This article is about the football club from Vilnius. For the football club from Kaunas, seeFK Kauno Žalgiris. For the futsal club from Kaunas, seeFK Kauno Žalgiris (futsal).
Futbolo klubas Žalgiris, commonly known asFK Žalgiris,Žalgiris Vilnius or simplyŽalgiris, is aLithuanian professionalfootball club based inVilnius. The club competes in theA Lyga, the top flight ofLithuanian football. The club was founded as Dinamo in 1947. The club's name commemorates the victoriousBattle of Žalgiris (Battle of Grunwald) (both names:Žalgiris andGrunwald are translated as "green forest"). Žalgiris has featured many Lithuanian football legends during its history includingArminas Narbekovas,Valdas Ivanauskas,Edgaras Jankauskas andDeividas Šemberas. They have won the Lithuanian Championship 10 times, the Lithuanian Football Cup 14 times, and the Lithuanian Supercup 7 times.
The team's colours are green and white. The club plays at LFF stadium in Vilnius which has a capacity of 5,067.
After beatingMalmö in the second round ofChampions League qualifying in July 2022, Žalgiris secured themselves group stage football and became the first ever Lithuanian club to qualify for the group stages of a UEFA club competition; where they dropped into theEuropa Conference League group stage after losing in theEuropa League play-offs. They would finish bottom of their group with five points, and one win from their six games.
The first incarnation of the club played in 1946 as a national team ofLithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic when it competed in USSR Group III Zone 4 championship and it was one of the clubs which represented one of the Soviet republics. The club consisted of Spartakas Kaunas and Dinamo Kaunas players. Their first match was against Stroitel Moscow which ended 1–1 and they were managed by French coach Emil Pastor. That year they finished in fourth place inRSFSR Western Zone championship.[2]
The club is thought to have been founded in 1947 when it was moved fromKaunas toVilnius and its name was changed to Dinamo Vilnius.[3] First official match of the formed club was played on 16 May 1947 againstLokomotiv Moscow, who managed to defeat local team 1–2.[4] Steponas Petraitis scored the first official goal for the club that day, beating goalkeeper from a penalty spot in 44th minute.[5] The next year club changed its name to Spartakas Vilnius and used this name until the end of 1961 season. In 1962, they changed their name to Žalgiris.
Before the start of the1983 season inSoviet Top League, players initiative group demanded the resignation of coachBenjaminas Zelkevičius, and the players wish was granted as,Algimantas Liubinskas became the trainer.Start was cautious. A similar result 0–0 has played inTashkent withPakhtakor, inLeningrad withZenit, inVilnius withDynamo. In the fourth match of the season againstNeftchi inBaku, Gražulis scored goal on 1–0 and brought victory. There were victories and failures, but Žalgiris became the winners of the first round. In first place Žalgiris stayed short, Nevertheless, final fifth place is the highest achievement of Lithuanian football on this time and gives a great hope for future.Arminas Narbekovas,Romas Mažeikis, and Vladimiras Buzmakovas succeeded in the team in that season.[7]
Edgaras Jankauskas scored 41 goals in 93 matches with Žalgiris (1991–1996).
Green and whites took their first A Lyga title the following season when they won the regular season, took the revenge against Ekranas beating them in the semi-finals and won the final againstLietuvos Makabi Vilnius 3–1 withRičardas Zdančius scoring a hat-trick. Žalgiris completed the double later that year by winning the Lithuanian cup.
The1991 season was followed by two significant changes in league format: the knock-out competition was removed and league was reorganized to be played from autumn until spring. Žalgiris saw off the challenge fromPanerys Vilnius to defend their title by a single point. There were no double in this year, however: Lietuvos Makabi took revenge for their defeat in last season's league final and beat Žalgiris in the final 1–0. In the summer of 1992, Žalgiris made their debut in theUEFA Champions League. Europe's elite proved to be merciless:PSV Eindhoven hammered Žalgiris 8–0 on aggregate in the first round.
In1992–93 season things went the other way round in national competitions: having lost the national title toFK Ekranas by three points Žalgiris reclaimed the cup, beatingSirijus Klaipėda 1–0 in the final courtesy of the extra-time goal byAurelijus Skarbalius. A similar story happened in the1993–94 season whenROMAR Mažeikiai narrowly beat Vilnius' side to the title while Žalgiris defended the cup by beatingFK Ekranas 4–2 in the final.Darius Maciulevičius was the hero of that day scoring a hat-trick andAidas Preikšaitis added another from the penalty spot.
1994–95 season delivered a double blow for the side from the capital. Žalgiris andInkaras Kaunas finished the league locked on points at the top and extra match on neutral ground was set to be played.Inkaras Kaunas beat Žalgiris 2–0 inPanevėžys and four days later the same two teams met inKlaipėda for cup final. Inkaras once again came out better off as former Žalgiris manEimantas Poderis scored twice in a 2–1 victory for Kaunas' side.1995–96 season did not bring silverware either: free scoring Žalgiris side racked up 106 goals in just 28 games in the league yet could only take a third place, six points behind championsInkaras Kaunas. On this timeEdgaras Jankauskas was top scorerA Lyga with 25 goals. He was later sold toCSKA Moscow.
