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.

History and League format

The first all-national championship was organized in 1927. Between 1945 and 1991 the championship of Soviet Latvia was a feature of the country's sporting calendar. With Latvia regaining independence in August 1991, the newly established Latvian Football Federation decided to reorganise its competitions within the Virslīga from 1992. In 2008 The same year Latvia became a member of UEFA. After the 2007 season the league increased from eight to ten sides. In 2008 each side played the others four times.
At the end of the season, the lowest placed team are automatically relegated into 1. liga, and the winner of the 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.
A winter off-season league cup, the Virslīga Winter Cup, was played in January of each year from 2013 to 2017, which was replaced next year by the Virslīga Cup.
From 2015 till 2018 there were eight participating clubs. This was increased to nine for the 2019 season and ten for the 2020 season.

Sponsorships and name changes

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", 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. In March 2016, it was announced that the Virslīga would be sponsored by SynotTip Sports Bar on a three-year contract. They were succeeded by betting firm Optibet on a two-year contract, beginning with the 2019 season.

Clubs (2019)

Source:
ClubPosition
in 2018		First season in
Virslīga		Seasons
in Virslīga		First season of
current spell in
Virslīga		Virslīga
titles		Last Virslīga
title
Jelgava6th20101020100n/a
Liepāja4th20146201412015
Metta / LU7th2012820120n/a
Riga FC1st20164201612018
Rīgas FS3rd2016420160n/a
Spartaks Jūrmala5th20128201222017
Valmiera8th1997920180n/a
Ventspils2nd199723199762014
BFC Daugavpilsa1st2014420190n/a

a: Pirmā līga winner

Titles by year

Source:

Riga Football League

Most titles

This is a list of clubs, in order of most titles won in championships in independent Latvia.
Teams in bold are part of 2020 Virslīga.

By club

By region

By city/town

Rivalries

The most well-known rivalry is the Kurzeme Derby between Ventspils and Liepāja. The two biggest clubs in Kurzeme have played 86 matches between themselves with a record of 31–28–27 in favor of Liepāja prior to the 2019 Virslīga.
Since 2016, the Riga Derby 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.

Virslīga clubs in international competitions

UEFA competitions
Ventspils was the Latvian first club who qualified for the UEFA clubs competitions group stage in 2009.
Skonto reached the UEFA Champions League last qualifying stage for a number of times in the late 1990s and eaarly 2000s, but lost to such teams like FC Barcelona, Internazionale FC and Chelsea FC.
Commonwealth of Independent States Cup
Runners-up : 2001, 2003, 2004.
Runners-up : 2007.
Baltic League
Champions : 2007.
Champions : 2010.
Runners-up : 2007, 2011.
Champions : 2011.
Runners-up : 2008.

Individual records (since 1992)

Most matches played

Last updated: 12 November 2019.

Most goals scored

Last updated: 12 November 2019.