Jānis Lidmanis (18 January 1910 – 29 November 1986) was a

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 ...

n footballer and basketballer.

Career

In the 1930s he was the captain of

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 ...

for which he made 55 appearances (second result in the pre-war Latvian team) and scored 2 goals. Lidmanis played of the football club Rīgas FK, the top

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 ...

club of that era, and together with

Ēriks Pētersons Ēriks Pētersons (1909 in Riga – 1987 in United States) was Latvian footballer and hockey player. Between 1929 and 1939 he played 63 international matches and scored 21 goals for Latvia national team. He also played in Latvian national i ...

and

Sergejs Maģers Sergejs Maģers (1912–1989) was a Latvian footballer who played for Latvia national football team in late 1930s. Maģers as a footballer was found by Rīgas FK in Rēzekne and soon he was invited to play in the Latvian national team. Sergejs M ...

he made up the center midfield in the national team. One of his strengths was in the hands (he also played basketball and even played for Latvia in

EuroBasket 1935 The 1935 FIBA European Championship, commonly called EuroBasket 1935, was the first FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA, as well as a test event preceding the first Olympic basketball tournament at the 1936 Summer Oly ...

), he also performed corner-kicks. In 1944 Lidmanis together with his family emigrated to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and in 1949 to Australia. He died in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 29 November 1986.

References

Latvian footballers Latvian men's basketball players Latvia international footballers 1910 births 1986 deaths FIBA EuroBasket-winning players Footballers from Riga Association football midfielders Latvian World War II refugees Basketball players from Riga Latvian emigrants to Australia {{Latvia-footy-bio-stub