Rūdolfs Voldemārs Kundrāts (born 13 August 1907 – 1954)"Rūdolfs Kundrāts"

Latvian Football Federation The Latvian Football Federation (LFF) ( lv, Latvijas Futbola federācija) is the governing body of football in Latvia with its headquarters located in the capital Rimi Sports Centre in Riga. Its activities include the organizing of the Latvian ...

Retrieved 23 April 2023 was a Latvian

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 ...

defender and official. Kundrāts first gained attention while with LNJS Riga in 1926. The following year he moved to LSB Riga, one of the four clubs in the newly founded

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is Op ...

. The first two years which Kundrāts spent with LSB were relatively successful for the club as it finished third in the league on both occasions. However, in 1929, LSB finished last in Virsliga. After the disappointing season, Kundrāts left LSB for

Riga Vanderer Riga Vanderer (sometimes written as Wanderer, in later years – Rīgas Vilki, also – RV) was a Latvian football club that was founded in 1927, disbanded in 1940, restored a year later and disbanded again in 1944. History Founding The decisi ...

. While with Vanderer, Kundrāts played his first game as a member of the

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 ...

. He had been called to the national team during his time with LSB yet had not appeared in a match. He made his début on 27 June 1930 as Latvia drew 1–1 with

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

. The next year he played six matches for Latvia, six more followed in 1932 and six again in 1933, for 19

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total. Kundrāts's last game for Latvia was 4 September 1933, a 2–2 draw against

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, securing a victory in the Baltic Cup. Kundrāts played with Riga Vanderer until 1935, remaining one of the club's best defenders. In 1932 and 1934, the team won silver in the Latvian league; in the same year, the side won the

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 ...

. After retiring, he gained recognition as one of the best

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in the country.

References

1907 births 1954 deaths Sportspeople from Riga Latvian men's footballers Footballers from Riga Men's association football defenders Latvia men's international footballers {{Latvia-footy-bio-stub