Latvian Higher League

Latvian Higher League

Country	Latvia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Founded	1927
Number of teams	8
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Latvijas 1. līga
Domestic cup(s)	Latvian Cup Latvian Supercup
International cup(s)	Champions League Europa League
Current champions	Spartaks Jūrmala (2016)
Most championships	Skonto (15)
Website	www.futbolavirsliga.lv www.lff.lv
2016 Latvian Higher League

The SynotTip Latvian Higher League (Latvian: SynotTip Virslīga) is a semi-professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. The new season kicks off in mid-March of every year, and runs until early November. There are no games in winter because of the harsh climate. From 2005 until 2011, the league was sponsored by the telecommunications operator LMT, naming the league LMT Virslīga. In 2012 the league was reorganised in partnership with the NGO "Latvijas Futbola virslīga",^[1] adopting the NGO's name. Before the current season in March 2013, the league signed a sponsorship deal with the microfinancing company SMScredit.lv and acquired its current name SMScredit.lv Virslīga.^[2] In March 2016, it was announced that the Virslīga would be sponsored by SynotTip on a three-year contract.^[3]

League format

From the first season back in 1991 to 2007, there were eight clubs in the Virslīga. During the course of the season each club played all the other clubs four times, twice at their home stadium and twice at that of their opponents, completing a total of 28 games.

After the 2007 season the league increased from eight to ten sides.^[4] In 2008 each side played the others four times.

At the end of the season, the lowest placed team are automatically relegated into Traffic 1. liga, and the winner of the Traffic 1. liga automatically takes their place. The second lowest placed team in Virslīga and the second team of 1. liga 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.^[5]

Clubs (2016)

Locations of the 2016 Latvian Higher League teams

Source:^[6]

Club
BFC Daugavpils
Jelgava
Liepāja
Metta / LU
Riga
Rīgas FS
Spartaks Jūrmala
Ventspils

Titles by year

Riga Football League

1910 Union Riga
1911 Britannia FC Riga
1912 Union Riga

1913 SV Kaiserwald
1914 Britannia FC Riga
1915 Britannia FC Riga

Football Championship 1922–1926

1925 RFK Riga
1926 RFK Riga

Virsliga 1927–1944

1936 Olimpia Liepaja
1937 Not Played
1937–38 Olimpia Liepaja
1938–39 Olimpia Liepaja
1939–40 RFK Riga
1940–41 Tournament Cancelled
1942 ASK Rīga
1943 ASK Rīga
1944 Tournament Interrupted

Football Championship of Latvian SSR 1941–1990

Main article: Football Championship of the Latvian SSR

1941 Tournament Cancelled
1942-1944 Tournament Interrupted
1945 FK Dinamo Rīga
1946 Daugava Liepāja
1947 Daugava Liepāja
1948 Žmiļova Komanda
1949 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepāja
1950 AVN Rīga
1951 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepāja
1952 AVN Rīga
1953 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepāja
1954 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepāja
1955 Darba Rezerves Rīga
1956 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepāja
1957 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepāja
1958 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepāja
1959 RER Rīga
1960 ASK Rīga
1961 ASK Rīga
1962 ASK Rīga
1963 ASK Rīga
1964 ASK Rīga
1965 ASK Rīga
1966 ESR Rīga
1967 ESR Rīga

1968 Starts Brocēni
1969 FK Venta Ventspils
1970 VEF Rīga
1971 VEF Rīga
1972 FK Jūrnieks
1973 VEF Rīga
1974 VEF Rīga
1975 VEF Rīga
1976 Enerģija Rīga
1977 Enerģija Rīga
1978 Ķīmiķis Daugavpils
1979 Elektrons Rīga
1980 Ķīmiķis Daugavpils
1981 Elektrons Rīga
1982 Elektrons Rīga
1983 VEF Rīga
1984 Torpedo Rīga
1985 FK Alfa
1986 Torpedo Rīga
1987 Torpedo Rīga
1988 RAF Jelgava
1989 RAF Jelgava
1990 Gauja Valmiera
1991 Forums-Skonto

