The 2019 LFF I Lyga was the 30th season of the I Lyga, the second tier association football league of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. The season began on 22 March 2019 and finished in 27 October 2019.

Licensing process

The Lithuanian Football Federation initially granted applications for 2019 LFF I Lyga licenses:

FK Banga Gargždai FK Banga Gargždai is a Lithuanian football club from the city of Gargždai. History FK Banga was founded in 1966. During the period from 1966 to 1990, the club was in the Soviet Lithuanian football championship. From 1990, they played in th ...

, FK Nevėžis, FC Pakruojis,

FC Džiugas FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakist ...

, Žalgiris B,

Stumbras B AB Stumbras is the oldest and largest producer of strong alcoholic drinks in Kaunas, Lithuania. The company began operations in 1906. It is also the largest exporter of strong alcoholic beverages and one of the biggest taxpayers in Lithuania. T ...

, Riteriai B (Trakai B). After the appeal, on 28 February 2019 Lithuanian Football Federation granted licenses to FK Vilnius (

Baltijos Futbolo Akademija Baltijos Futbolo Akademija, BFA is a Lithuanian football club based in Vilnius, established as an extension of the youth football academy. History The football academy was established in 2007. The club has been participating in the Children ...

FK Minija Kretinga FK Minija was a Lithuanian football team from town Kretinga. History Club founded in 1962. In soviet occupation period played in "A" klasė and Aukščiausia lyga (First tier). The best season was in 1964, when team took third place in top di ...

, DFK Dainava,

Vilniaus Vytis FC Vilniaus Vytis was a Lithuanian football team from the city of Vilnius. History Founded as FK TAIP in 2012. Played in amateur leagues. Was promoted to I Lyga. In 2016 changed name to Vilniaus Vytis. Few seasons was one of the strongest te ...

FK Atmosfera (2012) Futbolo klubas Atmosfera, commonly known as Atmosfera, is a Lithuanian football club located in Mažeikiai, in Mažeikiai District. They currently play in the I Lyga, the second tier of Lithuanian football. FK Atmosfera is a phoenix club of A ...

, FC Hegelmann Litauen. The final decision on the number of teams in 2019 LFF I Lyga was made by the Lithuanian Football Federation executive committee meeting on 15 March 2019. Exceptions were applied to

FK Jonava Football Club Jonava, previously (1996–2016) known as Football Club Lietava, is a Lithuanian professional association football, football club based in Jonava. The club gained promotion to the A lyga as champions of the I Lyga in 2015 LFF I lyga ...

(financial criteria were not met),

FC Kupiškis Football club Kupiškis, commonly known as Kupiškis was a Lithuanian association football, football team from Kupiškis. History The club was formed in 2018, and made headlines when it was granted exception to participate straight away in the ...

(sporting criteria were not met) and

FA Šiauliai Football Academy of Šiauliai or FA Šiauliai is a Lithuanian football academy from the city of Šiauliai. The team is simply known as "Šiauliai". The academy train women's and men's teams, as well as children's and underage groups in "U" type ...

(legal criteria were not met) and the teams were allowed to start in the 2019 LFF I Lyga championship, pending criteria to be met by June. The 16 team championship started on 22 March 2019. The applications for the 2019 LFF I Lyga licenses were also received from

FK Sveikata Kybartai Futbolo klubas Sveikata, commonly known as Sveikata, is a Lithuanian football club located in Kybartai, in Vilkaviškis District. They currently play in the II Lyga, the third tier of Lithuanian football. They are the oldest active football club ...

, FM Ateitis and FK NFA but licenses were not granted.

FK Utenis Utena FK Utenis Utena is a professional football club, based in Utena, Lithuania. The club plays its home matches at the Utenis Stadium (capacity 3,000). In 2020, FK Utenis Utena will participate in the II Lyga. As due to financial difficulties in 201 ...

shareholders voted to withdraw from participation in 2019 LFF I Lyga, and the club will participate in 2019

LFF II Lyga Lithuanian Football Federation's II lyga, LFF II lyga – the third tier Lithuanian football championship. As of 2021, the II lyga is a single league, consisting of planned 16 teams. The two top teams gain promotion to the I Lyga. Until the end ...

FK Koralas Klaipėda Futbolo klubas Koralas, commonly known as Koralas was a Lithuanian football team from the port city of Klaipėda. History Club was established in 2015. In this season they was in LFF III lyga (4th tier), was leaders for a long time, but finished ...

was dissolved in 2018.

Participants

Final standings

After FC Stumbras ran into financial difficulties in June the

Lithuania Football Federation Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

made a decision to withdraw their license from A lyga, and Stumbras B from I lyga. FC Džiugas Telšiai earned promotion to A lyga, subject to meeting licensing criteria.

earned a play-off with A lyga 7th placed

FK Palanga FK Palanga was a professional Association football, football club based in Palanga, Lithuania. The team competes in the A Lyga, the top division of Football in Lithuania, Lithuanian football in 2018 and 2019 seasons. History FK Palanga was found ...

Top scorers

References

{{2019 in Lithuanian football I Lyga seasons 2019 in Lithuanian football Lith Lith