| Founded | 1927; 98 years ago (1927) |
|---|---|
| Country |  Latvia |
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) |
| Number of clubs | 10 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Optibet Nākotnes Līga |
| Domestic cup(s) | Latvian Cup Latvian Supercup |
| International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League UEFA Conference League |
| Current champions | RFS (3rd title) (2024) |
| Most championships | Skonto (15) |
| TV partners | Domestic TV4 International Eleven Sports OneFootball |
| Website | tonybetvirsliga |
| Current:2025 Latvian Higher League | |
Latvian Higher League orVirslīga, also known asTonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons,[1] is a professionalassociation football league inLatvia and the highest level of theLatvian football league system. Organised by theLatvian Football Federation, the league is contested by ten clubs.
The first all-national Latvian championship - the Virslīga - which succeeded theRiga Football League and other, parallel regional leagues, was organized in 1927. It succeeded the previous Latvian Championship (Latvian:Latvijas čempionāts futbolā) that was held from 1922 to 1926 in similar fashion.
The Virslīga lasted until theSoviet occupation of Latvia in 1940. AfterWorld War II, between 1945 and 1991 thechampionship of Soviet Latvia was the main footballing competition in theLatvian SSR.
With Latvia regaining full independence inAugust 1991, the newly established Latvian Football Federation (LFF) decided to reorganise its competitions within the Virslīga from 1992.[2] The same year Latvia returned toFIFA and became a member ofUEFA.
Latvian Higher League is being played usually from early March till November. Although the team count in the league has changed multiple times (10 in 2007[3] and 2020, 9 in 2019[4] and 2021, and 8 in 2015-2018), since 2022, total of 10 teams are participating in the Virslīga. Each side are playing 36 games during the season, with 18 games being played at home and other 18 - away.
At the end of each season, the lowest placed team in the league gets automatically relegated to theOptibet Nākotnes Līga, with Nākotnes Līga winner replacing them, while the second lowest placed team gets to play in a 2 leg relegation playoff (Pārspēles) against the runner-up of the Nākotnes Līga, for the last spot in the league. The winner of Virslīga qualifies for theUEFA Champions League first qualification round, while runners-up and 3rd place teams qualify for theUEFA Conference League first qualification round.[5]
A winter off-season league cup, theVirslīga Winter Cup, was played in January of each year from 2013 to 2017, which was replaced in 2018 by theVirslīga Cup (Latvian:Virslīgas kausa izcīņa).[6] However since 2024, a revamped off-season tournament,Livonia Cup, is being played from January till February, with teams from Latvia's and Estonia's leagues taking part.
The League has changed sponsors for several times. From 2006 until 2010 it was known as theLMT Virslīga. No sponsorships were established for the 2011 season. Starting from the2012 season, the league was reorganised in partnership with an NGO as "Latvijas Futbola virslīga",[7] adopting the NGO's name in the 2012 season. From 2013 to 2015, the league was known as theSMScredit.lv Virslīga due to a contract with theonline microfinance companySMScredit.[8] In March 2016, it was announced that the Virslīga would be sponsored by SynotTipSports Bar on a three-year contract.[9] They were succeeded bybetting firmOptibet on a two-year contract, beginning with theOptibet Virslīga2019 season, which lasted until 2024.[10] In 2024 Optibet was replaced byTonyBet.
| Club | Position in 2023 |
|---|---|
| RFS | 1st |
| Riga FC | 2nd |
| FK Auda | 3rd |
| Valmiera FC | 4th |
| FK Liepaja | 5th |
| FS Jelgava | 6th |
| BFC Daugavpils | 7th |
| FK Tukums 2000 | 8th |
| Metta/LU | 9th |
| Grobiņas SC | 1st in2023 Nākotnes Līga |
Source:[11]
|
|
|
|
|
This is a list of clubs, in order of most titles won in championships in independent Latvia (1922–1940 and 1991 to date).[11]Teams inbold are part of 2020 Virslīga.
