Jan Laštůvka

Infobox Football biography
playername = Jan Laštůvka


fullname = Jan Laštůvka
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|7|7
cityofbirth = Havířov
countryofbirth = Czechoslovakia
height = Height|m=1.91
currentclub = West Ham United
clubnumber = 24
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears = 1992–1999
youthclubs = MFK Karviná
years = 1999–2000
2000–2004
2004–
2006–2007
2007–2008
2008–2009
clubs = MFK Karviná
FC Baník Ostrava
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
→ Fulham (loan)
→ VfL Bochum (loan)
→ West Ham United (loan)
caps(goals) = 03 (0)
79 (0)
37 (0)
08 (0)
25 (0)
0 (0)
nationalyears = 1998–1999
1999–2000
2000–2001
2002
2002–2003
nationalteam = Czech Republic U-16
Czech Republic U-17
Czech Republic U-18
Czech Republic U-20
Czech Republic U-21
nationalcaps(goals) = 04 (0)
10 (0)
03 (0)
01 (0)
17 (0)
pcupdate = May 18, 2008
ntupdate = August 5, 2007

Jan Laštůvka (born July 7, 1982 in Havířov) is a Czech football goalkeeper who currently plays for West Ham United.

At Fulham FC

Laštůvka started his career at Czech side MFK Karviná. He later moved to FC Baník Ostrava for four years. The next step in his career was Ukrainian top club Shakhtar Donetsk. He played a couple of Champions-League and UEFA Cup-matches with this time.

He joined Fulham on August 31, 2006, just prior to the close of the transfer window. He made his Fulham league debut on 2 December 2006 in a 2-0 loss against Blackburn Rovers.

On 1 January 2007 he came on as a second half substitute for the injured Antti Niemi against Watford, where throughout the game the Fulham fans cheered his every kick or save, as they feared he would make a mistake and cost them the game. The game ended 0-0. He left Fulham after manager Lawrie Sanchez decided not to pay the asking fee Shakhtar wanted for Laštůvka. [cite web|title=Unhappy Lastuvka leaves Fulham|work=SkySports.com
url=http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=466707&CPID=8&clid=54&lid=&title=Unhappy+Lastuvka+leaves+Fulham | accessdate=May 14 | accessyear=2007]

At VfL Bochum

According to the Ukrainian League regulations there have to be four domestic players on the field. Because of this rule they didn't want to take Laštůvka back. So he went on a loan to German side VfL Bochum until the end of the 2007-2008 season to replace his compatriot Jaroslav Drobný, who left the club for Hertha BSC Berlin.

Laštůvka started the season as first keeper. But after some mistakes his position was threatened by the reserve keepers. After an injury third keeper René Renno got his place. Ironically second goalkeeper Philipp Heerwagen had a minor injury at that time. Renno started quite well but also made some mistakes before the winter break. So coach Marcel Koller claimed that all three keepers started at zero in the preparations for the second season half. After the winter break Laštůvka was first keeper again and started with a very good match against Werder Bremen which was rewarded with a nomination in the 'Team of the Day' by Germany's leading football magazine Der Kicker. However, at the end of the season Bochum was interested to sign him but due to the high transfer fee (4 million Euro) they decided to sign the Portuguese keeper Fernandes from PAOK F.C..

West Ham United

On the 3 August 2008 Lastuvka signed for West Ham on a years long loan deal. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/7540495.stm Lastuvka joins West Ham on loan] ]

Lastuvka made his debut for West Ham United in a Carling Cup 3rd Round tie away defeat at Watford on 23 September 2008. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/7626781.stm Watford 1-0 West Ham] ]

Trivia

He studied philosophy for a time at the University of Kiev.

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=39565|name=Jan Laštůvka