Vladimirs Bērziņš 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...

 midfielder and manager, one of the most capped footballers in pre-war Latvia.

Biography

Bērziņš began playing football with the mostly German

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...

 sports club 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...

 in 1925. He was selected to play for the 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...

 for the 26 August 1925 friendly match against Estonia

Estonia national football team

The Estonia national football team represents Estonia in international association football. Team members are selected by the head coach of Estonian Football Association . Estonia play their home matches at the A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Estonia....

, but later he was removed from the list of selected players.

At the end of the 1926 football season Bērziņš left Union for the three time champion of Latvia 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...

. For this side he played for the rest of his football career. With RFK he won the Latvian Higher League title four times - in 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1935. In the second half of the 1930s Bērziņš played very little with RFK and retired from playing in 1939. He did however return to RFK in 1943. In total Bērziņš played 40 international matches for Latvia from 1927 to 1936, being the fourth most capped Latvian football international behind 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...

, Jānis Lidmanis

Janis Lidmanis

Jānis Lidmanis was a Latvian footballer and basketballer. In 1930s he was the captain of Latvia national football team for which he made 55 appearances and scored 2 goals....

 and Alberts Šeibelis

Alberts Šeibelis

Alberts Šeibelis was a Latvian footballer, one of the most popular Latvian footballers in the era before World War II. In 54 matches for Latvia he scored 14 goals-Biography:...

.

After 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...

 Bērziņš ended up in 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...

 where he coached the local football club in FC Gundelfingen

FC Gundelfingen

The FC Gundelfingen is a German association football club from Gundelfingen an der Donau, Bavaria. A longtime fourth and fifth division side, the club is one of the top sides from Schwaben and has six Schwäbischer-Pokal wins to its credit....

 in 1946. Another former Latvian international Harijs Lazdiņš

Harijs Lazdinš

Harijs Lazdiņš was a Latvian football goalkeeper who played for Olimpija Liepāja and Latvia national football team in 1920s-1930s.-Biography:...

 played in goal of the Gundelfingen

Gundelfingen

Gundelfingen im Breisgau is a municipality directly north of the city Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.Gundelfingen is one of the larger municipalities in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district...

 club.

In later years Bērziņš settled in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.