Fricis Kaņeps (10 August 1916, in

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

– 30 November 1981, in

Staicele Staicele (; ; ) is a town in Limbaži Municipality, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is the birthplace of Latvian conductor Jānis Zirnis. The area of Staicele has been inhabited only since the 19th century when a tavern and ferryman's hous ...

) 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 ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He was one of the most powerful Latvian forwards of the 1930s who didn't have a very good technique but compensated it mostly by his physical strength. In earlier years when still playing in Ventspils Kaņeps also played in defence.

Biography

Fricis Kaņeps was the most notable footballer from

in the era between the two world wars. The first club that he played for was

Ventspils Spars Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

, one of the strongest sides in

Kurzeme Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

at the time. Before the 1936 he moved to

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

to play with the best football club in Latvia outside

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Olimpija Liepāja Olimpija Liepāja was a Latvian football club. It was based in Liepāja and founded in 1922. It won the Latvian Top League on seven occasions between 1927 and 1939, becoming the first non-Riga team to win the title. Otto Fischer moved in 1936 ...

. This was a serious step in forward for Kaņeps and the year which he spent with Olimpija was a very productive one. Olimpija won the

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Footbal ...

title and Kaņeps was the club's best goalscorer with 12 league goals (just one less than the overall leader

Aleksandrs Vanags Aleksandrs Vanags (21 March 1919 – 1986), also known as Alexandre Vanags, was a Latvian football and basketball player. At international level, he represented the Latvia national football team, after World War II he played football in France. ...

). After just one season with Olimpija Kaņeps moved to

where he joined the strongest local side - RFK. In the first year with RFK Kaņeps scored 11 league goals, a tally which he could have improved had he not gotten ill before the end of the season. Kaņeps played with RFK until its dissolution in 1940. Over the four years with the club he won his second Latvian league title and became a two-time winner of the

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company ...

, scoring 39 league goals over 3 seasons. In addition to good success with the club since 1937 he became a regular selection for the

Latvia national football team The Latvia national football team () represents Latvia in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FIF ...

. He made his international début in a 1937 friendly against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

alongside his main competitor as the best goalscorer in the Latvian league

.Latvia - Germany 1:3!
/ref> In 1937 Kaņeps was a member of the Latvian team that won the Baltic Cup, he also scored several goals for Latvia in world cup qualifiers against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. In 1940 after RFK was disbanded Kaņeps played with

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 ...

, the next year - with RGK Riga. In 1942 he played with the reformed RFK. In 1945 Kaņeps was arrested and deported to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. After his return to Latvia he lived and played football in

where he lived until his death in 1981.

Honours

Club Titles *

: 1936 (Olimpija Liepāja), 1940 (RFK) *

: 1937 (RFK), 1939 (RFK) National Team * Baltic Cup: 1937

References

1916 births 1981 deaths Latvian men's footballers Latvia men's international footballers Sportspeople from Ventspils Men's association football forwards Soviet men's footballers {{Latvia-footy-bio-stub