Latvian Higher League

Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is Optibet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons since 2019.

Latvian Higher League
Founded1927
CountryLatvia
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Number of teams10
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toLatvijas 1. līga
Domestic cup(s)Latvian Cup
Latvian Supercup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
UEFA Europa Conference League
Current championsRiga FC
(2020)
Most championshipsSkonto (15)
Websitehttps://optibetvirsliga.lv
Current: 2020 Latvian Higher League

History and league format

History

The first all-national Latvian championship, which succeeded the Riga Football League and other regional leagues, was organized in 1927, which lasted until the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940. After World War II, between 1945 and 1991 the championship of Soviet Latvia was the main footballing competition in the Latvian SSR.

With Latvia regaining full independence in August 1991, the newly established Latvian Football Federation (LFF) decided to reorganise its competitions within the Virslīga from 1992.[1] The same year Latvia returned to FIFA and became a member of UEFA.

Format

After the 2007 season the league increased from eight to ten sides.[2] In 2008 each side played the others four times. From 2015 till 2018 there were eight participating clubs. This was increased to nine for the 2019 season and ten for the 2020 season.[3]

At the end of the season, the lowest placed team are automatically relegated into 1. līga, and the winner of the 1. līga automatically takes their place. The second lowest placed team in Virslīga and the second team of 1. līga play two matches for a place in the Virslīga the following season. The winner of Virslīga, the champion of Latvia, plays in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The second and third placed clubs play in the UEFA Europa League qualifying games.[4]

A winter off-season league cup, the Virslīga Winter Cup, was played in January of each year from 2013 to 2017, which was replaced in 2018 by the Virslīga Cup (Latvian: Virslīgas kausa izcīņa).[5]

Sponsorships and name changes
LMT Virslīga logo (2005-2010)

The League has changed sponsors for several times. From 2005 until 2010 it was known as the LMT Virslīga. No sponsorships were established for the 2011 season. Starting from the 2012 season, the league was reorganised in partnership with an NGO as "Latvijas Futbola virslīga",[6] adopting the NGO's name in the 2012 season. From 2013 to 2015, the league was known as the SMScredit.lv Virslīga due to a contract with the online microfinance company SMScredit.[7] In March 2016, it was announced that the Virslīga would be sponsored by SynotTip Sports Bar on a three-year contract.[8] They were succeeded by betting firm Optibet on a two-year contract, beginning with the 2019 season.[9]

Clubs (2020)
Locations of the 2020 Latvian Higher League teams

Source:[10][11]

Club Position
in 2019		 First season in
Virslīga		 Seasons
in Virslīga		 First season of
current spell in
Virslīga		 Virslīga
titles		 Last Virslīga
title
Jelgava7th20101020100n/a
Liepāja6th20146201412015
Metta / LU9th2012820120n/a
Riga FC1st20164201622019
Rīgas FS2nd2016420160n/a
Spartaks Jūrmala5th20128201222017
Valmiera4th1997920180n/a
Ventspils3rd199723199762014
BFC Daugavpils8th2014420190n/a
FK Tukums 2000/TSSa - 2020 0 (first) 2020 0 n/a

a: Pirmā līga winner

Titles by year

Source:[12]

Riga Football League

Latvian Championship 1922–1940 (independent)

In occupied Latvia (1941–1990)
Main article: Football Championship of the Latvian SSR

Since 1991 (restored Latvian league)

Notable managers and players

Most titles

This is a list of clubs, in order of most titles won in championships in independent Latvia (1922-1940 and 1991 to date).[12] Teams in bold are part of 2020 Virslīga.

