Andreas Lipa

Andreas Lipa

Personal information
Date of birth	26 April 1971
Place of birth	Vienna, Austria
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Defender / Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1990–1992	First Vienna	32	(5)
1992	LASK Linz	9	(0)
1993–1994	Austria Salzburg	13	(1)
1994–1997	Austria Lustenau	93	(4)
1997–2002	Grazer AK	106	(10)
2002–2003	Skoda Xanthi	14	(0)
2003–2004	Port Vale	32	(2)
2004–2006	Austria Lustenau	42	(0)
2006–2008	Wiener Sport-Club	57	(6)
2008–2009	SV Wienerberg	24	(0)
Total		422	(28)
National team
2000	Austria	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Andreas Lipa (born 26 April 1971) is an Austrian former footballer who played as a Defender and midfielder.

During a 19-year career, Lipa was active as a professional in Austria, Greece and England, playing for First Vienna, LASK Linz, Austria Salzburg, Austria Lustenau, Grazer AK, Skoda Xanthi, Port Vale, Wiener Sport-Club and SV Wienerberg.

He also played at international level, earning one cap for the Austrian national team in 2000.

Club career

Born in Vienna, Lipa spent his early career in his native Austria with First Vienna, LASK Linz, Austria Salzburg, Austria Lustenau and Grazer AK.

Lipa left Austrian football, and after a trial with English club Portsmouth in January 2002,^[1] he joined up with Greek side Skoda Xanthi. Coach Nikos Karageorgiou led the Alpha Ethniki club to a 9th-place finish in 2002–03. In June 2003 he returned to England to sign with Port Vale of the Second Division.^[2] During a 5–1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Vale Park on 18 October 2003, Lipa made a racist comment to Plymouth player Jason Bent. Lipa wrote a letter of apology to Bent and said "he wished he could turn the clock back", but was docked a week's wages.^[3] Bent accepted the apology as Lipa claimed to have spoke "in the heat of the moment" and the club also issued a statement of apology, stating Lipa "is in no way racist".^[4] Despite this he was still charged by the Football Association.^[5] He scored twice in 33 games in 2003–04, finding himself sidelined from the first team after manager Brian Horton was replaced by Martin Foyle. He featured in two League One games for the "Valiants" in 2004–05, and after a spell plagued with injuries he was released in November 2004,^[6] returning to his native lands to re-sign with Austria Lustenau. He signed for Wiener Sport-Club in 2006 and the 37-year-old moved to SV Wienerberg in summer 2008. Despite being contracted to the club until 2010, he retired in June 2009.

International career

Lipa made one substitute appearance for the Austrian national side in April 2000 in a 2–1 defeat to Croatia, replacing Günther Neukirchner on 67 minutes. He was handed his debut by Otto Barić, his former manager at Austria Salzburg.

Personal life

Lipa's English wife, Sarah Adams-Lipa, publicly spoke out against the WAGs culture in British football.^[7] She also appeared on the British TV programme 'Come Dine with Me', appearing on fourth week of programmes of the first series in 2005 and winning the £1,000 first prize. In 2009, it was revealed that the couple had been defrauded by Texan swindler Allen Stanford.^[8]

References

1. "Pompey hand Austrian trial". BBC Sport. 24 January 2002. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
2. "Vale net Lipa". BBC. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
3. "Lipa sorry for racist slur". BBC Sport. 21 October 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
4. "Apology over racist comment". BBC Sport. 21 October 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
5. "FA awaits Lipa response". BBC Sport. 18 November 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
6. "Lipa time with Vale comes to end". BBC Sport. 15 November 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
7. Giles Hattersley (12 February 2006). "Footballers' wives, the new model". London: The Times. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
8. "Causa Stanford trifft auch österreichischen Fussballer". Boerse Express (in German). Retrieved 22 March 2012.

External links

• Andreas Lipa career statistics at Soccerbase