The Latvian Higher League (Latvian: Virslīga) is the top tier of association football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. The new season kicks off in April of every year, and runs until early November. There are no games in winter because of the harsh climate. Since 2006 the Latvian Higher League is sponsored by Latvijas Mobilais Telefons and officially called LMT Virslīga. Some of the matches of the Virslīga are transmitted by the live on the Internet site www.sportacentrs.com.
[edit] League format
Up to and including the 2007 season, there were eight clubs in the Virslīga. During the course of the season each club played all the other clubs four times, twice at their home stadium and twice at that of their opponents, completing a total of 28 games.
However, for the 2008 season the league expanded to ten clubs, and the fixture format changed. To expand to ten clubs there was no relegation at the end of the 2007 season, and the top two clubs from the 1. līga 2007 season, champions FK Vindava from Ventspils, and second placed SK Blāzma from Rēzekne were both promoted. A two stage process took place with all ten clubs playing each other twice home and away. The league then split with the top six clubs playing each other home and away in a championship stage for a total of 28 games in the season, while the bottom four clubs played each other twice in a relegation stage for a total of 24 games. This format was abandoned after the 2008 season.
In 2009 the league was played in four rounds with nine clubs. Each clubs played the others four times, twice at their home stadium and twice at that of their opponents. With the withdrawal of one club, FK Vindava, a total of 32 games were played. For the 2010 season, each club played the other nine clubs three times, for a total of 27 games.
At the end of the season, the lowest placed team are automatically relegated into Traffic 1. liga, and the winner of the Traffic 1. liga automatically takes their place. The second lowest placed team in Virslīga and the second team of 1. liga play two matches for a place in the Virslīga the following season. The winner of LMT Virslīga, the champion of Latvia, plays in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The second and third placed clubs play in the UEFA Cup qualifying games.[1]
[edit] Clubs (2012)
Location of teams in the 2012 Latvian Higher League
[edit] Past Virslīga winners
[edit] Top scorers
[edit] Champions of Latvia before Virslīga
[edit] Latvian SSR champions
[edit] References
[edit] External links
2012 Latvian Higher League
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Latvia
2012 Latvian Higher League
Ravil Sabitov
Sergey Podpaly
