2012 Latvian Higher League
The 2012 Latvian Higher League was the 21st season of top-tier football in Latvia. It began on 24 March 2012 and ended on 10 November 2012. FK Ventspils are the defending champions.
The league comprised ten teams, one more than in the previous season.
Teams
The league returned to a ten-team circuit after having been forced to play the 2011 season with only nine teams, following the withdrawal of SK Blāzma a few weeks before the season commenced. As a consequence of the Blāzma withdrawal, no team was directly relegated.2011 Latvian First League champions FS METTA/Latvijas Universitāte from Riga were directly promoted. The team, which was founded by the METTA football school and the University of Latvia in 2007, entered the Higher League for the first time in their history.
JFK Olimps/RFS finished the 2011 season in ninth place and were therefore required to compete in a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off against First Division runners-up Spartaks Jūrmala. Spartaks won the play-off 4–1 on aggregate and were therefore promoted to the Higher League. Similar to METTA/LU, they made their debut at the highest level of the Latvian football pyramid. Accordingly, Olimps/RFS were relegated to the First League after five seasons at the top flight.
Stadiums and locations
Following the promotion of FK Spartaks, the city of Jūrmala should have featured three clubs during the 2012 season, one more than the capital, Riga, but FK Jūrmala-VV moved to Riga, changing their name to Daugava Riga.| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Daugava | Daugavpils | Daugava Stadium | 4,100 |
| FK Daugava Rīga | Riga | Daugava Stadium | 5,000 |
| FB Gulbene | Gulbene | Gulbenes Sporta Centrs | 1,500 |
| FK Jelgava | Jelgava | Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs | 2,200 |
| FC Jūrmala | Jūrmala | Slokas Stadium | 5,000 |
| SK Liepājas Metalurgs | Liepāja | Daugava Stadium | 5,083 |
| FS Metta/LU | Riga | Rīgas 49. vidusskola Stadium | 250 |
| Skonto FC | Riga | Skonto Stadium | 10,000 |
| FK Spartaks Jūrmala | Jūrmala | Slokas Stadium | 5,000 |
| FK Ventspils | Ventspils | Olimpiskais Stadium | 3,200 |
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| FC Daugava |  Ivan Tabanov |  Jurijs Sokolovs | Erreà | — |
| FK Daugava Rīga | Jurijs Popkovs | Vadims Gospodars | Adidas | — |
| FB Gulbene | Mihails Koņevs | Alberts Nikoļskis | Erreà | Piebalga |
| FK Jelgava | Dainis Kazakevičs | Valērijs Redjko | Macron | LDz Cargo |
| FC Jūrmala | Vladimirs Pačko | Maksims Daņilovs | Givova | — |
| SK Liepājas Metalurgs | Jānis Intenbergs |  Tomas Tamošauskas | Adidas | — |
| FS Metta/LU | Andris Riherts | Romāns Rožkovskis | Nike | SMS Credit.lv |
| Skonto FC | Marians Pahars | Germans Māliņš | Kappa | — |
| FK Spartaks Jūrmala | Arminas Narbekovas | Nauris Bulvītis | Masita | — |
| FK Ventspils | Jurģis Pučinskis | Vitālijs Smirnovs | Adidas | VK Tranzīts |
Managerial changes
Broadcasting
Just as last season most of the matches are transmitted live via sportacentrs.com online and sportacentrs TV channel. In June 2012 broadcasting rights were also bought by the English company Bet365. Since 2012 league's homepage futbolavirsliga.lv has been active and since September 2012 this website has been accompanied by InStat Football system, showing information and analysis of each match individually. Since October 2012 Virslīga has also had its own analytical broadcast after each round of matches with football experts discussing about the games and future events connected to Latvian football. Its transmitted via sportacentrs TV.League table
Relegation play-offs
The 9th-placed sides will face the runners-up of the 2012 Latvian First League in a two-legged play-off, with the winner being awarded a spot in the 2013 Higher League competition. The dates and exact sequence of these matches are still to be determined.----
Results
Season statistics
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 |  Mamuka Ghonghadze | FC Daugava | 18 |
| 2 |  Yōsuke Saito | FB Gulbene/FK Ventspils | 15 |
| 3 |  David Cortés | FK Spartaks Jūrmala | 12 |
| 3 | Daniils Turkovs | FK Ventspils | 12 |
| 5 | Antons Jemeļins | FK Spartaks Jūrmala | 11 |
| 5 | Tadas Labukas | Skonto FC | 11 |
| 5 | Valērijs Šabala | Skonto FC | 11 |
| 7 |  Stanley Ibe | FC Daugava | 10 |
| 7 | Valērijs Afanasjevs | SK Liepājas Metalurgs | 10 |
| 7 | Vladimirs Kamešs | SK Liepājas Metalurgs | 10 |
| 7 |  Mārtiņš Milašēvičs | FS Metta/LU | 10 |
| 7 |  Patrick Twumasi | FK Spartaks Jūrmala | 10 |
| 7 | Vitālijs Ziļs | FK Daugava Rīga | 10 |