Players of FK Ventspils celebrate after becoming champions in 2010

By club
Club No. of Titles Years won
Skonto Riga 15 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010
RFK Riga 8 1924, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1940
Olimpija Liepāja 7 1927, 1928, 1929, 1933, 1936, 1938, 1939
Ventspils 6 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014
Riga FC 3 2018, 2019, 2020
Liepājas Metalurgs 2 2005, 2009
Kaiserwald Riga 2 1922, 1923
JPFS/Spartaks Jūrmala 2 2016, 2017
FK Liepāja 1 2015
Daugava Daugavpils 1 2012
ASK Riga 1 1932

By region
Region Championships Clubs
Riga 31 Skonto (15), RFK (8), Riga (3), Kaiserwald (2), Spartaks (2), ASK (1)
Kurzeme 16 Olimpija (7), Ventspils (6), Metalurgs (2), Liepāja (1)
Latgale 1 Daugava (1)

By city/town
City / Town Championships Clubs
Riga 29 Skonto (15), RFK (8), Riga (3), Kaiserwald (2), ASK (1)
Liepāja 10 Olimpija (7), Metalurgs (2), Liepāja (1)
Ventspils 6 Ventspils (6)
Jūrmala 2 Spartaks (2)
Daugavpils 1 Daugava (1)

Rivalries

The most well-known rivalry is the Kurzeme Derby (Kurzemes derbijs) between Ventspils and Liepāja.[13] The two biggest clubs in Kurzeme have played 86 matches between themselves with a record of 31–28–27 (including Metalurgs) in favor of Liepāja prior to the 2019 Virslīga.[14]

Since 2016, the Riga Derby (Rīgas derbijs) was started between Riga FC and Rīgas FS as two clubs were promoted at the same time. A 2019 match in Skonto Stadium between the two sides broke a ten-year attendance record.[15]

Virslīga clubs in international competitions

UEFA competitions

Ventspils was the Latvian first club who qualified for the group stage of a UEFA club competition, reaching the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage.[16]

Skonto reached the UEFA Champions League last qualifying stage for a number of times in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but lost to such teams like FC Barcelona in 1997, Internazionale FC in 1998 and Chelsea FC in 1999.

Commonwealth of Independent States Cup

Runners-up (3): 2001, 2003, 2004.

Runners-up (1): 2007.

Baltic League

Champions (1): 2007.

Champions (1): 2010.

Runners-up (2): 2007, 2011.

Champions (1): 2011.

Runners-up (1): 2008.

Individual records (since 1992)
  Players still active are highlighted

References
  1. "Latvia". UEFA. All rights reserved. 3 September 2018.
  2. Mike Dryomin (14 March 2008). "Latvia 2007". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  3. "Sacensību sistēmas modeļa apstiprināšana". lff.lv (in Latvian).
  4. Hartmanis, Martins (2007-12-01). "LMT Virslīga new season calendar published". Latvian Football Federation. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  5. "Ziemas kauss futbolā vairs nenotiks, to aizstās Virslīgas kausa izcīņa". LA.lv (in Latvian). 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  6. "About Virslīga". Biedrība Latvijas Futbola Virslīga. Futbolavirsliga.lv. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013. (in Latvian)
  7. "Latvijas futbola virslīgai nākamajā sezonā būs jauns ģenerālsponsors". Public Broadcasting of Latvia (in Latvian). 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  8. "Virslīga ar "SynotTip" noslēdz vērienīgāko līgumu līgas vēsturē" (in Latvian). Sportacentrs.com. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  9. "Becomes main sponsor of Latvian football league". Enlabs AB. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  10. "Optibet Virslīga". Latvian Football Federation (in Latvian). Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  11. "Summary - Virsliga - Latvia - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  12. Almantas Lauzadis and Hans Schöggl (23 March 2017). "Latvia - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  13. "Kurzeme derby".
  14. "Futbola virslīgā tiks aizvadīts Kurzemes derbijs". TVNET (in Latvian). 2019-06-20.
  15. Suveizda, Agris (2019-06-02). "Rīgas derbijs labo Virslīgas desmitgades apmeklētības rekordu". SportaCentrs.com (in Latvian).
  16. "Europa League group stage".
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