Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is Op ...

2009 ( lv, Virslīga) was the 18th season of top-tier football in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It began on 14 March 2009 with the first round of games and ended on 8 November 2009 with the 36th round of matches.

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

were the defending champions. Due to numerous pre-season team changes, such as club mergers and withdrawals, the format of the league was changed. Since there are only 9 clubs that participate in 2009 Virslīga, every team plays 4 times against every other team, what will make every team playing 32 games. Contrary to the previous season, there is not Championship and Relegation pool.

Teams

Olimps Rīga were relegated after finishing the relegation round in last place. They were replaced by First League champions FK Daugava Riga. Blāzma won the promotion/relegation play-off against Tranzīts Ventspils with 6–1 on aggregate. However, after several mergers and withdrawals Tranzīts were also awarded a place in Virslīga, as the runners-up of First League.

FK Rīga FK Rīga was a Latvian football club based in Riga. They played in the Virslīga, the top division in Latvian football. They played their home games at Latvijas Universitātes Stadions. In 1999, its first year of existence, the club won the ...

withdrew due to unpaid debts. They eventually merged with Olimps Rīga and created a new club called ''Olimps/RFS''. The new club plays in Virslīga, what saved Olimps Rīga from relegation. On 12 January 2009 Vindava withdrew from Virslīga due to financial reasons. ''FK Jūrmala'' merged with ''JFC Kauguri/Multibanka'', which is also a merger of JFC Kauguri Jūrmala and FK Multibanka Rīga, to a new club named

FK Jūrmala-VV FK Daugava Rīga was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. They played in the Latvian Higher League. The last manager of the team was Armands Zeiberliņš. From the club's foundation in 2003 till 2009 the club was kno ...

. The new club carried over the players and other personnel from FK Jūrmala. Daugava Daugavpils and

Dinaburg Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

also merged and remained under the Dinaburg FC name. It is not yet certain which club's staff will operate the new club. Dinaburg also took Daugava's

2009–10 UEFA Europa League The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years. Spain ...

spot.

League table

Results

First half of season

Second half of season

Relegation play-offs

Since there are only 9 clubs participating in 2009 Virslīga, no teams will be directly relegated. 9th placed Virslīga team and runners-up of First League will compete in relegation play-offs for one spot in Virslīga 2010. The other spot will be taken by First League champions.Visi klubi skaita naudiņu!
Since one of the teams were excluded from the league, the relegation play-off will be replaced with the direct promotion of the First League team placing second.

Team of the season 2009

Goalkeepers: Viktors Spole (

FK Liepājas Metalurgs FK Liepājas Metalurgs ( lv, Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the fir ...

), Aleksandrs Vlasovs (

Skonto FC Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Latvia ...

) Defenders:

Oskars Kļava Oskars Kļava (born 8 August 1983) is a Latvian football coach and a former defender. He is the manager of Spartaks Jūrmala. Career Club Kļava was born in Liepāja. As a youth player he played for his local club Liepājas Metalurgs, makin ...

(

), Grigori Chirkin (

FK Ventspils FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virsliga since 1997. It was abolished in 2020, but h ...

), Deniss Ivanovs (

), David Gamezardashvili (

Tomas Tamošauskas Tomas Tamošauskas (born 22 May 1983) is a Lithuanian football manager and a former midfielder. Club career Tamošauskas began his career at Banga Gargždai in 2000. In 2001, he moved to FK Atlantas where he scored the club's consolation goal ...

(

Vitālijs Smirnovs Vitālijs Smirnovs (born 28 June 1986) is a Latvian footballer, who currently plays as central defender for FK Spartaks Jūrmala. Club career Skonto Riga As a youth player, Smirnovs played for JFC Skonto and was taken to the first team in 200 ...

(

), Deniss Kačanovs (

Dzintars Zirnis Dzintars Zirnis (born 25 April 1977 in Riga) is a Latvian former Association football, football Defender (association football), defender. He last played for Latvian First League club FK 1625 Liepāja. For almost his entire career, Zirnis played ...

(

) Midfielders: Jurijs Žigajevs (

Andrejs Prohorenkovs Andrejs Prohorenkovs (born 5 February 1977) is a Latvian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Prohorenkovs was born in Ogre. He started his career with Interskonto in the Latvian Higher League, and has since pl ...

(

Vitālijs Astafjevs Vitālijs Astafjevs (born 3 April 1971) is a Latvian former professional football midfielder, and current assistant manager of Aris Limassol having previously held the role for the Latvia national team. Astafjevs won nine Latvian championship ...

(

), Jevgēņijs Kosmačovs (

), Maksims Rafaļskis (

), Igors Kozlovs (

), Pāvels Surņins (

), Igor Tigirlas (

) Forwards:

Vits Rimkus Vits may refer to: People Surname * Ernst Hellmut Vits (1903–1970), German lawyer * Henry Vits (1842–1921), American businessman and politician * Mia De Vits (born 1950), Belgian politician Given name * Vīts Rimkus (born 1973), Latvian foot ...

(

Vladimir Dvalishvili Vladimir "Lado" Dvalishvili ( ka, ვლადიმერ დვალიშვილი; born 20 April 1986 in Tbilisi) is a Georgian former footballer who now works for Dinamo Batumi as their Sport Director. Career Dvalishvili was signed by ...

(

Kristaps Grebis Kristaps Grebis (born 13 December 1980 in Liepāja) is a retired Latvian footballer. Club career Grebis started his professional career in 2000 with FK Liepājas Metalurgs. Making 7 appearances and scoring one goal in his first season, he later ...

(

Ģirts Karlsons Ģirts Karlsons (born 7 June 1981) is a Latvian football forward, who most recently played for the Latvian Higher League club FK Liepāja. Club career As a youth player Karlsons played for his local club FK Liepājas Metalurgs, being taken to t ...

(

)

References

External links

Latvian Football Federation

Latvian Football Federation news
{{2009-10 in European Football (UEFA) Latvian Higher League seasons 1