Eriks Petersons

Eriks Petersons
Position	Forward/Defense
Teams	RFK Riga
National team	Latvia
Born	October 7, 1909, Riga, Russian Empire
Died	June 29, 1987, Bellwood, IL, USA
Playing Career	1931 – 1935

Eriks Petersons (October 7, 1909 - June 29, 1987) was a Latvian hockey player. He played for the Latvian National Team at the 1932 European Championship and the 1933 World Championship. At the club level, Petersons was a member of RFK Riga.

He was also a very talented footballer. Between 1929–1939 he played 63 international matches and scored 21 goals for Latvian national team.

His talents were first noticed in 1928 when he moved from a third league team directly to the strongest football club in Latvia—Rīgas FK. He started as a center forward but soon changed his position on the field to central midfield in which he still retained his goal scoring abilities. All his career Pētersons played for a single club - RFK. He was the most capped Latvia international footballer before World War II—he participated in 63 of the total 99 matches Latvia played in this time period.

He was also the country's best international goalscorer of the 20th century. In 2007, Māris Verpakovskis overtook him in the all-time Latvia scoring list. His last football match in Latvia was in the 1939–1940 season against Olimpija Liepāja as he didn't play either during the first Soviet, or the German occupation of Latvia. After the war, Pētersons moved to the USA where he played for the Swedish football club Chicago Viking.

In 2006 Pētersons was selected as one of the 11 greatest Latvian footballers of the 20th century and by many he is considered the all-time best Latvian footballer.

Statistics

	Years	#	GP	Goals	Assists	Pts
European Championships	1932	1	4	2	0	2
World Championships	1933	1	3	0	0	0

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