Things did not go well in the cup as well as Vilnius' side lost toKareda Šiauliai in the semi-finals and failed to advance to the final for the first time in six years. Žalgiris reclaimed the cup in 1996–97 season asDonatas Vencevičius' penalty was enough to see off Inkaras in the final but had to settle for second in the league as Kareda coasted to the title with an 8-point margin. Green and whites mounted a stronger challenge in 1997–98 yet Kareda proved its success has been no fluke by defending their title.
The elusive title finally came in 1998–99 season, the last one to be played from autumn until spring. Defense was the key to success as Žalgiris conceded just 8 goals in 23 games and did not lose a single league match that season. Things were different in the cup as Kareda dismantled Žalgiris 7–0 on aggregate in the semi-finals. The league title allowed Žalgiris to have another try in the UEFA Champions League and this time Vilnius' side eliminated Armenian championsAraks Ararat before succumbing to a defeat to last season's semi-finalistsDynamo Kyiv in the second round.
With a turn of the century a new force rose in Lithuanian football:FBK Kaunas. Under the name of Žalgiris Kaunas they won the transitional shortened league season in1999 and then backed it up by consecutive titles in2000,2001,2002,2003 and2004. Žalgiris on the other hand went into decline and cup final win in 2003 proved to be the sole piece of silverware for the club in the 2000s. In the league Žalgiris started to struggle as well. While in 1999 and 2000 green and whites finished second, 2001 saw them dropping to third, 2002 to fourth and 2005 to the recently unimaginable lows of eighth. Žalgiris was not even the strongest team in the capital as newcomersVėtra andFC Vilnius were clearly having better time on the pitch.
Despite a constant presence in European competitions the results there were rarely encouraging with the aggregate defeats like 2–7 toRuch Chorzow and 0–7 toMaccabi Tel Aviv.Budapest Honved andPortadown were the only teams eliminated by Žalgiris between 2000 and 2004. 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup thus stood out as a major success as green and whites went past three teams –Lisburn Distillery,Dinaburg andEgaleo, before being eliminated byCFR Cluj.
The struggles of the noughties culminated in 2008. The league finish of fifth could have been seen as adequate for the time (20 points gap to fourth-placedSūduva was harder to take) but as country's economy braced for the inevitable crisis, expenditures were cut and uncertainty rose Žalgiris was dealt a big blow when club owner Vadim Kastujev was arrested inMoscow. Striped of funds club survived until the end of the season but failed to meet licensing requirements for top flight competition in 2009. With old club's future very much in doubt fans of Žalgiris founded a newphoenix club called VMFD Žalgiris which had the same players and staff, and following unsuccessful application forA Lyga license entered second division.
A year outside of top flight proved to be difficult. Žalgiris finished sixth in seven team league and were eliminated from the cup in the Round of 16 bySakuona Plikiai, a team from a town with a population of just 600. Despite this bleak performance the club received promotion to A Lyga as the number of teams in top flight was increased and some other clubs refused to join in mainly because of financial burden. Žalgiris finished 2010 season in the third place, their highest since 2001.
The fortunes of Žalgiris went all uphill from there. WithFBK Kaunas in complete turmoil andVėtra bankruptEkranas for several years became the undisputed superpower of Lithuanian football. Green and whites were closing in, however: Žalgiris took second in 2011, eight points adrift, and closed the gap to a single point a year later. Moreover, in 2012 Vilnius side finally ended their nine-year trophy drought and wonLithuanian Football Cup, beating Ekranas on penalties following a 0–0 draw. The same season saw Žalgiris returning to European competitions but theirUEFA Europa League campaign proved to be short: following 1–1 draw in Vilnius,Admira Wacker Mödling hammered Žalgiris 5–1 in the second leg of the second qualifying round.
Žalgiris were considered to be strong favorites for the title before the 2013 season and for much of the season it looked that they would cruise to the championship. Žalgiris had eleven points lead over second-placed Atlantas with five games remaining but four draws in the row followed and before the final match of the season the gap at the top was reduced to three points. In final match out of form Žalgiris proved to be no match for Sūduva and for much of the day prospect of season decider on neutral venue looked very likely. However, in tense atmosphere it was Atlantas who ultimately let it slip as they could only draw the game withBanga Gargždai and Žalgiris celebrated their first title in fourteen years. Victory in Cup final againstŠiauliai meant that the double was won—the first since 1991. The great year was backed up by successful performance in UEFA Europa League where Vilnius' side eliminatedSt. Patrick's Athletic,Pyunik Yerevan andLech Poznan before losing out toRed Bull Salzburg.
