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 O ...
2009 ( lv, Virslīga) was the 18th season of top-tier football in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
. It began on 14 March 2009 with the first round of games and ended on 8 November 2009 with the 36th round of matches.
Ventspils
Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see #Other names, other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population ...
were the defending champions.
Due to numerous pre-season team changes, such as club mergers and withdrawals, the format of the league was changed. Since there are only 9 clubs that participate in 2009 Virslīga, every team plays 4 times against every other team, what will make every team playing 32 games. Contrary to the previous season, there is not Championship and Relegation pool.
Teams
Olimps Rīga were relegated after finishing the relegation round in last place. They were replaced by
First League champions
FK Daugava Riga.
Blāzma won the promotion/relegation play-off against
Tranzīts Ventspils
FC Tranzit was a Latvian football club that is based in Ventspils. Prior to 2010 it was known as FC Tranzīts.FK Rīga
FK Rīga was a Latvian football club based in Riga. They played in the Virslīga, the top division in Latvian football. They played their home games at Latvijas Universitātes Stadions. In 1999, its first year of existence, the club won the L ...
withdrew due to unpaid debts. They eventually merged with
Olimps Rīga and created a new club called ''Olimps/RFS''. The new club plays in Virslīga, what saved Olimps Rīga from relegation.
On 12 January 2009
Vindava withdrew from Virslīga due to financial reasons.
''FK Jūrmala'' merged with ''JFC Kauguri/Multibanka'', which is also a merger of
JFC Kauguri Jūrmala and
FK Multibanka Rīga
Futbola klubs Multibanka was a Latvian football club, playing in the second-highest division of Latvian football. They were from the city of Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to ...
, to a new club named
FK Jūrmala-VV
FK Daugava Rīga was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. They played in the Latvian Higher League. The last manager of the team was Armands Zeiberliņš.
From the club's foundation in 2003 till 2009 the club was kno ...
. The new club carried over the players and other personnel from FK Jūrmala.
Daugava Daugavpils
FC Daugava was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium, in the city of Daugavpils. They lastly played in the Latvian Second League in 2015. They were one of two clubs with the name ''Daugava'' and should not be confused with FK ...
and
Dinaburg also merged and remained under the Dinaburg FC name. It is not yet certain which club's staff will operate the new club. Dinaburg also took Daugava's
2009–10 UEFA Europa League
The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years.
Sp ...
spot.
League table
Results
First half of season
Second half of season
Relegation play-offs
Since there are only 9 clubs participating in 2009 Virslīga, no teams will be directly relegated. 9th placed Virslīga team and runners-up of
First League will compete in relegation play-offs for one spot in
Virslīga 2010. The other spot will be taken by First League champions.
Visi klubi skaita naudiņu!
Since one of the teams were excluded from the league, the relegation play-off will be replaced with the direct promotion of the First League team placing second.
Team of the season 2009
Goalkeepers: Viktors Spole
Viktors is a Latvian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the English given name Victor and may refer to:
*Viktors Arājs (1910–1988), Latvian collaborator and Nazi SS officer
*Viktors Alksnis (born 1950), Russian-born Latvian politician an ...
(FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
),
Aleksandrs Vlasovs (Skonto FC
Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...
)
Defenders:
Oskars Kļava (FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
),
Grigori Chirkin
Grigori Aleksandrovich Chirkin (russian: Григорий Александрович Чиркин; born 26 February 1986) is a Russian former professional footballer. He played as a defensive midfielder.
Career
He made his debut for the main s ...
(FK Ventspils
FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but ha ...
),
Deniss Ivanovs (FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
),
David Gamezardashvili (Skonto FC
Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...
),
Tomas Tamošauskas
Tomas Tamošauskas (born 22 May 1983) is a Lithuanian football manager and a former midfielder.
Club career
Tamošauskas began his career at Banga Gargždai in 2000. In 2001, he moved to FK Atlantas where he scored the club's consolation goal i ...
(FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
),
Vitālijs Smirnovs (Skonto FC
Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...
),
Deniss Kačanovs (FK Ventspils
FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but ha ...
),
Dzintars Zirnis
Dzintars Zirnis (born 25 April 1977 in Riga) is a Latvian former football defender. He last played for Latvian First League club FK 1625 Liepāja. For almost his entire career, Zirnis played for FK Liepājas Metalurgs in the Latvian Higher L ...
(FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
)
Midfielders:
Jurijs Žigajevs (FK Ventspils
FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but ha ...
),
Andrejs Prohorenkovs
Andrejs Prohorenkovs (born 5 February 1977) is a Latvian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Prohorenkovs was born in Ogre. He started his career with Interskonto in the Latvian Higher League, and has sinc ...
(FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
),
Vitālijs Astafjevs
Vitālijs Astafjevs (born 3 April 1971) is a Latvian former professional football midfielder, and current assistant manager of Aris Limassol having previously held the role for the Latvia national team.
Astafjevs won nine Latvian championshi ...
(FK Ventspils
FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but ha ...
),
Jevgēņijs Kosmačovs (FK Ventspils
FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but ha ...
),
Maksims Rafaļskis
Maksims Rafaļskis (born 14 May 1984) is a Latvian football manager, currently coaching the youth squad of Latvian Higher League club Metta, and former footballer.
Club career
Rafaļskis played for JFC Skonto in his youth years, but started ...
(FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
),
Igors Kozlovs (Skonto FC
Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...
),
Pāvels Surņins (FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
),
Igor Tigirlas
Igor may refer to:
People
* Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name
* Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler
* Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling
...
(FK Ventspils
FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but ha ...
)
Forwards:
Vits Rimkus
Vits may refer to:
People Surname
* Ernst Hellmut Vits (1903–1970), German lawyer
* Henry Vits (1842–1921), American businessman and politician
* Mia De Vits (born 1950), Belgian politician Given name
* Vīts Rimkus (born 1973), Latvian foot ...
(FK Ventspils
FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but ha ...
),
Vladimir Dvalishvili
Vladimir "Lado" Dvalishvili ( ka, ვლადიმერ დვალიშვილი; born 20 April 1986 in Tbilisi) is a Georgian former footballer who now works for Dinamo Batumi as their Sport Director.
Career
Dvalishvili was signed b ...
(Skonto FC
Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...
),
Kristaps Grebis
Kristaps Grebis (born 13 December 1980 in Liepāja) is a retired Latvian footballer.
Club career
Grebis started his professional career in 2000 with FK Liepājas Metalurgs. Making 7 appearances and scoring one goal in his first season, he lat ...
(FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
),
Ģirts Karlsons (FK Liepājas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fi ...
)
See also
* 2009–10 Latvian Cup
References
External links
Latvian Football Federation
Latvian Football Federation news
{{2009-10 in European Football (UEFA)
Latvian Higher League seasons
1
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...