Since independence

Season	Winner	Wins	Remarks	Runner-up
1992	Skonto FC	1 (2)	Also Cup Winners	RAF Jelgava
1993	Skonto FC	2 (3)		Olimpija Rīga
1994	Skonto FC	3 (4)	Undefeated	RAF Jelgava
1995	Skonto FC	4 (5)	Undefeated & Cup Winners	Dinaburg FC
1996	Skonto FC	5 (6)		Daugava Rīga
1997	Skonto FC	6 (7)	Undefeated & Cup Winners	Daugava Rīga
1998	Skonto FC	7 (8)	Also Cup Winners	FHK Liepājas Metalurgs
1999	Skonto FC	8 (9)		FHK Liepājas Metalurgs
2000	Skonto FC	9 (10)	Also Cup Winners	FK Ventspils
2001	Skonto FC	10 (11)	Also Cup Winners	FK Ventspils
2002	Skonto FC	11 (12)	Also Cup Winners	FK Ventspils
2003	Skonto FC	12 (13)		FHK Liepājas Metalurgs
2004	Skonto FC	13 (14)		FHK Liepājas Metalurgs
2005	FHK Liepājas Metalurgs	1 (1)		Skonto FC
2006	FK Ventspils	1 (1)		FHK Liepājas Metalurgs
2007	FK Ventspils	2 (2)	Also Cup Winners	SK Liepājas Metalurgs
2008	FK Ventspils	3 (3)		SK Liepājas Metalurgs
2009	SK Liepājas Metalurgs	2 (2)		FK Ventspils
2010	Skonto FC	14 (15)		FK Ventspils
2011	FK Ventspils	4 (4)	Also Cup Winners	FK Liepājas Metalurgs
2012	FC Daugava	1 (1)		Skonto FC
2013	FK Ventspils	5 (5)	Also Cup Winners	Skonto FC
2014	FK Ventspils	6 (6)		Skonto FC
2015	FK Liepāja	1 (1)		Skonto FC
2016	FK Spartaks Jūrmala	1 (1)		FK Jelgava
* Virslīga Championships (Total Latvian Football Championships) Up to 1927, the winners of the First Division of the Football League were the Latvian Football Champions. From 1945 till 1991, the winners of the First Division of the Football League were the Latvian SSR Football Champions. Tournament Cancelled due to Soviet Occupation. Tournament Interrupted due to Soviet Invasion.

Sources:^[7] ^[8]

Titles by club

Club	Winner	Runner-up	Year
Skonto Rīga	15	5	1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010
ASK Rīga	11	5	1932, 1942, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepāja	9	4	1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958
RFK Rīga	8	6	1924, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1940
Olimpija Liepāja	7	8	1927, 1928, 1929, 1933, 1936, 1938, 1939
VEF Rīga	6	7	1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1983
Ventspils	6	5	2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014
Elektrons Rīga	4	4	1979, 1981, 1982, 1985
Torpedo Rīga	3	2	1984, 1986, 1987
Liepājas Metalurgs	2	8	2005, 2009
RAF Jelgava	2	4	1988, 1989
Enerģija Rīga	2	2	1976, 1977
Ķīmiķis Daugavpils	2	2	1978, 1980
Kaiserwald Rīga	2	–	1922, 1923
ESR Rīga	2	–	1966, 1967
Venta Ventspils	1	2	1969
Žmiļova Komanda	1	1	1948
Starts Brocēni	1	1	1968
Jūrnieks Rīga	1	1	1972
Dinamo Rīga	1	–	1945
Darba Rezerves Rīga	1	–	1955
RER Rīga	1	–	1959
Gauja Valmiera	1	–	1990
Daugava Daugavpils	1	–	2012
Liepāja	1	–	2015
Spartaks Jūrmala	1	–	2016

Bold Clubs playing in Virslīga.
Italics Clubs no longer exist or joined to another club.

References

↑ "About Virslīga". Biedrība Latvijas Futbola Virslīga. Futbolavirsliga.lv. Retrieved 16 June 2013. (Latvian)
↑ "SMScredit.lv – Latvian football Higher league general sponsor!". Biedrība Latvijas Futbola Virslīga. Futbolavirsliga.lv. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
↑ "Virslīga ar "SynotTip" noslēdz vērienīgāko līgumu līgas vēsturē" (in Latvian). Sportacentrs.com. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
↑ Mike Dryomin (14 March 2008). "Latvia 2007". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
↑ Hartmanis, Martins (2007-12-01). "LMT Virslīga new season calendar published". Latvian Football Federation. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
↑ "Virsliga". Soccerway. Perform. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
↑ "Latvia - List of Champions". RSSSF.
↑ Jared Grellet (10 November 2011). "Ventspils and Flora claim respective titles". The Baltic Times. Retrieved 1 March 2012.

External links

2016 Latvian Higher League

Daugavpils Jelgava Liepāja METTA/LU RFS Riga Spartaks Ventspils

Seasons of Top Latvian Football Leagues

Championship	1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926

Higher League	1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1942 1943 1944

Latvian SSR	1941 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991

Higher League	1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Football in Latvia

Latvian Football Federation (LFF)

National Teams

League System

men	Virslīga 1. līga 2. līga

women	Latvian Women's League

Domestic cups

List of clubs
List of venues

Top-level football leagues in Europe (UEFA)

Active	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands Finland France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland Israel Italy Kazakhstan Kosovo Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales

Non-recognized	Crimea Isle of Man Northern Cyprus Vatican City

Defunct	Czechoslovakia East Germany Serbia and Montenegro Soviet Union Yugoslavia

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