Quick Facts
Biography
Ēriks Raisters (26 November 1913 – 25 May 1942) was a Latvian right-wing football forward who played 27 international matches for Latvia between 1934 and 1940.
Club playing career
Raisters' first senior club was JKS Riga, a club known for raising young players who then left for bigger and stronger sides. Raisters joined the side in 1931 and in his first year the club earned promotion back to the Latvian Higher League (Virsliga). Raisters played two more years for JKS and it finished 5th in the league in both years. However, before the 1934 season he joined the most successful Latvian club - RFK for which he played until 1940. Over the years he played with RFK Raisters, won three Latvian league titles and the Latvian Cup two times (in 1937 and 1939).
After Latvia was taken over by the Soviet Union and the formers sports clubs were disbanded Raisters was selected to play for FK Dinamo Riga in 1940. The next year he played for Dynamo Minsk. Raisters died on 25 May 1942 on the frontline during the Second World War.
National team playing career
Raisters made his international début for Latvia on 10 June 1934 in a friendly match against Lithuania in Kaunas, the only match he played for the national team in 1934. He became a regular in the national team in 1935. In his second match for Latvia (against Lithuania once again) on 30 May 1935 Raisters scored his first goal for the country. In total he played 4 matches for Latvia in 1935, two in 1936, eight in 1937, eight in 1938, three in 1939 and one in 1940 - in the last international match for Latvia before 1992. With 27 appearances (and six scored goals) for the Latvia national football team, Raisters was the 11th most capped footballer in the pre-war country.
Honours
Club Titles
- Latvian Higher League: 1934, 1935, 1940 (RFK)
- Latvian Cup: 1937, 1939
International Titles
- Baltic Cup: 1936, 1937
Caps
- 27 caps for Latvia (6 goals)