10 Footballers Who Refused To Play

6. Aleksandrs Kolinko

William Gallas Arsenal
Салов Глеб / CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL

The very narrow history of Latvian footballers in the English game is not exactly glittering, it's fair to say.

Outside the mazy dribbles of pint-sized Southampton winger Marian Pahars, the cultural contributions of the Baltic nation's other high profile exports amount to Igor Stepanovs helping lead Arsenal to a heroic 6-1 defeat to title rivals Manchester United, and Crystal Palace stopper Alex Kolinko being punched in the actual face by Trevor Francis - his own manager.

The latter incident occurred when, whilst warming the bench during a Division 1 match against Bradford, the Latvian shot-stopper burst into laughter as his own team conceded a soft goal. Furious, Francis apparently turned around and bashed Kolinko on the conk. "My nose is very sore and bruised," said the Latvian afterwards.

Being the victim of a touchline assault presaged Kolinko's insubordination somewhat. In February 2003, the goalie refused to participate in Palace's game against Leicester. A dispute over expenses, and the previous tussle, were cited as reasons for the ex-Skonto Riga man's no-show. Palace chairman Simon Jordan witheringly exclaimed, "there is no condoning his actions. None." In one of the least surprising transfers ever, Kolinko soon found himself shipped off to FC Rostov.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.