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The Latvian Higher League is the top tier of football in Latvia
Latvia

Latvia The Latvians are a Baltic peoples culturally related to the Estonians and Lithuanians, with the Latvian language having many similarities with Lithuanian language, but not with the Estonian language....
 and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation
Latvian Football Federation

Latvian Football Federation is the governing body of Football in Latvia. It organises the Latvian football championship , Latvian football Cup and the Latvia national football team....
.






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Encyclopedia


Virsliga
Current Sport
2008 season
Latvian Higher League 2008

The 2008 Virsliga season was the 17th Virsliga season. It began on 5 April 2008 with the first round of games and ended on 9 November 2008 with the final matches of the championship and relegation rounds....
 
Founded
1996
Nation
Relegation To
Latvian First League
Latvian First League

The Latvian First League is the second tier of association football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. From the 2007 season, the tournament has been known as the Traffic 1....
Number of Teams
10
Level on Pyramid
Level 1
List of football clubs in Latvia

This is a list of football clubs in Latvia....
European Qualification
Champions League
UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, which evolved from the European Champion Clubs' Cup, is a seasonal club Association football competition organised by UEFA since 1992 for the most successful football clubs in Europe....

UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup

The UEFA Cup is a association football competition for European club teams, organised by the UEFA. It is the second most important international competition for European football clubs, after the UEFA Champions League....

Intertoto Cup
UEFA Intertoto Cup

The UEFA Intertoto Cup, also abbreviated as UI Cup and originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition for European clubs that have not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup....
Domestic Cups
Latvian Cup
Latvian football Cup

The Latvian Football Cup is the main "knockout" cup competition in Latvian Football . It started in 1937 replacing the previous knockout tournament - Riga Football Cup....
Current Champions (2007
Latvian Higher League 2007

The 2007 Latvian Higher League season was the 16th Virsliga season. It started on 7 April 2007 and finished on 4 December 2007. Eight teams competed in the league, playing each other four times over the course of the season, twice at home and twice away....
)
FK Ventspils
FK Ventspils

FK Ventspils is a Latvian Virsliga football team. The club's home ground is the 3,200 capacity Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils, Latvia....
Website


The Latvian Higher League is the top tier of football in Latvia
Latvia

Latvia The Latvians are a Baltic peoples culturally related to the Estonians and Lithuanians, with the Latvian language having many similarities with Lithuanian language, but not with the Estonian language....
 and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation
Latvian Football Federation

Latvian Football Federation is the governing body of Football in Latvia. It organises the Latvian football championship , Latvian football Cup and the Latvia national football team....
. The new season kicks off in April of every year, and runs until early November. There are no games in winter because of the harsh climate. Since 2006 the Latvian Higher League is sponsored by Latvijas Mobilais Telefons and officially called LMT Virsliga. Some of the matches of the Virsliga are transmitted by the Latvian TV channel LTV7.

League format

Up to and including the 2007 season
Latvian Higher League 2007

The 2007 Latvian Higher League season was the 16th Virsliga season. It started on 7 April 2007 and finished on 4 December 2007. Eight teams competed in the league, playing each other four times over the course of the season, twice at home and twice away....
, there were eight clubs in the Virsliga. 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.

However, for the 2008 season
Latvian Higher League 2008

The 2008 Virsliga season was the 17th Virsliga season. It began on 5 April 2008 with the first round of games and ended on 9 November 2008 with the final matches of the championship and relegation rounds....
 the league has expanded to ten clubs, and the fixture format has changed. To expand to ten clubs there was no relegation at the end of the 2007 season, and the top two clubs from the 1. liga 2007 season, champions FK Vindava from Ventspils
Ventspils

Ventspils is a city in northwestern Latvia in the Kurzeme region of Latvia, the sixth largest city in the country. As of 2006, Ventspils had a population of 43,806....
, and second placed SK Blazma
FK Blazma Rezekne

FK Blazma is a Latvian Association football club located in Rezekne. The club is a continuation of the city's main football club, Di?vanagi....
 from Rezekne
Rezekne

Rezekne is a city in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia, also known by the nickname Latgales sirds meaning The Heart of Latgale. Built on seven hills, Rezekne is situated 242 km east of Riga, and 63 km west of the Latvian-Russian border, at the intersection of the Moscow-Riga and Saint Petersburg-Warsaw railways....
 were both promoted. From the 2008 season, the league will be in two rounds. In the first round each club will play all the other nine clubs twice, home and away starting with Matchday 1 on 5 April and finishing with Matchday 18 on 10 August. In the second round there will be two "mini leagues", with the top six clubs playing each other twice and the clubs in 7th to 10th place playing each other twice.

