2005 Latvian Higher League

Latvian Higher League

Season	2005
Champions	FK Liepajas Metalurgs
Relegated	JFK Olimps Riga FK Venta
UEFA Champions League	FK Liepajas Metalurgs
UEFA Cup	Skonto FC FK Ventspils
UEFA Intertoto Cup	Dinaburg FC
Top goalscorer	Igors Slesarcuks Viktors Dobrecovs (18 goals each one)
← 2004 2006 →

The 2005 season in the Latvian Higher League, named Virslīga, was the 15th domestic football (soccer) competition since the Baltic nation gained independence from the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Eight teams competed in this edition, with FK Liepājas Metalurgs claiming the title.

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liepājas Metalurgs (C)	28	22	5	1	85	19	+66	71	Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2	Skonto	28	17	7	4	59	25	+34	58	Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3	Ventspils	28	16	7	5	56	30	+26	55
4	Dinaburg	28	9	8	11	37	43	−6	35	Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
5	Rīga	28	9	7	12	32	46	−14	34
6	Jūrmala	28	9	5	14	37	38	−1	32
7	Olimps Rīga (R)	28	5	4	19	24	68	−44	19	Qualification for relegation play-offs
8	Venta (R)	28	2	3	23	18	79	−61	9	Relegation to Latvian First League

Source:
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Match table

First half of the season

Home \ Away	DIN	JŪR	MET	OLI	RĪG	SKO	VTA	VEN
Dinaburg		1–0	1–2	3–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	0–1
Jūrmala	1–2		0–1	1–0	3–0	3–2	0–0	2–2
Liepājas Metalurgs	4–2	3–1		3–0	5–1	4–2	5–1	2–0
Olimps Rīga	2–1	0–3	0–6		0–2	1–5	2–1	0–3
Rīga	3–0	3–2	0–1	1–0		0–4	0–2	0–2
Skonto	3–0	3–1	1–1	0–2	0–2		3–0	1–0
Venta	1–3	2–2	0–0	3–0	0–1	0–3		0–1
Ventspils	1–1	1–0	3–0	3–2	0–0	1–3	5–1

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season

Home \ Away	DIN	JŪR	MET	OLI	RĪG	SKO	VTA	VEN
Dinaburg		1–0	2–2	1–1	2–2	1–3	3–0	3–3
Jūrmala	1–0		0–1	4–3	1–0	0–3	4–0	0–1
Liepājas Metalurgs	5–0	1–0		5–0	6–0	1–1	9–0	2–1
Olimps Rīga	1–1	1–1	0–4		0–3	0–1	5–2	0–1
Rīga	1–2	1–1	0–3	1–1		1–1	4–2	1–3
Skonto	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–0	4–0		3–0	1–1
Venta	0–3	2–4	1–3	0–2	0–4	0–1		0–6
Ventspils	3–1	2–1	1–5	6–1	1–1	2–2	2–0

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

11 November 2005

Olimps Rīga	0 – 2	Ditton
		Pertia 52' Modebadze 90+2'

Riga

Attendance: 500

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Igors Sļesarčuks (LAT)	FK Venta / FK Ventspils	18
	Viktors Dobrecovs (LAT)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs
3	Aleksandr Katasonov (RUS)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs	17
4	Gatis Kalniņš (LAT)	Skonto FC	15
5	Genādijs Soloņicins (LAT)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs	13

Awards

Best	Name	Team
Goalkeeper	Andrejs Piedels (LAT)	Skonto FC
Defender	Dzintars Zirnis (LAT)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs
Midfielder	Genādijs Soloņicins (LAT)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs
Forward	Aleksandr Katasonov (RUS)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs