Pēteris Lauks

Infobox Football biography
playername= Pēteris Lauks


fullname = Pēteris Lauks
dateofbirth = birth date|1902|02|10
cityofbirth = Riga
countryofbirth = Russian Empire
dateofdeath = death date and age|1984|3|15|1902|2|10
cityofdeath = Kitchener
countryofdeath = Canada
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1921-1933
1934-1940
1940-1941
1941
1942-1944
clubs = Amatieris
RFK
RDKA Riga
Pērkons Riga
RFK
caps(goals) =
nationalyears = 1926–1940
nationalteam = Latvia
nationalcaps(goals) = 038 (0)

Pēteris Lauks (February 10, 1902 in Riga - March 15, 1984 in Kitchener, Canada) was a Latvian football defender, one of the most capped footballers for Latvia national football team before World War 2.

Biography

Lauks began playing football when being a refugee during World War I near Ufa in 1916. Upon returning to Latvia he was a long time player with Amatieris (from 1921 to 1933. His highest achievement with Amatieris was earning bronze medals in the Latvian Higher League in 1929 [ [http://foot.dk/Letklubres.asp?Klubid=47 Amatieris league statistics] ] . Lauks was one of the most reliable defenders in Latvian football of his era and he was called up to the national team a few times in 1926 and 1927, capping three matches in total.

When Lauks was already aged over thirty and his football career was presumably near its end he moved to RFK [ [http://www.periodika.lv/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:LowLevelEntityToSaveGifMSIE_LATVIAARCHL&Type=text/html&Locale=latvian-skin-custom&Path=SSP/1933/11/27&ChunkNum=-1&ID=Ar00400&PageLabel=4 Latvian football transfers] ] and made a sudden comeback. With RFK he won three Latvian league titles, became a two time winner of the Latvian Cup and at the age of 33 returned to the national team. Lauks played in the last international match for Latvia before its loss of independence on July 18, 1940, he was aged 38 at the time. In total between 1926 and 1940 he had played in 38 matches for Latvia - only Ēriks Pētersons, Jānis Lidmanis, Alberts Šeibelis, Vladimirs Bērziņš and Arnolds Tauriņš had more caps for Latvia.

During the first Soviet occupation of Latvia Lauks played with RDKA Riga, during the Nazi occupation - with Pērkons Riga and again with RFK. After World War II Lauks ended up in Germany where he continued playing football until the age of 46. Later he left Germany for Canada where he lived until his death.

References