Nauris Bulvītis

Nauris Bulvītis (born 15 March 1987) is a Latvian footballer who plays as a defender for FK Spartaks Jūrmala.

Nauris Bulvītis
Nauris Bulvītis warming up for Latvia
Personal information
Full name Nauris Bulvītis
Date of birth (1987-03-15) 15 March 1987
Place of birth Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Latvia)
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Spartaks Jūrmala
Number 16
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007 Daugava Daugavpils 7 (0)
2008 Šiauliai 21 (1)
2009–2010 Tranzit 17 (1)
2009–2010 → Inverness CT (loan) 32 (2)
2010 Ventspils 10 (0)
2011 Spartak Trnava 0 (0)
2011–2013 Spartaks Jūrmala 56 (9)
2013 Skonto Riga 15 (3)
2014 Aarau 22 (0)
2015–2016 Spartaks Jūrmala 37 (2)
2016–2017 Plymouth Argyle 18 (2)
2017–2018 Ventspils 32 (5)
2019 Rīgas FS 20 (2)
2020– Spartaks Jūrmala 0 (0)
International career‡
2006–2007 Latvia U19
2007–2008 Latvia U21
2012– Latvia 19 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:58, 10 May 2020 (UTC)[1]
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Club career

Bulvītis started his professional career in 2007 with Daugava Daugavpils. Having played there for one season, he made 7 league appearances and scored no goals. In 2008, he had a one-year spell in the Lithuanian A Lyga with Šiauliai, playing 21 games and scoring once. In 2009 Bulvītis returned to his homeland, signing a contract with Tranzit. That season he played 17 matches and scored 1 goal in the Latvian Higher League, before being loaned to the Scottish First Division side Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He signed on loan until January 2010 after a successful trial spell at the club.[2] He was recommended to join the club by fellow Latvian and former Inverness defender Pāvels Mihadjuks.[3] Bulvītis made his debut for Caley Thistle in a Scottish League Cup match against Annan Athletic.[4] He scored his first goal against Stranraer in the League cup. FC Tranzit permitted Bulvītis to extend his loan spell at Caley until the end of the season.[5] Bulvītis left Inverness at the end of the 2009–10 season.[6]

Bulvitis signed for the Latvian Higher League club Ventspils before the start of the Eurocups. He played 10 matches for Ventspils, scoring no goals. In January 2011 he went on trial with the Slovak Super Liga club Spartak Trnava and signed a two and a half-year contract with them.[7] Because of a long-term injury he was released by the Slovak side in the middle of 2011. Bulvītis then returned to Latvia, joining Spartaks Jūrmala. During three seasons with the club he scored nine goals in 56 league matches. In July 2013 Bulvītis joined Skonto Riga on a three-year contract.[8] He played 15 league matches and scored three goals for the club before leaving the club in January 2014 due to a long-term delay of salary payment.[9] On 24 January 2014 Bulvītis signed a one-year contract with the Swiss Super League club Aarau with an option to extend it for another season.[10] In April 2014 his contract was extended for another year.[11] During his first season in the Swiss Super League Bulvītis played 18 matches, scoring no goals.

In February 2016, Bulvītis went on trial with Kazakhstan Premier League side Shakhter Karagandy.[12]

On 29 June 2016, Plymouth Argyle confirmed Bulvītis as a new signing.[13] Bulvitis had scored all 3 of his Argyle goals in the month of August, netting his first in a 2–1 win away to Notts County, quickly followed by the only goal in a 1–0 win away to Blackpool, and then another goal in a 4–1 EFL Trophy game at home to Newport County.[14] This early season run of form saw Bulvītis make an appearance as an auxiliary striker in Argyle's 1–0 defeat to Liverpool in an FA Cup third round replay. Bulvītis' back half of the season was plagued with injury problems as he eventually lost his centre half place to January signing Jakub Sokolík. At the end of a promotion winning 2016–17 season, Bulvītis was released by Argyle along with eight other professionals.[15]

