Virslīga
Latvian Higher League
Men's association football top division of Latvia
Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, known for sponsorship reasons as TonyBet Virslīga since 2024,[1] 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.
| Founded | 1927; 97 years ago (1927) |
|---|---|
| Country |  Latvia |
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Optibet Nākotnes līga |
| Domestic cup(s) | Latvian Cup Latvian Supercup |
| International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League UEFA Conference League |
| Current champions | RFS (2nd title) (2023) |
| Most championships | Skonto (15) |
| TV partners | Domestic TV4 International Eleven Sports OneFootball |
| Website | tonybetvirsliga |
| Current: 2024 Latvian Higher League | |
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.[2] The same year Latvia returned to FIFA and became a member of UEFA.
Format
Latvian Higher League is being played usually from early March till November. Although the team count in the league has changed multiple times (10 in 2007[3] and 2020, 9 in 2019[4] and 2021, and 8 in 2015-2018), since 2022, total of 10 teams are participating in the Virslīga. Each side are playing 36 games during the season, with 18 games being played at home and other 18 - away.
At the end of each season, the lowest placed team in the league gets automatically relegated to the Optibet Nākotnes Līga, with Nākotnes Līga winner replacing them, while the second lowest placed team gets to play in a 2 leg relegation playoff (Pārspēles) against the runner-up of the Nākotnes Līga, for the last spot in the league. The winner of Virslīga qualifies for the UEFA Champions League first qualification round, while runners-up and 3rd place teams qualify for the UEFA Conference League first qualification round.[5]
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).[6] However since 2024, a revamped off-season tournament, Livonia Cup, is being played from January till February, with teams from Latvia's and Estonia's leagues taking part.
The League has changed sponsors for several times. From 2006 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",[7] 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.[8] In March 2016, it was announced that the Virslīga would be sponsored by SynotTip Sports Bar on a three-year contract.[9] They were succeeded by betting firm Optibet on a two-year contract, beginning with the Optibet Virslīga 2019 season, which lasted until 2024.[10] In 2024 Optibet was replaced by TonyBet.
| Club | Position in 2023 |
|---|---|
| RFS | 1st |
| Riga FC | 2nd |
| FK Auda | 3rd |
| Valmiera FC | 4th |
| FK Liepaja | 5th |
| FS Jelgava | 6th |
| BFC Daugavpils | 7th |
| FK Tukums 2000 | 8th |
| Metta/LU | 9th |
| Grobiņas SC | 1st in 2023 Nākotnes Līga |
Source:[11]
Riga Football League
Latvian Championship 1922–1940 (independent)
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Football Championship of Latvian SSR 1942–1990
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Since independence in 1991
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- Aleksandrs Starkovs has won 12 league titles since independence with Skonto as a manager.
- Three times winner with Ventspils Ukrainian Roman Hryhorchuk is the first manager who reached Europa League group stage in Virslīga history.
- First-ever Latvian who scored in Euros Māris Verpakovskis has won league titles with both Skonto and Liepāja.
- Ukrainian born Marians Pahars has won 5 league titles before moving to Southampton.
- Aleksandrs Koliņko, best known for playing for Crystal Palace has won 6 league titles totally with Skonto as a player and Spartaks as an assistant manager.
This is a list of clubs, in order of most titles won in championships in independent Latvia (1922–1940 and 1991 to date).[11] Teams in bold are part of 2020 Virslīga.
