LMT Virslīga
2009 season
Founded
1927
Nation
Latvia
Relegation To
Latvian First League
Number of Teams
10
Level on Pyramid
Level 1
European Qualification
Champions League Europa League
Domestic Cups
Latvian Cup
Current Champions (2009)
FK Liepājas Metalurgs
Website
Latvian Football Federation Latvian Football Forum

The Latvian Higher League (Latvian: Virslīga) is the top tier of football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. 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 Virslīga. Some of the matches of the Virslīga are transmitted by the Latvian TV channel LTV7.

[edit] League format

Up to and including the 2007 season, 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.

However, for the 2008 season 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. līga 2007 season, champions FK Vindava from Ventspils, and second placed SK Blāzma from Rēzekne were both promoted.In 2009 the strongest Latvian championship LMT Virsliga will be played in four rounds with nine clubs. During the course of the season each clubs plays others four times, twice at their home stadium and twice at that of their opponents, for a total of 28 games. At the end of season, the lowest placed team are automatically relegated into Traffic 1. liga, and winner of the Traffic 1. liga automatically takes its place. The second lowest placed team in Virsliga and second team of 1. liga plays two matches for place in the Virsliga in next season. The winner of LMT Virsliga, champion of Latvia, plays in UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The second and third placed clubs plays in UEFA Cup qualifying games. The fourth placed team takes part in UEFA Intertoto Cup qualifyers.^[1]

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

[edit] Virslīga clubs (2009)

Ventspils
Tranzīts

Daugava
RFS/Olimps
Skonto

Dinaburg

Metalurgs

Jūrmala

Blāzma

Location of teams in the Latvian Higher League 2009

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Current manager
Blazma Blāzma	Rēzekne	Sporta Aģentūras Stadions	3,000	Žanis Ārmanis
Daugava Riga Daugava	Riga	Salaspils Sporta Skolas Stadium	648	Vladimirs Beļajevs
Dinaburg Dinaburg	Daugavpils	Celtnieks Stadium	4,100	Tamaz Pertia
Jurmala FK Jūrmala	Jūrmala	Slokas Stadium	5,000	Vladimirs Babičevs
Metalurgs Metalurgs	Liepāja	Daugava Stadium	5,100	Rüdiger Abramczik
Riga RFS/Olimps	Riga	Daugava Stadium	5,000	Anton Joore
Skonto Skonto	Riga	Skonto Stadium	9,000	Paul Ashworth
Tranzīts Tranzīts	Ventspils	Ventspils 2. pamatskolas stadions	500	Igors Kičigins
Ventspils FK Ventspils	Ventspils	Olimpiskais Stadium	3,200	Nunzio Zavettieri

[edit] Past Virslīga winners

[edit] Topscorers

[edit] Riga football league winners

[edit] Champions of Latvia before Virslīga

[edit] Latvian SSR champions

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Latvian Football Federation
• Latvian Football Federation news in English
• Virslīga news (Latvian)
• Unofficial Website of Virsliga