Mihails Smorodins (eng. Mikhail Smorodin, рус. Михаил Смородин, born 1952 in

Saldus Saldus (; german: Frauenburg) is a Latvian town located in Courland ( lv, Kurzeme) and is the main town, and the central location in Saldus Municipality. The name Saldus has been noted in historical sources as far back as the mid-13th century, but ...

) is a former Latvian football striker, one of the best goalscorers in the history of the Latvian league.

Playing career

Smorodins was the best goalscorer in the Latvian league for four seasons in a row in mid 1970s when playing with Starts Brocēni (78 goals in four seasons). Only after such a performance he caught the attention of

Daugava Rīga FK Daugava Rīga was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. They played in the Latvian Higher League. The last manager of the team was Armands Zeiberliņš. From the club's foundation in 2003 till 2009 the club was k ...

scouting and was invited to the masters team. In Daugava he played for four seasons in which he scored 101 goal, in 1979—43 goals. In 1981, he played with

FC Fakel Voronezh FC Fakel Voronezh (russian: Футбольный клуб "Факел" Воронеж) is a Soviet and Russian professional football club based in Voronezh. Founded in 1947, the club has played in the Soviet Top League and the Russian Premier Le ...

in the first Soviet league and scored 8 goals in 30 matches. After return from

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

Smorodins played with Rīgas audums, then he switched to referee work and was one of the top referees in the Latvian league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smorodins, Mihails 1952 births Latvian men's footballers Russian men's footballers Soviet men's footballers FC Daugava Riga players FC Fakel Voronezh players Living people Men's association football forwards