When the season draws to a close, it's such times I'm thankful for those European countries that play throughout the summer instead. Last season, I had the pleasure of ticking off some Irish football as I watched Drogheda United beat Galway United by a goal to nil on a mild and grey July evening. But of course, Ireland aren't the only nation to employ summer leagues. All the Scandinavian countries also do so bar Denmark, and so do the Baltics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. A Scandinavian trip, while tempting, was not something I was quite ready to break the bank for just yet, so I settled on a few days in Latvia with my partner before heading back to England for the summer.
On getting back to England, the plan is to show her the sights of Stevenage (all two or three of them), before beginning my six weeks of summer work in Canterbury. But before all that, a well-deserved break after another successful year of teaching, and the game of choice was a local derby between Grobina and Liepaja.
We'd start in Riga before heading west to the Kurzeme coast, then fly back to Stansted from Palanga in Lithuania, which was only an hour down the coast from Liepaja. Of course all of that will be covered in a future blog, but in the meantime, what is the story of Latvian football? Who are the ten clubs currently occupying the top league?
A club-by-club guide to the Latvian Vrsliga
Auda - Current Position: 3rd
Our first of the ten current Virsliga sides are a club I managed to see in Northern Ireland almost a year ago now, as they held Larne to a goalless draw in a game that can only really be described as having happened. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the away support given Latvia's reputation as a nation pretty apathetic toward football in general.
The club hail from Riga, and were formed in 1969 as 9. Majis, mainly occupying the lower reaches of the Latvian game initially. They were formed from the kolhoz (collective farm) of the time, with Latvia not gaining independence from the Soviet Union until 1991. They began life in the Riga neighbourhood of Vecmīlgrāvis, and only played in the top league twice prior to that independence, gaining a collective 19 points over two seasons in 1986 and 1987...
With indendence, the team changed the name to FK Auda, but still couldn't find a consistency as a top division side. They spent the nineties bouncing between the second and third tiers, and only enjoyed three seasons in the top tier between 2002 and 2004. Then came second tier wilderness that eventually ended in 2021 courtesy of a title win. Some cup wins have followed this decade in 2022 and 2025, so it would be fair to say Auda are one of the more successful teams in Latvia, though that coveted league title still eludes them with RFS and Riga both dominant forces in Latvian football.
BFC Daugavpils - Current Position: 6th
Daugavpils are in an unfortunate position, and I mean that quite literally. Geographically, Daugavpils straddles the border with Lithuania, and they're closer to Vilnius than they are to Riga. Journeys for league games are usually a minimum of three hours, and BFC are the only team in the western part of the country playing in the top tier.
Formed in December 2009, their history is a brief one, with the club first gaining promotion to the top flight in 2013 under Kirils Kurbatovs. Three seasons later, they were back down again, but it only took a couple of seasons for the club to return to where they've been ever since, finishing anywhere between 8th and 4th to date.
Last season, BFC even made it to the Europa Conference League play-off stage, though Albanian side Vllaznia were able to overturn a 1-0 deficit in Albania, winning the second leg 4-2. The stadium has a sub-2,000 capacity, with fans usually only filling a quarter of it. Interestingly, the city is one of the largest Russian-majority speaking cities in the EU too.
Grobina - Current Position: 9th
Another club formed in 2009, Grobina survived the drop by the skin of their teeth last season via a two-legged play-off victory over Alberts JDFS (a 1-0 win, with the goal coming in the second away leg). It's only the fact that Ogre United (more on them later) are struggling to adapt to their new league that they're keeping their heads above the water.
All that said, Grobina are the team I'm in Latvia to see, having briefly managed them on the latest Football Manager. This is only the club's third season in the top tier, and both seasons so far have seen the club finish 9th, so it almost seems inevitable at this point. Based in the coastal city of Liepaja, the club groundshare with Liepaja at a ground that's right on the coast.
Their actual ground only holds 500, and looking at images, it's hard to believe it's a top level stadium, which perhaps emphasises why the club has such a need to groundshare. Perhaps one day the boys in blue will emulate my cup win with them on FM26 (genuinely the only bit of fun I've had on this year's game).
Jelgava - Current Position: 7th
Jelgava were originally formed in 2004, though the current iteration are technically a phoenix club of the original, with FK Jelgava dissolving in 2021. They're one of many clubs in or within 25 miles of the Latvian capital in the picturesque city of Jelgava.
Both iterations have essentially existed in the top flight for all but a couple of seasons, and they've even won the cup four times. This meant the club often contested European qualifiers against the likes of Rosenborg and Ferencvaros, but they've never been able to make it past the first step. They're also still awaiting that first league title.
Currently, Jelgava interestingly have six Czech players on their books (and a Slovak - I haven't quite found out why or what the connection is). But legendary ice hockey goaltender Dominik Hasek's nephew Filip plays for them currently. They also 'did a Stevenage' in that they finished bottom in 2024, but escaped relegation due to the off-field issues of Valmiera who were relegated instead. Brothers in unpunished sub-mediocrity, unite!