In September 2017, Bulvītis re-signed for Virslīga side Ventspils in his native Latvia, making 6 appearances between then and the end of the season in November as Ventspils came 4th in the Latvian Higher League on goal difference.[16] Finishing 4th saw Ventspils qualify for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, with Bulvītis not featuring in their first qualifying round 8-3 aggregate win over Albanian side Luftëtari, but featuring off the bench in both legs of Ventspils' second qualifying round 3-1 aggregate defeat to French Ligue 1 side Girondins Bordeaux.[17]

On 27 December 2018, Bulvītis signed with Rīgas FS for the 2019 season.[18] In January 2020, Bulvītis returned to FK Spartaks Jūrmala.[19]

International career

Bulvītis has been capped internationally at under-19 and under-21 levels. In 2012 Latvia national football team coach Aleksandrs Starkovs called him up for the 2012 Baltic Cup. Nauris played 2 matches, helping Latvia win the tournament.[20] Bulvītis scored his first international goal on 6 September 2013 in a 2–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match victory over Lithuania.[21] In May 2014 he helped Latvia win the Baltic Cup for the second time in a row, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Lithuania in the final of the tournament.[22] As of March 2015 Bulvītis has played 19 international matches and scored two goals for Latvia.

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.6 September 2013Latvia Skonto Stadium, Riga Lithuania1–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.31 May 2014Latvia Daugava Stadium, Liepāja Lithuania1–01–02014 Baltic Cup

Honours
Inverness CT
FK Ventspils
Skonto Riga
Plymouth Argyle
Latvia National Team

References
  1. "N. BULVĪTIS". Soccerway.
  2. "Caley Thistle sign trialist duo". BBC Sport. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  3. "Nauris Bulvītis parakstījis līgumu ar "Inverness C.T." – Leģionāri – Futbols –". Sportacentrs.com. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  4. "Inverness CT 4–0 Annan Athletic". BBC Sport. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  5. "Nauris Bulvītis pagarinājis līgumu ar "Inverness" – Futbols –". Sportacentrs.com. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  6. "TERRY LETS 6 GO". ictfc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  7. "Bulvītis turpinās karjeru slovāku "Spartak"; Grebis un Rimkus pārbaudās Kiprā – Leģionāri – Futbols –". Sportacentrs.com. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  8. "Bulvītis pievienojies Rīgas "Skonto"". sportacentrs.com. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  9. "Alans Sineļņikovs un Nauris Bulvītis pamet komandu". skontofc.com. 11 January 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  10. "Bulvītis oficiāli pievienojies Šveices klubam "Aarau"". sportacentrs.com. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  11. "Bulvītis uz gadu pagarina līgumu ar Šveices "Aarau"". sportacentrs.com. 13 April 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  12. "ШАХТЕР ПРОСМАТРИВАЕТ ИНОСТРАННЫХ ФУТБОЛИСТОВ". shahter.kz (in Russian). FC Shakhter Karagandy. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  13. Wood, Michael. "The Time is Nau". Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  14. "Nauris Bulvitis one of the victims of Plymouth Argyle's strength in depth". The Plymouth Evening Herald. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  15. "Retained List". Plymouth Argyle. 10 May 2017.
  16. "Centre-back Nauris Bulvitis finally finds new club after his Plymouth Argyle exit". The Herald (Plymouth). 19 September 2017.
  17. "UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE". Soccerway.
  18. RFS papildina sastāvu ar pieredzējušo aizsargu Bulvīti, tvnet.lv, 27 December 2019
  19. Nauris Bulvītis at Soccerway
  20. "Spartaka kapteiņa Baltijas debija". Sporto.lv. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  21. "Latvijas futbola izlase momentiem bagātā spēlē pārspēj Lietuvu". sportacentrs.com. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  22. "Latvijas izlase otro reizi pēc kārtas iegūst Baltijas kausu". sportacentrs.com. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
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