Alfons Jēgers (9December 191911June 1998) was a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player. He is recognized by the USSR for his achievements in both sports, receiving the title of

Master of Sports Unified All-Russian Sports Classification () is a system which regulates the Russian physical education system requirements for both athletes and coaches. History In the Soviet period Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR () exist ...

in 1950 and Merited Master of Sports in 1951 for ice hockey and football, respectively.

Biography

Jēgers came from a poor family and in the first years he played football barefoot with a "ball" made from papers and old clothes in the street. At the age of 16 he caught the attention of the

trade-union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

football team. He soon emerged as a very talented footballer and his popularity was on the rise as he scored the single late goal in the victory for his team against the renowned

Rīgas FK The Riga Football Club (''Rīgas futbola klubs'' or ''Rīgas Futbolklubs'', RFK or Rīgas FK) was a Latvian football club which was founded on December 14, 1923 in Riga. It was the strongest and most popular Latvian football club in the 1920s an ...

. In 1939, Jēgers played his single international football match for Latvia. In 1940. when Latvian sports life was reorganized according to

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

standards, Jēgers played for

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga () is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It most recently was a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LBTU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a D ...

with which he went on a tourney to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

. After the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, Nazis sent him to

Stutthof concentration camp Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...

where Jēgers caught

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

and was close to death. However, he survived and after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he returned to both football and ice hockey. From 1946 to 1948, he played football with

, when it was merged with

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 kno ...

he became a player of Daugava. From 1950 to 1952, he was the captain of Daugava. In 1950, he was given the title

in hockey. In 1951, he was awarded the title Merited Master of Sports and was recognized as the best goal scorer for the club in the

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (), served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and g ...

. Jēgers had to retire from football when, after the 1952 season, Daugava was relegated from the top league and in the whole season Jēgers hadn't scored a single goal. In ice hockey Jēgers made a career only after World War II when he became a player with

Dinamo Rīga Dinamo Riga () is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It most recently was a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LBTU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a ...

. He played hockey on a professional level until 1957, with the exception of the 1951-52 season. He later worked in coaching.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jegers, Alfons Latvian men's footballers Latvia men's international footballers Latvian ice hockey players Soviet men's footballers Soviet ice hockey players 1919 births 1998 deaths FC Daugava Riga players Dinamo Riga players Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Men's association football forwards