RAF Jelgava was a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

. The foundation of the club is considered in 1988 and for the first two years there were two teams of RAF Jelgava which in 1990 merged into one. One of those played in the lower Soviet leagues, the other – in the Latvian league.

Team history

Automobīlists Jelgava

The RAF bus factory-sponsored club Automobīlists played in the lower Latvian leagues in the early 1970s, but in the mid-1970s were renamed Metālists.

Metālists Jelgava

The club first appeared in 1977 and in their debut season in the Latvian league finished 7th out of 13 teams. After three less than stellar seasons the club changed owners – it was once again attached to the RAF bus factory and renamed to Automobīlists Jelgava.

Automobīlists Jelgava

As Automobīlists the Jelgava squad also had it hard – at best it finished seasons in the middle of the table, and between 1983 and 1987 it played in the 1st league. In 1987 Automobīlists lost to Zemgale Ilūkste for a place in Virslīga but as the league was expanded under the name of RAF,

once again had a club in the top Latvian league.

RAF Jelgava

In 1988 and 1989 there were two teams of RAF Jelgava which in 1990 merged into one. One of those played in the lower Soviet leagues, the other – in the Latvian league. In 1988 and 1989 under the management of

Viktors Ņesterenko Viktors Ņesterenko (born 3 May 1954) is a Latvian football coach and former player. Career Playing career Ņesterenko was born in Ukraine and played football there with the reserves of FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. In 1971 Ņesterenko was invited ...

the "local" RAF won the Latvian league, in 1988 as a golden double it also won the

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company ...

. Meanwhile, the "international" RAF weren't doing that well – although they had in its squad several talented young players including

Vladimirs Babičevs Vladimirs Babičevs (born 22 April 1968) is a Latvian association football, football manager and a former footballer. Currently, he is the manager of the Latvia national under-19 football team. Babičevs has played 51 matches for Latvia nationa ...

Dzintars Sproģis Dzintars Sproģis (born 13 May 1971) is a former Latvian football defender. Sproģis was recognized as the best defender in the first season of Virslīga. Playing biography Dzintars Sproģis came from a sporting family - his father Aivars play ...

Igors Troickis Igors Troickis (, ''Igor Anatolyevich Troitskiy''; born 11 January 1969) is a former football defender from Latvia. He obtained a total number of 41 caps for the Latvia national team between 1992 and 2001. His last club was FK Rīga. Troickis ...

and Aleksandrs Stradiņš, its results were very disappointing. In 1989 Ņesterenko took over the unified RAF team in the Soviet league and in the Baltic league. In 1990 and 1991 the team played better, but then the Soviet Union collapsed and RAF joined the Latvian

Virslīga Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Football F ...

. In the early 1990s RAF was one of the strongest teams in

, three times finishing second and once third (in 1992 they finished runners up to

Skonto Rīga Skonto FC was a Latvian professional 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 cor ...

in an additional game after finishing the season on equal points). However, when the bus plant ran into financial difficulties, the team received new sponsorship from the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

in 1996 and, as a result, changed their name and relocated to Riga, and played in the Latvian University Stadium.

RAF Rīga

As RAF Rīga the club only played one season, finishing 5th in the Latvian league, however it won the 1996

. But after the season the club changed its name again – this time to Universitāte Rīga.

Universitāte Rīga

The only season under the name of Universitāte didn't bring much success to the club – 6th place in the league with the club being disbanded after the season.

RAF Jelgava (again)

A team under the name RAF Jelgava appeared again in 2001 in the 1. līga. After the 2003 season the club merged with another Jelgava club – FK Viola Jelgava (formed in 1996) forming

FK Jelgava FK Jelgava is a Latvian football club that is based in Jelgava. The club plays its home-matches at the Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs stadium with capacity of 1,560 people. In 2021, the club dissolved its professional team, which was abso ...

League and Cup history

Soviet Union

;RAF Jelgava

Baltic

;RAF Jelgava

Latvian SSR

; Metālists Jelgava ; Automobīlists Jelgava ;RAF Jelgava

Latvia

;RAF Jelgava ; RAF Rīga / FC Universitāte Rīga ; FC Universitāte Rīga ;RAF Jelgava

European record

Honours

Latvia

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Footbal ...

**Runners-Up (2):

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

**Winners (2): 1993, 1996

Latvian SSR

*Latvian SSR Higher League **Winner: (2)

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

**Winners: (1) 1988 ;Notes *Note 1: As RAF Jelgava. *Note 2: As FC Universitate Riga.

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in Latvia 1988 establishments in Latvia 2003 disestablishments in Latvia Association football clubs established in 1988 Association football clubs disestablished in 2003