ONE-TIME Albion academy player Kipras Kažukolovas was a league title winner with European Conference League opponents FK Kauno Žalgiris.

The Lithuanian central defender left home at 16 to sign for the Seagulls but was plagued by serious injury and was out of action for months at a time.

Kažukolovas is now playing for Kazakhstan Premier League side FC Astana after his hopes of reaching the English Premier League with Brighton were dashed in 2021.

Between 2021 and 2023 he made 49 appearances for Lithuanian top tier side Žalgiris, helping them win the league title and the country’s top cup competition in 2022.

He was in Vladimir Cheburin’s squad for their participation in the 2022-23 Champions League qualifiers and subsequent Europa League and UEFA Conference League games. But they finished bottom of the Conference League’s group H with only one win, two draws and three defeats. Kažukolovas played in a 2-2 draw with Basel for whom on-loan Albion striker Andi Zeqiri scored and went on for the second half in a 2-1 defeat to Slovan Bratislava.

Born on 20 November 2000 in Kursenai, Lithuania, on his arrival at Brighton he wasn’t the only Lithuanian at the club: Justinas Gasiūnas – also the goalkeeping coach for the Lithuanian national team – was an Albion coach for nearly eight years between 2014 and 2021.

The youngster’s early promise came to a grinding halt when, in 2017, he suffered a triple injury which in total took 18 months to recover from.

“I started my career at the club on a really high note,” he said.

“I hadn’t lost a single match with the youth team before the injury occurred. I tore my cruciate and collateral knee ligaments and also damaged my meniscus.”

When he was still in pain after eight months of rehabilitation, a follow-up test revealed he had re-torn his cruciate ligaments so further, more complex, surgery followed.

“At first, I was quite upset; I knew that living without sports would be incredibly difficult, especially since I hadn’t played for such a long time already,” he recounted in a 2020 Facebook interview. “It was hard to call my friends and parents to break the news. It really wasn’t easy—especially mentally.”

However, he added: “When I first arrived, I lived with host families; they were a huge help during that time, welcoming me warmly and looking after me.

“I have nothing but praise for Brighton FC – the atmosphere and friendliness are outstanding. They genuinely care about the community, as well as the players’ health and mental well-being. Everyone helps one another.”

In another interview, with delfi.lt, he said of the club: “The entire organisation is top notch. All the youth teams train alongside the first team at the same complex. Professionalism is evident both on and off the pitch. Chris Hughton was a warm, down-to-earth person who would interact even with the under-15 and under-16 players.”

And he added: “After my injury, I realised just how hard you have to work. It’s not as if you can just go for a casual run and become a star.”

Kažukolovas struck a realistic tone when asked in that Facebook interview to rate his chances of making it through to the first team. “Of course, the desire is there, but there’s no point in getting ahead of myself; a lot depends on how this season unfolds,” he said.

“I hope to go at least a few months without even the slightest injury so I can get back to my usual form. As for the next few years – who knows? I’m working hard and giving it my all.

“Generally speaking, only 1% of players from youth academies make it to the English Premier League. I think that’s a very small percentage, but there are plenty of examples where players I trained and played alongside in the youth team successfully made the step up to the first team and are performing really well.

“It all comes down to the work you put in and, of course, how you’re feeling and your physical condition.”

Kažukolovas clearly appreciated the opportunities to interact with the senior men’s squad, explaining: “Everyone is friendly. The dressing rooms are right next to each other, and we share facilities like the saunas and cold baths.

“The environment is truly excellent; top-level specialists monitor every move. I’m in a really good organisation with a professional structure and top-tier players.”

In June 2020, Kažukolovas was one of six academy players offered new deals by the Albion (Warren O’Hora, Adam Debois, Romeric Yapi, Ryan Longman and Danny Cashman were the others).

Reporting it for The Argus, Brian Owen said of Kažukolovas: “Fans will have seen little of this Lithuanian central defender, even though he joined the club almost three years ago now.

“His time with the Seagulls has been badly affected by injury but he was highly thought of in the under-18s and can also operate as a defensive central midfielder.” Alas at the end of the following season, Kažukolovas and Cashman were released along with Peter Gwargis, Rocco Rees and Stefan Vukoje.

Their coach, Mark Beard, told The Athletic’s Andy Naylor in May 2021 how those conversations were the toughest part of the job. “It’s tough at any level, 16s, 18s, because you are killing their dream,” he said. “We’ve got a very good exit policy with the players, try to look after them, get the best club for them.

“They’re in a great environment at Brighton, they are used to a lot of stuff given to them, so when they go to these other clubs it’s going to be a bit of an eyeopener to them.”

On his return to Lithuania, Kažukolovas was nursing a broken arm and played a handful of games with an amateur side called Catastrophe before signing for Žalgiris.

Since switching to Astana, he was part of the side that won the 2024 Kazakhstan League Cup, beating FC Zhenis 2-0 in the final.

For a player who has endured significant injury setbacks in his short career, his remarks in that 2020 Facebook interview are prophetic.

“You might think you’re a good player – you have a team, you’re earning money – but a single pivotal moment can change everything: a serious injury that might haunt you for the rest of your career,” he said.

“Then you have to rethink everything. I went through the same thing; when I first arrived and was highly rated, I felt great. But having lived through that whole experience, I’ve come to truly value the times when I can train at full intensity, play, and prove my worth.”