Liepaja - Current Position: 4th
Now for the other team on the Kurzeme coast, Liepaja, who despite being historically more successful than their Grobina counterparts, are a lot younger. Formed in 2014 as
another phoenix club, this time of Liepajas Metalurgs, have two cups and one league title to their name. Liepajas Metalurgs before them became the first club other than Skonto Riga to win the league in 2005 since the Virsliga started in 1991.
They also won it in 2009, then came the bankuptcy of the metallurgical plant that gave the club its name, leading to the aforementioned formation of the club in its current form. They've also had a couple of successful European nights against Crusaders of Northern Ireland, as well as Dinamo Minsk, although they are yet to make it past the second qualifying round.
The city itself is also known as the windiest city in Latvia - the phrase Pilsētā, kurā piedzimst vējš is often cited about the city, translating as 'the city where the wind is born'. It's also set to be a European capital of culture for the year 2027.
Ogre United - Current Position: 10th
I can't be the only one disappointed in this club's badge, right? In all seriousness though, Ogre have long been Latvia's largest town not to have a top-flight club, but last season's promotion saw the club formed in 2022 reach new heights. Definitely the youngest club in the top division, Ogre have made incredible strides from beginning life in the fourth tier.
It's said that the name of the town (which comes from the River Ogre) actually originates from the Russian word for eels, with many eels residing in the River Ogre. Ogre also used to be a resort for wealthy residents of Latvia.
Not only is Ogre an amusingly named town or a former resort for the wealthy though - it also houses one of the most renowned libraries in the world. It was nominated as one of the four best libraries in th world back in 2022. In any case, the club might not be in the top-flight for long, so enjoy them while they're there!
RFS - Current Position: 1st
Not to be confused with Real Flight Simulator, RFS are arguably Latvia's most successful (existent) club. In fact, they may well be the only Latvian club you've heard of on the basis of their historic 1-0 win against Ajax in the Europa League. Based in Riga, the club were formed in 2016 (you guessed it) as a continuation of the dissolved FK Daugava, who went under in 2015.
Daugava are perhaps known to Aberdeen fans, with the Scottish side having hammered them 8-0 on aggregate in a 2014 European qualifier. Since forming in response to their bankruptcy, however, RFS haven't taken long to do what their predecessors couldn't. They won their first league title in 2021, following it up in 2023 and 2024 respectively. They also look well placed to do so this season, though fierce city rivals Riga will have something to say about that.
The club are also three-time Latvian Cup winners (2019, 2021, and 2024), and seem to very much be a leading light as to the heights Latvian football can reach. On the other hand, it's been said that they and Riga could represent the start of a Latvian duopoly given the financial disparities between themselves and the other clubs. In any case, more nights like that against Ajax are sure to be commonplace sooner rather than later.
Riga - Current Position: 2nd
The most recent champions of Latvia were formed in 2014 as a result of a merger between FC Caramba and Dinamo Riga. They were initially known as such (FC Caramba/Dinamo) until promotion in 2016 saw the club don a new identity - Riga FC.
It didn't take long for that new identity to become successful, with the club winning a league and cup double in 2018, before retaining the league over the next two seasons. The club have had some big wins on their European travels too - knocking out Polish side Piast Gliwice, and beating the likes of Copenhagen and Sparta Praha in home legs.
To date, however, the club are yet to match RFS and reach the league phrase of any European tournament, with defeats to the aforementioned Copenhagen and Sparta Praha happening at the play-off stage. Perhaps most agonisingly, Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar stopped them from getting into the Europa Conference League in 2022. Definitely a club to keep an eye on this summer as far as European qualifiers go though.
Super Nova - Current Position: 5th
Some day you will find me, caught beneath the landslide...in a campaign Super Nova won't forget anytime soon. That is to say the 2024 season in which the Riga based side won promotion to the top flight. Formed in 2000 from the foundations of a secondary school, Super Nova are no strangers to the top flight, but they've rarely performed well in the division.
They began life in the Latvian system in 2017, winning their first promotion to the top flight in 2021. They finished 10th in 2022, but were another team that would 'do a Stevenage' and stay up by default. They took full advantage of this salvation in 2023 by finishing...10th. This time, there was to be no survival...
It didn't take them long to bounce back though, as they won the second tier in 2024, then finished a record 8th last season. Now they find themselves in the lofty heights of 5th, and while they don't look likely to crack the top three, things are a lot steadier. That said, a few defeats could find them caught beneath that landslide.
Tukums 2000 - Current Position: 8th
You'll never guess when Tukums 2000 were formed. Ahh, okay. Good guess. In any case, that makes Tukums a relative veteran of the Latvian game, although they first rose to the top tier in 2019. Unfortunately, they went straight back down in 2020.
But they came back up again in 2021, this time finishing a respectable 6th the following season. They've managed to survive relatively comfortably since and have become a relative mainstay of the division over the last few seasons.
The club are based in the town of Tukums, which is about an hour west of Riga, and is often known as the town of roses. It is widely recognised as the birthplace of written Latvian, with local clergymen Kristofors Firekers having invented the softening marks used in the modern Latvian alphabet back in the 17th Century.
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