Voldemārs Plade was a Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 forward and manager, the most notable of four Plade brothers who played for Latvia national football team

Latvia national football team

The Latvian national football team is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia and represents the country in international football competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships. So far, they have never qualified for a FIFA World...

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Biography

Voldemārs Plade (sometimes also called Valdis Plade) was one of five football playing brothers. In his youth he played with Union Riga

Union Riga

Union Riga was a football club established in Riga in 1907. It was the winner of the Riga football league in 1910. In the period of independence of Latvia between the World wars Union played in the Latvian Higher League for several years...

 and Āgenskalns

Agenskalns

Āgenskalns — a district in Riga, located on the left bank of the Daugava, an old neighbourhood, mainly built in the late 19th - early 20th century.-Notable places in Agensklans:*Agenskalns Market - Built in 1911 - 1914...

 sports club; but he became widely known in 1921 when playing for Ķeizarmežs

Keizarmežs

Ķeizarmežs was a Latvian football club which was founded by the Riga German community in 1909. It was one of the founders of the first football organization in Latvia - Riga Football League .-Team history:...

. Alongside his brothers Kurts Plade, Teodors Plade and Alfrēds Plade, who all also played with Ķeizarmežs, Plade won Latvian league titles in 1922 and 1923. Unlike his brothers, Plade proved to be a long-lasting force in Latvian football and he was a national team regular from 1923 to 1929, capping 16 international appearances and scoring 9 goals. In a match against Lithuania

Lithuania national football team

The national football team of Lithuania is under the auspices of the Lithuanian Football Federation. It played its first match in 1923. In 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1990 and played their first match as a new nation against Georgia on...

 at the 1929 Baltic Cup Plade scored three goals for Latvia from passes from the rising star Ēriks Pētersons

Eriks Petersons

Ēriks Pētersons was Latvian footballer and hockey player. In time between 1929–1939 he played 63 international matches and scored 21 goal for Latvia national team. He also played in Latvian national ice hockey team, where he appeared in 8 matches...

. Plade represented Latvia at the 1924 Summer Olympics

1924 Summer Olympics

The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

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After the dissolution of Ķeizarmežs in 1925, Plade joined RFK

Rigas FK

Riga FK was a Latvian football club which was founded December 14, 1923. It was the strongest and most popular Latvian football club in 1920s and 1930s, it was also the base team for Latvia national football team in its early years...

 with which he played for two years. After two years with RFK Plade joined the newly founded Riga Vanderer

Riga Vanderer

Riga Vanderer was a Latvian football club that was founded in 1927, disbanded in 1940, restored a year later and disbanded again in 1944.-Founding:...

 with which he occasionally played until 1935. Plade was known for his brilliant technique and goal scoring.

As early as 1933 Plade also took up coaching, working with V. Ķuze, Universitātes Sports, Riga Vanderer

Riga Vanderer

Riga Vanderer was a Latvian football club that was founded in 1927, disbanded in 1940, restored a year later and disbanded again in 1944.-Founding:...

 and LAS Riga, from at least 1936 he also appeared regularly as a football referee.

In 1939 Plade as a Baltic German

Baltic German

The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...

 repatriated to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. The last known information about him is his visit to Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

 in December 1942 before returning to the Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

 of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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