Fricis Laumanis (13 June 1910 in

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice-f ...

– 6 December 1981 in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

) was a Latvian football defender who was the most capped footballer from Liepāja for 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 ...

before

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 opposing ...

next to Rūdolfs Kronlaks and

Harijs Lazdiņš Harijs Lazdiņš (25 July 1910 in Liepāja – 23 August 1988 in Kingston, Ontario) was a Latvian football goalkeeper who played for Olimpija Liepāja and Latvia national football team in 1920s-1930s. Biography Lazdiņš made his debut for ...

Football career

Since his mid-teens Laumanis played with the youth squad of

Olimpija Liepāja Olimpija Liepāja was a Latvian football club. It was based in Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Region and the third-larg ...

and in 1927 he first played for the senior team in a year when Olimpija won its first

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 O ...

title, pushing out of the squad the club veteran Harijs Pikols.Harijs Pikols biography
/ref> Laumanis played his first match in Latvian Higher League on 22 May 1927 as Olimpija beat Amatieris with 5-2 goals. However it took Laumanis some more time to establish himself as a regular first squad player for Olimpija - in 1927 and 1928 he only occasionally was selected to play for the first team, really securing his position in 1929 when Olimpija won its third title. In the 1930s Olimpija rarely played without Laumanis in the squad, in several seasons he played in all league matches for the side. Therefore, it was quite a serious loss for the club when Laumanis was disqualified for a couple of months in the autumn of 1939 in form of a disciplinary measure, however after his return on field Laumanis once again became irreplaceable for Olimpija. Laumanis played with Olimpija until it was disbanded in 1940. Playing with Olimpija Laumanis won seven Latvian league titles and became a three-time winner of 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 ...

. Laumanis played 18 international matches for Latvia between 1930 and 1939. The last side that Fricis Laumanis played with in Latvia was Dinamo Liepāja in 1941, he did not play for Olimpija during the German occupation of Latvia in

. After the war Laumanis ended up in Germany which he left in 1949 for United States. In America Laumanis continued playing football with amateur clubs winning the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

state amateur football league title in 1952 playing with

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Latvian immigrants sports club, he also played with the United German Hungarian Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laumanis, Fricis Latvian footballers Latvia international footballers 1910 births 1981 deaths Sportspeople from Liepāja Association football forwards Latvian emigrants to the United States