest scorer in the league. In March 2012 Rimkus was signed by the Latvian Higher League new-comers FK Spartaks Jūrmala, but after just playing 1 match he was released.[8] In January 2013 Rimkus joined the Latvian First League club FB Gulbene.[9] With 20 goals in 23 matches during the 2013 season Rimkus became his club's second best top scorer. Despite Rimkus scoring a goal in the promotion/relegation play-offs, his team lost to FS METTA/Latvijas Universitāte 5-2 on aggregate and failed to secure a place in the Latvian Higher League for the 2014 season.[10] Prior to the 2014 Latvian First League season Rimlus moved to AFA Olaine.[11] Aged 40, he scored four goals in the first three league appearances for the club but then left the team to turn to playing indoor football.

International career

He has played 73 international matches and scored 11 goals for the Latvia national team. He debuted in 1995, and played at Euro 2004.[12]

Playing career

1993 Latvia Pārdaugava Rīga Virsliga 1st level 14/2*
1994 Latvia DAG Rīga Virsliga 1st level 15/3*
1995 Latvia Amstrig Rīga Virsliga 1st level 26/8*
1995-96 Switzerland FC Winterthur Nationalliga B 2nd level 10/8*
1996-97 Germany 1. FC Nürnberg Regionalliga Süd 3rd level 13/2*
1997-98 Germany FC Erzgebirge Aue Regionalliga Nordost 3rd level 10/0*
1998 Latvia Skonto FC Virsliga 1st level 15/11*
1999 Latvia FK Valmiera Virsliga 1st level 20/3*
2000 Latvia FK Valmiera Virsliga 1st level 18/3*
2001 Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 28/18*
2002 Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 26/17*
2003 Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 21/20*
2004 Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 25/15*
2005 Russia FC Rostov Premier League 1st level 9/0*
Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 12/6*
2006 Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 27/9*
2007 Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 26/20*
2008 Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 25/14*
2009 Latvia FK Ventspils Virsliga 1st level 19/17*
209-2010 Lithuania FK Ekranas A Lyga 1st level 26/15*
2010-2011 Cyprus Finikas Ayias Marinas Chrysochous Cypriot Fourth Division 4th level ??/??
2011 Latvia FC Jūrmala Virsliga 1st level 18/10*
2012 Latvia FK Spartaks Jūrmala Virsliga 1st level 1/0*
2013 Latvia FB Gulbene 1. līga 2nd level 23/20*
2014 Latvia AFA Olaine 1. līga 2nd level 3/4*

* - played games and goals

Honours

  • 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • 2010
  • 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007
  • 2010
  • 2010
  • 2007, 2008
  • 2009

References

External links