At the end of the season, the club finishing bottom of the Virsliga is automatically relegated to the 1. liga, and the champions of the 1. liga are automatically promoted, taking the place of the relegated club. The club that finishes next to bottom in the Virsliga play a two-legged playoff for the final place in the Virsliga for the next season with the club that finishes second in the 1. liga.

Virsliga clubs (2008)

  • FK Blazma Rezekne
    FK Blazma Rezekne

    FK Blazma is a Latvian Association football club located in Rezekne. The club is a continuation of the city's main football club, Di?vanagi....
  • FK Daugava Daugavpils
    FK Daugava Daugavpils

    FC Daugava is a Latvian football club, playing in the top division of Latvian football. The are from the city of Daugavpils. In 2007 they renamed from FC Ditton to FC Daugava....
  • Dinaburg FC
    Dinaburg FC

    Dinaburg FC is a Latvian football club, playing in the city of Daugavpils. The club plays at the Celtnieks Stadium ....
  • FK Jurmala
    FK Jurmala

    FK Jurmala is a Latvian football club, playing in the top division of Latvian football. They are from the city of Jurmala....
  • FK Liepajas Metalurgs
  • JFK Olimps Riga
    JFK Olimps Riga

    JFK Olimps/ASK is a Latvian football club, playing in the top division of Latvian football. The club is from the city of Riga....
  • FK Riga
    FK Riga

    FK Riga is a Latvian football club based in Riga. They play in the Virsliga, the top division in Latvian football. They play their home games at Latvijas Universitates Stadions....
  • Skonto FC
    Skonto FC

    Skonto FC is a Latvian Association football club, founded in 1991. The club plays at the Skonto Stadions in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's existence, and often provides the core of the Latvia national football team....
  • FK Ventspils
    FK Ventspils

    FK Ventspils is a Latvian Virsliga football team. The club's home ground is the 3,200 capacity Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils, Latvia....
  • FK Vindava Ventspils
    FK Vindava Ventspils

    FK Vindava is a Latvian football club located in Ventspils. It was founded in 2007. Actually FK Vindava isn't a new team in Latvian football. It's based on FK Honda, which got 4th place in 2006 in Latvian 2....


Past Virsliga winners


Riga football league winners

  • 1910 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....
  • 1911 British FC Riga
  • 1912 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....
  • 1913 British FC Riga
  • 1914 British FC Riga
  • 1915 British FC Riga


Champions of Latvia before Virsliga

  • 1922 Keizarmežs
    Keizarmežs

    Keizarme?s was a Latvian football List of football clubs in Latvia which was founded by the Riga German community in 1909. It was one of the founders of the first football organization in Latvia - Riga Football League ....
  • 1923 Keizarmežs
    Keizarmežs

    Keizarme?s was a Latvian football List of football clubs in Latvia which was founded by the Riga German community in 1909. It was one of the founders of the first football organization in Latvia - Riga Football League ....
  • 1924 Rigas FK
    Rigas FK

    Riga FK was a Latvian football List of football clubs in Latvia 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....
  • 1925 Rigas FK
    Rigas FK

    Riga FK was a Latvian football List of football clubs in Latvia 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....
  • 1926 Rigas FK
    Rigas FK

    Riga FK was a Latvian football List of football clubs in Latvia 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....


