The Riga Football Club (''Rīgas futbola klubs'' or ''Rīgas Futbolklubs'', RFK or Rīgas FK) 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 Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

which was founded on December 14, 1923 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. It was the strongest and most popular Latvian football club in the 1920s and 1930s, and the base team for the

Latvia national football team The Latvia national football team () represents Latvia in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FIF ...

in its early years. It disbanded after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the 1920s, the club also had a basketball section, which won the

Latvian Basketball League Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latvi ...

in 1926 and 1927.

History

The idea for its creation came about in 1922 with the goal of uniting Latvian players in a team which could beat the mostly-German

Ķeizarmežs Kaiserwald (also Ķeizarmežs) was a Latvian football club from Riga, founded in 1909. It was the third oldest club in Latvia after the Riga ''British Football Club'' and FC Union Riga, that were both founded in 1907. Same as ''Union'', a large ...

. The founder and manager was Juris Rēdlihs, one of the most active football organizers in Latvia. In 1923, most of the best Latvian footballers from JKS moved to Riga FK. Those included Hermanis Saltups, Ašmanis, Eihmanis, Roga, Bone, Sokolovs, Zemīts and the brothers

Edvīns Edvīns is a Latvian masculine given name which may refer to: * Edvīns Bārda (1900–1947), Latvian footballer and manager * Edvīns Bietags (1908–1983), Latvian wrestler *Edvīns Ķeņģis (born 1959), Latvian chess Grandmaster * Ed ...

, Rūdolfs and

Arvīds Bārda Arvīds Bārda (24 November 1901 – 11 November 1940) was a Latvian footballer, and, along with Edvīns Bārda, Rūdolfs Bārda and Oskars Bārda, one of the four football-playing Bārda brothers. He was born and died in Riga. Biography Bārda ...

. In its first season in the Riga Championship, Riga FK finished second – one point behind

. In 1924, when Riga FK acquired a new manager who also managed the

– Willy Malousek from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Because it was prohibited to have foreign citizens playing in the Latvian league for that season, Ķeizarmežs didn't play in 1924. Riga FC easily beat its closest rivals –

ASK Riga ASK Rīga is a former professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stood for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" (in English: Army Sports Club). History BK Rīga was then founded in 2004 as an attempt to revive the defunct club ...

in the Riga championship and beat the province champions from

Cēsis Cēsis (; (, , , ) is a town in Latvia located in the northern part of the Central Vidzeme Upland. Cēsis is on the Gauja River valley, and is built on a series of ridges above the river, overlooking the woods below. Cēsis was selected to b ...

5–1, winning its first Latvian championship. In

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

and

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

Riga FK won its second and third titles. In 1927, when the

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 ...

was launched,

Olimpija Liepāja Olimpija Liepāja was a Latvian football club. It was based in Liepāja and founded in 1922. It won the Latvian Top League on seven occasions between 1927 and 1939, becoming the first non-Riga team to win the title. Otto Fischer moved in 1936 ...

took gold, leaving RFC with second place. Several players (including

Arvīds Jurgens Karlis Arvīds Jurgens (27 May 1905 in Riga, Russian Empire – 17 December 1955 in Montreal, Quebec) was a Latvian footballer, ice hockey, basketball and bandy player who played for Latvia national teams in all four of these sports. He was ...

Voldemārs Plade Voldemārs Plade (sometimes also called Valdis Plade; 24 December 1900 – 27 January 1961) was a Latvian football forward and manager, the most notable of the four Plade brothers who played for the Latvia national football team. He was born ...

Česlavs Stančiks Česlavs Stančiks (26 September 1896 – 18 July 1980)Aleksandrs Ābrams Aleksandrs Ābrams (30 January 1904 – 3 February 1958) was a Latvian football forward who used to play with Rīgas FK, the most successful Latvian football club of the 1920s and 1930s. Club playing career The first club that Ābrams played wit ...

) left Riga FK during this season in order to found a new team – Riga Vanderers. Olimpija also beat RFK in the battle for title in 1928 and 1929. In the 1930s, the emergence of the best pre-war Latvian footballer,

Ēriks Pētersons Ēriks Pētersons (1909–1987) was a Latvian footballer and ice hockey player. Between 1929 and 1939 he played 63 international matches and scored 21 goals for Latvian national team. He also played in the Latvian national ice hockey team, whe ...

, once again brought good results for Riga FK – with titles in 1930 and 1931. In 1932, however, the team finished in its worst position so far – 3rd behind ASK and Riga Vanderers. The next titles for RK came in 1934 and 1935, when the team beat its competition by a large margin. The last time that RFK won the Latvian title was in 1940, just months before Soviet occupation of Latvia. RFK was then disbanded with its best players joining FK Dinamo Rīga. In 1941, with the German occupation of Latvia, Riga FK and other Latvian football teams were restored and participated in the 1942–1944 championships. The fate of former RFK was different, with some continuing to play football in Soviet Latvia, others emigrating and some being killed in the war. In 1992, the former

FK Auda Futbola klubs Auda is a Latvian professional association football, football club, playing in the Latvian Higher League, the highest division of domestic football. They are based in Ķekava, near the capital Riga. Auda won their first ever major t ...

was renamed Riga FK but, after a couple of seasons without serious results, it was renamed Auda again. In 2014 Riga Football Club was founded.

Honours

*Latvia top league: **Winners: 8 (1924–1926,1930–1931,1934–1935,1940) **Runners-up: 6 (1923,1927–1929,1933,1938) *

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 ...

: **Winners: 2 (1937, 1939) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rigas FK Association football clubs established in 1923 RFK Association football clubs disestablished in 1944 1923 establishments in Latvia 1944 disestablishments in Latvia