Aleksejs Karlis Auziņš (7 August 1910 in

Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duch ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

– 25 April 1997 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

) was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and also an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player.

Football playing career

Auziņš was born in the provincial city of

, but he made his first serious steps in football in

where he joined the Latvia Higher League side Amatieris in 1927. He played with Amatieris until 1930, but in 1931 he joined Riga Vanderers, a much stronger club than Amatieris whose days of glory were already in the past. In the early 1930s Auziņš became a candidate for

Latvia national football team The Latvia national football team ( lv, Latvijas futbola izlase) represents Latvia in international football and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FIF ...

, but he did not play for it until 1935. He played with Vanderers until 1939 and the biggest achievements were two second-place finishes in the Latvian league – in 1932 and 1934. In 1936 Auziņš was a member of the Vanderers squad that won the

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Latvian Football (soccer), football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Game Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due ...

(in the first year when its name had been changed from

Riga Football Cup Riga Football Cup was a knockout tournament held in Latvian football between 1925 and 1936. In 1937 it was replaced by the Latvian Football Cup. Clubs from other cities than Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest ...

) and another time in 1938. With the Latvia national team Auziņš played seven matches in 1935. Auziņš played with Riga Vanderers until 1939, then retired from active football only to return to it during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1941 during the German occupation of Latvia he played with the Students football club, and from 1942 to 1944 – with US Riga.

Ice hockey playing career

Auziņš played all of his career with the hockey team of US Riga winning three Latvian league titles – in 1937, 1940 and 1942. He played with

Latvia national ice hockey team The Latvian men's national ice hockey team represents Latvia in international ice hockey. The team is ranked 10th in the world by IIHF as of 2019. The team is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Their best ever finish at the World Ch ...

at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

Coaching career

Auziņš was the director of the Lokomotīve football stadium in Riga for more than three decades – from 1947 to 1980 but in addition to it he also worked as a football and ice hockey coach. In football, he worked with the senior squad of Lokomotive Riga (from 1956 to 1959) and with its youth squad. The most notable footballers whom he coached include Vilnis Straume and

Leonards Andžāns Leonards may refer to: Places ;United States * Leonards, Florida * Leonards, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Leonards Point, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community See also *Leonard (disambiguation) *St Leonards (disambiguation) St Leona ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Auzins, Aleksejs 1910 births 1997 deaths Association football midfielders Ice hockey players at the 1936 Winter Olympics Latvia international footballers Latvian football managers Latvian footballers Latvian sports coaches Latvian sportspeople Olympic ice hockey players of Latvia Sportspeople from Jelgava