Jānis Dreimanis

Jānis Dreimanis (born 1949) is a Latvian football manager and a former football defender. In his career he played 115 matches for Daugava Rīga scoring 4 goals.

Playing career

His first steps in football were made with Darba Rezerves in Riga where at the time worked the famous former Latvian footballer Alfons Jēgers. First senior club - Enerģija Rīga in the Latvian league, then he played for two years with ASK Rīga. In 1971 he joined Zvejnieks Liepāja which played on a higher level than his previous teams - in the Soviet second league. In 1972 he got transferred to Daugava Rīga.

His best season with Daugava was in 1974 when Daugava played in a the second division playoffs and Dreimanis. He had a strong shot and often scored goals from a big distance. He also played good with the head but he lacked speed to play on a higher level.

After five years with Daugava Dreimanis returned to the Latvian league where he played with Elektrons Rīga (later - Alfa). With Elektrons he won the Latvian Cup 3 times and also won the league 3 times.

Coaching career

His first club as manager was Alfa Rīga where he previously had been a player. In 1985 with Dreimanis in command Alfa won the Latvian league title. After five years as general manager of Alfa he has worked as coach of youth squads with Pārdaugava Rīga and Gemma Rīga.

Dreimanis has worked with all Latvia national youth football teams - from U16 to U21. In 2005 he was the general manager of Virslīga team JFC Olimps. As of January 2007, Dreimanis is the general manager of Latvia national under-16 football team.