| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1981-06-07)7 June 1981 (age 44) | ||
| Place of birth | Liepāja,Latvian SSR,Soviet Union (nowRepublic of Latvia) | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Liepājas Metalurgs | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2003 | Liepājas Metalurgs | 96 | (40) |
| 2004 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 8 | (0) |
| 2005 | Venta | 6 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Liepājas Metalurgs | 65 | (34) |
| 2008 | De Graafschap | 5 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Liepājas Metalurgs | 32 | (24) |
| 2009–2012 | Inter Baku | 73 | (36) |
| 2012–2013 | Liepājas Metalurgs | 19 | (9) |
| 2013 | Pro Duta | 20 | (15) |
| 2014 | Neman Grodno | 9 | (1) |
| 2014–2017 | Ventspils | 75 | (35) |
| 2017–2018 | Liepāja | 28 | (14) |
| Total | 436 | (208) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003–2017 | Latvia | 51 | (9) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ģirts Karlsons (born 7 June 1981) is a Latvian former professionalfootballer who played as aforward.
As a youth player Karlsons played for his local clubLiepājas Metalurgs, being taken to the first team in 1998, at the age of 17. He spent the next six seasons with the club, becoming the second top scorer of theLatvian Higher League in 2003 with 26 goals, completing two hat-tricks during the season.[1] All in all he played 96 matches for his local club, scoring 40 goals. After these bright appearances he had impressed clubs abroad, and in January 2004 Karlsons went on a month-long trial with theRussian Premier League clubShinnik Yaroslavl. Afterwards he signed a three-year contract with them.[2]
However, his spell there was not as successful as expected and was very short. After just one season, during which he played only 8 league matches without scoring goals, Karlsons returned to the Latvian Higher League, signing with the newly promoted, ambitious clubVenta Kuldiga in 2005.[3] However, the club struggled financially and after just five matches had to let some of their players go, including Karlsons,[4] who returned to his hometown club, Liepājas Metalurgs later that year. He spent the next three seasons there, once again showing great performance. He scored a hat-trick in the2005 season, and he also scored in theLatvian Cup final on 25 September 2005, which Metalurgs lost 2–1 to Venta Kuldīga.[5]
Another hat-trick came in the2006 season, which Karlsons finished as the second top scorer with 14 goals. In the Latvian Cup he scored a hat-trick in the 6–1 semi-final victory overDižvanagi Rēzekne and then scored in the final, which the club won 2–1 overSkonto Riga.[6] In December 2006 Karlsons was named the runner-up of the Latvian Player of the Year Award by theLatvian Football Federation behind the winnerAleksandrs Koliņko, who that time was the first-choice keeper forRubin Kazan in the Russian Premier League.[7] His contract with Metalurgs expired in July 2007 and it was not renewed. Player was then linked with the EnglishChampionship clubBristol City, before going on trial withSouthampton.[8] In January 2008 he had a two-day trial withWolverhampton Wanderers.[9] Karlsons then had trials in the Netherlands withZwolle andDe Graafschap,[10] and on 8 February 2008 he signed for De Graafschap, which that time competed in theEredivisie.[11] Karlsons returned to Liepājas Metalurgs in the middle of 2008, because of limited game time. After some impressive matches there he attracted interest from several European clubs, but finally settled down in Azerbaijan, signing a contract withInter Baku in the summer of 2009.[12]
The next season, he became the champion of Azerbaijan. He scored 8 goals in 19 matches for Inter in his first season there, but the next two were not that successful anymore and in July 2012 he was released. In August 2012 Karlsons once again returned to Liepājas Metalurgs.[13] The 2012 season saw Karlsons scoring 9 goals in 19 league matches. Even though Metalurgs expressed their interest to keep him at the club, Karlsons chose to continue his career abroad, joining theIndonesian Premier League clubPro Duta in March 2013.[14] On 14 April 2013, he scored his first two goals in a 3–0 league victory overBontang.[15] Throughout the season Karlsons scored 15 league goals for the club, completing two hat-tricks.[16] He left Pro Duta at the end of his contract in November 2013. In February 2014 Karlsons went on trial with theBelarusian Premier League clubNeman Grodno alongside his international fellowIgors Tarasovs and signed a contract with the club on 26 February 2014.[17] He scored his first Belarusian Premier League goal in a 3–2 victory overDnepr Mogilev on 19 April 2014.[18] Karlsons left Neman on 9 June 2014 due to family reasons and returned to Latvia.[19] On 3 July 2014, Karlsons signed a contract with the Latvian Higher League title holdersFK Ventspils.[20] He helped the club retain the title for the second year in a row.[21]
Karlsons leftFK Liepāja at the end of 2018.[22]
Karlsons played for theLatvia-U21.[23] Karlsons made his first appearance forLatvia national team on 20 December 2003 as a second-half substitute againstKuwait inCyprus, which Latvia lost 2–0.[24] On 28 December 2005 he scored in Latvia's 2–1 win overOman national football team to reach the final of theKing's Cup inThailand.[25] Latvia won the cup, beatingKorea DPR 2–1 in the final on 30 December with Karlsons again scoring.[26] Currently Karlsons has 50 international caps under his belt, having scored 9 goals.[27] He played in an international game on 9 February 2011, a 2–1 victory in a friendly match againstBolivia, coming on as a late substitute, which would be his last match for the national team until late 2016.[28] Karlsons was recalled to the national team in the autumn of 2016, earning his 50th cap on 7 October 2016 after coming on as a substitute in the 0:2 home loss against theFaroe Islands in a2018 World Cup qualifier.[29]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 26 December 2005 | Surakul Stadium,Phuket,Thailand |  North Korea | 1–1 | Drew | 2005 King's Cup | |||||
| 2. | 28 December 2005 | Surakul Stadium,Phuket,Thailand |  Oman | 1–2 | Won | 2005 King's Cup | |||||
| 3. | 30 December 2005 | Surakul Stadium,Phuket,Thailand | North Korea | 1–2 | Won | 2005 King's Cup | |||||
| 4. | 7 October 2006 | Skonto Stadium,Riga,Latvia |  Iceland | 4–0 | Won | Euro 2008 qual. | |||||
| 5. | 17 November 2007 | Skonto Stadium,Riga,Latvia |  Liechtenstein | 4–1 | Won | Euro 2008 qual. | |||||
| 6. | 6 February 2008 | Boris Paichadze National Stadium,Tbilisi,Georgia |  Georgia | 1–3 | Won | Friendly | |||||
| 7. | 6 September 2008 | Sheriff Stadium,Tiraspol,Moldova |  Moldova | 1–2 | Won | 2010 World Cup qual. | |||||
| 8. | 28 March 2009 | Stade Josy Barthel,Luxembourg City,Luxembourg |  Luxembourg | 0–4 | Won | 2010 World Cup qual. | |||||
| 9. | 3 March 2010 | Estádio 11 de Novembro,Luanda,Angola |  Angola | 1–1 | Drew | Friendly | |||||
| Correct as of 7 October 2015[30] | |||||||||||
Liepājas Metalurgs
Inter Baku
Ventspils
Latvia
Individual
