Alfons Novickis

Alfons Novickis (1906 - 3 November 1931 in Riga) was a Latvian footballer.

Alfons Novickis
Personal information
Date of birth 1906
Place of birth Riga, Russian Empire
Date of death 3 November 1931(1931-11-03) (aged 25)
Place of death Riga, Latvia
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1926–1927 LNJS Riga
1928 RFK
1929–1931 Riga Vanderer
National team
1929–1931 Latvia 9 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Biography

Novickis rose to fame as a great footballing talent aged just 15 when he worked as a paper-boy at a publishing company. His first senior football club was LNJS Riga for which he played in 1926. In 1928 Novickis played with RFK and then joined Riga Vanderer, the club for which he played the best and last years of his career.[1] On 27 July 1929 Novickis made his international debut for Latvia. In total Novickis played 9 international matches for Latvia national football team between 1929 and 1931.[2]

Just as quickly as Novickis' star had risen in Latvian football, he fell down. After a 0–6 loss to Sweden in a friendly match on 26 July 1931 Novickis along with several other Latvian internationals made a bad public appearance under alcohol on the way back to Riga and as a result of it Novickis and Alberts Tauriņš were disqualified by the Latvian Football Federation for a year.[3]

In the autumn of 1931 Novickis joined the army and on 3 November he committed suicide by shooting himself. It was later speculated that Novickis had killed himself because of some unknown disease and alcohol.[4]

References
  1. "Kur paliek mūsu sporta zvaigznes". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  2. Caps for Latvia until 1936 Archived 23 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Football news excerpt". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  4. "Footballer Novickis has shot himself". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
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