| Club | No. of Titles | Years won |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010 | |
| 8 | 1924, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1940 | |
| 7 | 1927, 1928, 1929, 1933, 1936, 1938, 1939 | |
| 6 | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014 | |
| 3 | 1932, 1942, 1944 | |
| Riga FC | 3 | 2018,2019,2020 |
| 2 | 2005, 2009 | |
| 2 | 1922, 1923 | |
| JPFS/Spartaks Jūrmala | 2 | 2016, 2017 |
| RFS | 3 | 2021,2023,2024 |
| Valmiera | 1 | 2022 |
| FK Liepāja | 1 | 2015 |
| 1 | 2012 |
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| # | Player | From | To | Season | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tolu Arokodare | Valmiera FC |  Amiens SC | 2022/2023 | 2,50 mln €[citation needed] |
| 2 | Māris Verpakovskis | Skonto FC |  FC Dynamo Kyiv | 2003/2004 | 2,00 mln €[citation needed] |
| 3 |  Andrej Ilić | RFS |  Vålerenga Fotball | 2023/2024 | 1,60 mln €[citation needed] |
| 4 | Raimonds Krollis | Valmiera FC |  Spezia Calcio | 2022/2023 | 1,52 mln €[citation needed] |
| 5 |  Gabriel Charpentier | FK Spartaks Jūrmala | Genoa CFC | 2020/2021 | 1,50 mln €[citation needed] |
 Patrick Twumasi |  FC Astana | 2014/2015 | 1,50 mln €[citation needed] | ||
| 7 |  Borys Tashchy | JFK Olimps |  Dynamo Moscow | 2011/2012 | 1,00 mln €[citation needed] |
| 8 |  Darko Lemajić | RFS |  K.A.A. Gent | 2021/2022 | 900 tys. €[citation needed] |
| 9 | Chinonso Offor | RFS |  Chicago Fire FC | 2020/2021 | 760 tys. €[citation needed] |
| 10 | Aleksandrs Koliņko | Skonto FC |  Crystal Palace F.C. | 2000/2001 | 750 tys. €[citation needed] |
| # | Player | From | To | Season | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hrvoje Babec | NK Vihor Jelisavac | Riga FC | 2022/2023 | 1,60 mln €[citation needed] |
| 2 |  Gustavo Dulanto |  FC Sheriff Tiraspol | 2022/2023 | 1,00 mln €[citation needed] | |
  Anthony Contreras | C.S. Herediano | 2022/2023 | 1,00 mln €[citation needed] | ||
| 4 | Luis Iberico | FBC Melgar | 2022/2023 | 900 tys. €[citation needed] | |
| 5 | Borys Tashchy | FC Chornomorets Odesa | JFK Olimps | 2011/2012 | 600 tys. €[citation needed] |
| 6 |  Rifet Kapić | FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | Valmiera FC | 2023/2024 | 500 tys. €[citation needed] |
| 7 |  Cédric Gogoua | FK Partizan | Riga FC | 2016/2017 | 350 tys. €[citation needed] |
 Lasha Odisharia | FC Dinamo Tbilisi | RFS | 2023/2024 | 350 tys. €[citation needed] | |
| 9 |   Douglas Aurélio |  Pafos FC | Riga FC | 2022/2023 | 300 tys. €[citation needed] |
 Audrius Kšanavičius | FBK Kaunas | Skonto FC | 2001/2002 | 300 tys. €[citation needed] |
The most well-known rivalry is theKurzeme derby (Kurzemes derbijs) betweenVentspils andLiepāja. The two biggest clubs inKurzeme have played 86 matches between themselves with a record of 31–28–27 (includingMetalurgs) in favor of Liepāja prior to the 2019 Virslīga.[12]
Since 2016, theRiga Derby (Rīgas derbijs) was started betweenRiga FC andRīgas FS as two clubs were promoted at the same time. A 2019 match inSkonto Stadium between the two sides broke a ten-year attendance record.[13]
Ventspils was the Latvian first club who qualified for the group stage of aUEFA club competition, reaching the2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage.[14]
Skonto reached theUEFA Champions League last qualifying stage for a number of times in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but lost to teams likeBarcelona in1997,Inter Milan in 1998 andChelsea in 1999.
RFS qualified for the2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League group stage, finishing in fourth place with 2 points.
Most recently,FK RFS qualified for the2024–25 UEFA Europa League
Commonwealth of Independent States Cup
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)(in Latvian)| National Teams | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League System |
| ||||
| Domestic cups |
| ||||