Latvian SSR champions

  • 1945 FK Dinamo Riga
  • 1946 Daugava Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1947 Daugava Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1948 Žmilova komanda
  • 1949 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1950 AVN Riga
    FK ASK

    FK ASK Riga was a Latvian football club of the Latvian army, founded in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading clubs in Latvia....
  • 1951 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1952 AVN Riga
    FK ASK

    FK ASK Riga was a Latvian football club of the Latvian army, founded in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading clubs in Latvia....
  • 1953 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1954 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1955 Darba Rezerves
  • 1956 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1957 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1958 Sarkanais Metalurgs Liepaja
    FHK Liepajas Metalurgs

    *For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas MetalurgsFK Liepajas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepaja and playing in the Virsliga....
  • 1959 RER Riga
  • 1960 ASK Riga
    FK ASK

    FK ASK Riga was a Latvian football club of the Latvian army, founded in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading clubs in Latvia....
  • 1961 ASK Riga
    FK ASK

    FK ASK Riga was a Latvian football club of the Latvian army, founded in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading clubs in Latvia....
  • 1962 ASK Riga
    FK ASK

    FK ASK Riga was a Latvian football club of the Latvian army, founded in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading clubs in Latvia....
  • 1963 ASK Riga
    FK ASK

    FK ASK Riga was a Latvian football club of the Latvian army, founded in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading clubs in Latvia....
  • 1964 ASK Riga
    FK ASK

    FK ASK Riga was a Latvian football club of the Latvian army, founded in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading clubs in Latvia....
  • 1965 ASK Riga
    FK ASK

    FK ASK Riga was a Latvian football club of the Latvian army, founded in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading clubs in Latvia....
  • 1966 ESR Riga
  • 1967 ESR Riga
  • 1968 Starts Broceni
    Starts Broceni

    Starts Broceni is a Latvian Football club. Currently it plays in the 2nd Latvian league under the name Saldus FK/Broceni . It was one of the leading Latvian clubs in 1960s-1970s....
  • 1969 FK Venta Ventspils
    FK Venta Ventspils

    FK Venta was a Latvia football club based in Ventspils. They were established in 1964 in football and were named after the Venta River, in 1967 in football , they won the Latvian cup....
  • 1970 VEF Riga
  • 1971 VEF Riga
  • 1972 FK Jurnieks
    FK Jurnieks

    FK Jurnieks was a Latvian football club based in Riga. It became defunct in 1997....
  • 1973 VEF Riga
  • 1974 VEF Riga
  • 1975 VEF Riga
  • 1976 Energija Riga
    Energija Riga

    Energija Riga was a Soviet Latvian football club from Riga, a four time winner of the Latvian league. It went bankrupt together with the factory that supported it in early 1990s....
  • 1977 Energija Riga
    Energija Riga

    Energija Riga was a Soviet Latvian football club from Riga, a four time winner of the Latvian league. It went bankrupt together with the factory that supported it in early 1990s....
  • 1978 Kimikis Daugavpils
  • 1979 Elektrons Riga
    Elektrons Riga

    Elektrons Riga was a Latvian football club from Riga that was one of the leading clubs in the Latvian league in 1970s and 1980s.History...
  • 1980 Kimikis Daugavpils
  • 1981 Elektrons Riga
    Elektrons Riga

    Elektrons Riga was a Latvian football club from Riga that was one of the leading clubs in the Latvian league in 1970s and 1980s.History...
  • 1982 Elektrons Riga
    Elektrons Riga

    Elektrons Riga was a Latvian football club from Riga that was one of the leading clubs in the Latvian league in 1970s and 1980s.History...
  • 1983 VEF Riga
  • 1984 Torpedo Riga
    Torpedo Riga

    Torpedo Riga was a football club that played in Riga. The club played in the Latvian league with good success from 1979 to 2000 when it merged with Policijas FK....
  • 1985 FK Alfa
  • 1986 Torpedo Riga
    Torpedo Riga

    Torpedo Riga was a football club that played in Riga. The club played in the Latvian league with good success from 1979 to 2000 when it merged with Policijas FK....
  • 1987 Torpedo Riga
    Torpedo Riga

    Torpedo Riga was a football club that played in Riga. The club played in the Latvian league with good success from 1979 to 2000 when it merged with Policijas FK....
  • 1988 RAF Jelgava
  • 1989 RAF Jelgava
  • 1990 Gauja Valmiera
    Gauja Valmiera

    Gauja Valmiera was a Latvian football from Valmiera that played in the top Latvian league from 1979 to 1993.It was named after the river Gauja....
  • 1991 Forums-Skonto
    Skonto FC

    Skonto FC is a Latvian Association football club, founded in 1991. The club plays at the Skonto Stadions in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's existence, and often provides the core of the Latvia national football team....


External links