Defending the title in 2014 proved to be far more routine task. Žalgiris finished the season 18 points clear of second-placedKruoja Pakruojis (the largest winning margin in the league since 2006) and also claimed the cup for the third time in the row, beating Banga Gargždai 2–1 in the final. The club made return toUEFA Champions League after fourteen-year absence yet it did not bring much joy asDinamo Zagreb beat Žalgiris 4–0 on aggregate in the second qualifying round.
In May 2015 Žalgiris won Lithuanian cup for a record fourth time in the row, beatingAtlantas 2–0 in the final. UEFA Champions League campaign was again limited to just two games asMalmo won the return leg in Vilnius 1–0 after goalless first match in Sweden. Žalgiris finished the season top of the league, ten points clear of second-placedTrakai thus claiming third successive title.
In the2016 season, Žalgiris continued its dominance in Lithuanian football in 2016 with fourth consecutive league title and, remarkably, two cup wins. LFF Cup was rescheduled to be played from spring until autumn that year and therefore two editions of the cup have been played that year. Žalgiris won the first final in May with 1–0 extra time win over Trakai and backed it up with 2–0 final win over Sūduva in September. European experience proved to heartbreaking as following a goalless draw in the first leg in Vilnius Žalgiris was a whisker away from eliminatingAstana only to concede an injury time goal to lose the game 2–1.
In the2017 season, Žalgiris failed to progress beyond the Champions League's second qualifying round once again in 2017 when impressive first leg win overLudogorets Razgrad and an early goal bySerge Nyuiadzi in the second leg were completely undone by four straight goals by Bulgarian side. In September 2017, Žalgiris reached the seventh consecutivecup final, where they lost toStumbras, who appeared in their first major final. Žalgiris failed to defend the league title, while they were in top position of the standings until October 2017, but a late march bySūduva saw them winning their first-ever championship.
In the 2018 season, Žalgiris finished in second place as Sūduva defended their league title, while Žalgiris managed to win the cup in a repeat of last year's final as they defeated Stumbras. Playing in the UEFA Europa League, Žalgiris reached the third qualifying round where they lost to Spain'sSevilla, which was their best performance in European competition since 2013 when they reached the play-off round of the qualification in the UEFA Europa League. In November 2018, Žalgiris announced thatDeividas Česnauskis andDeividas Šemberas joined the club. Česnauskis was appointed as sports director, Šemberas as the director of sports operations.
During the 2019 preseason, head coachValdas Urbonas signed a contract with theLithuanian Football Federation and became the head coach of Lithuania national team. Žalgiris then appointedMarek Zub, who was previously successfully working in the club, as head coach. However, Zub left Žalgiris on 15 July 2019.João Luís Martins, who became available after the dissolution ofFC Stumbras, took on the job of head coach on a temporary basis until the end of the season.
In January 2020, Žalgiris announced the appointment ofJuan Ferrando as head coach. However, Ferrando was forced to pull out due to health issues. Later that month,Alyaksey Baha was signed as the team's new head coach. He started off with a success by winning theLithuanian Supercup on 29 February against championsFK Sūduva. Žalgiris went on to win the2020 A Lyga. In both 2021 and 2022, they won thedouble consisting of the A Lyga and LFF cup title.
In July 2022, after beatingMalmö 3–0 on aggregate in theChampions League second qualifying round, Žalgiris made history by guaranteeing themselves group stage football for the season. They playedLudogorets in the play-off of theEuropa League, but lost on aggregate and dropped into theConference League group stage. They were the first ever Lithuanian club to qualify for the group stages of a UEFA club competition. Žalgiris were subsequently drawn into Group H against the Swiss stalwartsBasel, Slovakian championsSlovan Bratislava and Armenian championsPyunik. The team would finish bottom of the group with five points from their six matches.
Žalgiris finished the2023 A Lyga season in second place, twelve points behind winning teamFK Panevėžys, who won their first-ever league title. At the end of the season,Saulius Mikoliūnas, who had been with the club since 2016 and has appeared in over 200 games for Žalgiris, retired from professional football.
The official club of Žalgiris' fans is named Pietų IV. The members of Pietų IV support the team during games in Lithuania and Europe.
The establishment date of Pietų IV is considered October 1985. Since that time fans have been supporting the team while singing, waving flags and creating impressive choreography. Fans helped Žalgiris to survive the financial crisis. During difficult periods, they organized various events and collected enough money to remain. Pietų IV and the managers of the club together are the founders of Žalgiris Vilnius.
From the establishment of the club, Žalgiris colours were blue, red or sometimes orange. In the 1980s green and white kits were introduced, establishing green/white tradition. From then on, the kit is usually a green and white striped jersey and green/white variation of shorts and socks. In the past there have also been checkered green-white jersey designs. Away kits are usually plain white or green.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Lists of the winners of Žalgiris Player of the Year Award instituted from 2004 as voted by the official members of Žalgiris supporters club – Pietų IV:
FK Žalgiris players who have either appeared for their respective national team at any time or received an individual award while at the club. Players whose name is listed inbold represented their countries while playing for Žalgiris.
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