By club
| Club | No. of Titles | Years won |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010 | |
| 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 |
| ASK Riga | 3 | 1932, 1942, 1944 |
| Riga FC | 3 | 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| Liepājas Metalurgs | 2 | 2005, 2009 |
| Kaiserwald Riga | 2 | 1922, 1923 |
| JPFS/Spartaks Jūrmala | 2 | 2016, 2017 |
| RFS | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Valmiera | 1 | 2022 |
| FK Liepāja | 1 | 2015 |
| Daugava Daugavpils | 1 | 2012 |
Transfers from Virslīga
| # | Player | From | To | Season | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tolu Arokodare | Valmiera FC |  Amiens SC | 2022/2023 | 2,50 mln € |
| 2 | Māris Verpakovskis | Skonto FC |  FC Dynamo Kyiv | 2003/2004 | 2,00 mln € |
| 3 |  Andrej Ilić | RFS |  Vålerenga Fotball | 2023/2024 | 1,60 mln € |
| 4 | Raimonds Krollis | Valmiera FC |  Spezia Calcio | 2022/2023 | 1,52 mln € |
| 5 |  Gabriel Charpentier | FK Spartaks Jūrmala | Genoa CFC | 2020/2021 | 1,50 mln € |
 Patrick Twumasi |  FC Astana | 2014/2015 | |||
| 7 |  Borys Tashchy | JFK Olimps |  Dynamo Moscow | 2011/2012 | 1,00 mln € |
| 8 |  Darko Lemajić | RFS |  K.A.A. Gent | 2021/2022 | 900 tys. € |
| 9 | Chinonso Offor | RFS |  Chicago Fire FC | 2020/2021 | 760 tys. € |
| 10 | Aleksandrs Koliņko | Skonto FC |  Crystal Palace F.C. | 2000/2001 | 750 tys. € |
Transfers to Virslīga
| # | Player | From | To | Season | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hrvoje Babec | NK Vihor Jelisavac | Riga FC | 2022/2023 | 1,60 mln € |
| 2 |  Gustavo Dulanto |  FC Sheriff Tiraspol | 2022/2023 | 1,00 mln € | |
  Anthony Contreras | C.S. Herediano | 2022/2023 | |||
| 4 | Luis Iberico | FBC Melgar | 2022/2023 | 900 tys. € | |
| 5 | Borys Tashchy | FC Chornomorets Odesa | JFK Olimps | 2011/2012 | 600 tys. € |
| 6 |  Rifet Kapić | FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | Valmiera FC | 2023/2024 | 500 tys. € |
| 7 |  Cédric Gogoua | FK Partizan | Riga FC | 2016/2017 | 350 tys. € |
 Lasha Odisharia | FC Dinamo Tbilisi | RFS | 2023/2024 | ||
| 9 |   Douglas Aurélio |  Pafos FC | Riga FC | 2022/2023 | 300 tys. € |
 Audrius Kšanavičius | FBK Kaunas | Skonto FC | 2001/2002 |
The most well-known rivalry is the Kurzeme Derby (Kurzemes derbijs) between Ventspils and Liepāja.[12][circular reference] 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.[13]
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.[14]
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.[15][circular reference]
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 Barcelona in 1997, Inter Milan in 1998 and Chelsea in 1999.
Most recently, RFS qualified for the 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League group stage, finishing in fourth place with 2 points.
- Gaigalietis, Niks (28 February 2024). "Latvijas Virslīgas futbola čempionātam jauns ģenerālsponsors". TonyBet Virslīga / Futbola Virslīga (in Latvian). Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- Mike Dryomin (14 March 2008). "Latvia 2007". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- "Sacensību sistēmas modeļa apstiprināšana". lff.lv (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- "Dokumenti". Optibet Virslīga / Futbola Virslīga (in Latvian). Retrieved 4 February 2024.
- "Ziemas kauss futbolā vairs nenotiks, to aizstās Virslīgas kausa izcīņa". LA.lv (in Latvian). 22 December 2017. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- "About Virslīga". Biedrība Latvijas Futbola Virslīga. Futbolavirsliga.lv. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (in Latvian) - "Latvijas futbola virslīgai nākamajā sezonā būs jauns ģenerālsponsors". Public Broadcasting of Latvia (in Latvian). 17 October 2018. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- "Virslīga ar "SynotTip" noslēdz vērienīgāko līgumu līgas vēsturē" (in Latvian). Sportacentrs.com. 10 March 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- "Becomes main sponsor of Latvian football league". Enlabs AB. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- Almantas Lauzadis and Hans Schöggl (23 March 2017). "Latvia – List of Champions". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- "Futbola virslīgā tiks aizvadīts Kurzemes derbijs". TVNET (in Latvian). 20 June 2019. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- Suveizda, Agris (2 June 2019). "Rīgas derbijs labo Virslīgas desmitgades apmeklētības rekordu". SportaCentrs.com (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 7 September 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.