The Lithuanian

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. The A Lyga is an abbreviation of Aukščiausia lyga meaning Highest League. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation LFF ( lt, Lietuvos Futbolo Federacija). The Aukš� ...

2009 was the 20th season of top-tier football in Lithuania. The season started on 4 April 2009 and ended on 31 October 2009. Ekranas successfully defended their title.

Promotion and relegation

Šilutė Šilutė (, previously ''Šilokarčiama'', german: link=no, Heydekrug), is a city in the south of the Klaipėda County, Lithuania. The city was part of the Klaipėda Region and ethnographic Lithuania Minor. Šilutė was the interwar capital of Š ...

were relegated to the

I Lyga The I Lyga, LFF I Lyga, Pirma Lyga, is the second tier of professional Lithuanian football championship. Format Organized by the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF), I Lyga is contested by 14-16 teams, with the top team gaining promotion to ...

after finishing the 2008 season in last place. They were replaced by I Lyga champions

Tauras Tauras is a Lithuanian brewery, established in Vilnius in 1860. Tauras was taken over by Royal Unibrew in 2001. It is a part of Kalnapilis-Tauras Group. History The original brewery was founded in 1860 in Vilna, then in the Russian Empire. ...

Pre-season controversy

The

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n top

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

division was shaken to its core after

FBK Kaunas Kauno futbolo ir beisbolo klubas, commonly known as FBK Kaunas, was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas. History Banga Kaunas (1960–1993) Originally the team was founded in 1960 as Banga Kaunas and played its first three years ...

and Atlantas withdrew their participation on 20 March 2009. Both teams cited serious differences with the

Lithuanian Football Federation The Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) ( lt, Lietuvos futbolo federacija) is the governing body of football in Lithuania. The Federation is responsible for football development in the country and for the national teams, including the Lithuania ...

over the way the league has been led in the past as a reason. This was the second blow to the league within two weeks after Žalgiris were denied a license for this season because of excessive financial problems on 6 March 2009. As a consequence, the chairman of the National Football Clubs' Association (NFKA),

Gintaras Ugianskis Gintaras is a Lithuanian masculine given name. The feminine form is Gintarė. and may refer to: * Gintaras Ambraska (born 1975), Lithuanian judoka * Gintaras Andriuškevičius (born 1975), Lithuanian race walker * Gintaras Balčiūnas (born 1964 ...

, resigned from his post. Further, the organization of the league was put into the hands of the LFF. The 2009 A Lyga consists of eight teams chosen from all teams of both

and I Lyga. Teams with a higher 2008 season rank had a preference to enter. Clubs being interested in a participation could submit their application until 26 March 2009. On 27 March 2009, the LFF announced the three replacement teams.

Banga Gargždai Banga may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Banga'' (album), a 2012 album by Patti Smith * A song by Ali Shaheed Muhammad from the 2004 album '' Shaheedullah and Stereotypes'' * The name of Pontius Pilate's dog in Mikhail Bulgakov's novel ' ...

, LKKA ir Teledema Kaunas and

Kruoja Pakruojis FK Kruoja Pakruojis was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Pakruojis. The team first played in the A Lyga, Lithuania's top football division, in 2009. They were promoted after FBK Kaunas and Atlantas Klaipėda FK Atlantas was a Li ...

were appointed to the league. Further, the LFF classified FBK Kaunas and Atlantas to play in the third-tier

II Lyga Lithuanian Football Federation's II lyga, LFF II lyga – the third tier Lithuanian football championship. As of 2021, the II lyga is a single league, consisting of planned 16 teams. The two top teams gain promotion to the I Lyga. Until the end ...

because of "unethical conduct and other irregularities" while Žalgiris were granted a license for the second-level I Lyga.

Clubs

League table

Results

Every team will play each other four times, twice at home and twice on the road, for a total of 28 games.

Top goalscorers

''Last updated: 26 October 2009; Source
futbolas.lt
''

References

{{2009–10 in European football (UEFA) LFF Lyga seasons 1 Lith Lith