FK Jelgava is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club that is based in

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

. The club plays its home-matches at the Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs stadium with capacity of 1,560 people. In 2021, the club dissolved its professional team, which was absorbed by its phoenix club FS Jelgava.

Early years

Until 2004 two

football clubs FK Viola and RAF Jelgava played in 1. līga. In 2004, it was made decision to merge both clubs into one forming FK Jelgava. FK Jelgava has played since their foundation in 2004 in the 1. līga, but in 2009 after winning the Latvian First League the team had the chance to play their first games in the

Virslīga Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Football F ...

. On 19 May 2010 FK Jelgava won the

Latvian Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company ...

final in

Skonto Stadium Skonto Stadium () is a football stadium in Riga, Latvia. The stadium was built in 2000 and currently has 8,087 seats in total (open for spectators & VIP guests on matchdays). It is the 2nd-largest stadium in Latvia, behind Daugava Stadium, also ...

, beating FK Jūrmala-VV 6:5 in a

penalty shoot out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

after the game had finished 0:0. On the way to the final, the club beat FK Liepājas Metalurgs in the quarter-finals and

Skonto FC Skonto FC was a Latvian professional Association football, 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 o ...

in the semi-finals. Victory in the Latvian Cup final allowed FK Jelgava to debut in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

tournament. In the second qualifying round FK Jelgava played

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a association football, football club based in Molde Municipality, Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football league system, Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club w ...

from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. With a score of 2:2 on aggregate, Molde won on away goals. In the 2010 season Jelgava was the only Latvian football club which won a game in

European football UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. T ...

tournaments (2:1 against Molde). On 2 September 2010 FK Jelgava played a friendly against

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. The match marked the opening of the Olympic Sports Center of Zemgale. The President of Latvia

Valdis Zatlers Valdis Zatlers (; born 22 March 1955) is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007. He became President of Latvia on 8 July ...

and the British Ambassador in Latvia attended the game. Due to financial problems, the club lost its professional license in February 2021 and was deprived of the opportunity to play in the top competition, reverting to the status of a youth academy. Its professional team was succeeded by the related FS Jelgava.

Honours

Latvia

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Footbal ...

**''Runners-up (1):''

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

**Winners (4): 2009–10, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16

League and Cup history

European record

Players and staff

Out on loan

Staff

Managers

* Dainis Kazakevičs (2004 – 2012) *

Jānis Dreimanis Jānis Dreimanis (born 13 October 1949, Riga) is a Latvian former football defender. In his career, he played 115 matches for Daugava Rīga, scoring four goals. Playing career Dreimanis' first steps in football were made with Darba Rezerve ...

(2013) * Sergejs Golubevs ''(interim)'' (2013) * Sergejs Golubevs (2013) * Vladimirs Beškarevs (2014) * Dāvis Caune ''(interim)'' (June 2014) *

Vitālijs Astafjevs Vitālijs Astafjevs (born 3 April 1971) is a Latvian professional association football, football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an assistant manager of Cypriot club Aris Limassol FC, Aris Limassol having previously hel ...

(June 2014 – May 2016) * Dāvis Caune ''(interim)'' (May 2016 - June 2016) *

Saulius Širmelis Saulius Širmelis (born 31 May 1956) is a Lithuanian football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (w ...

(June 2016 – December 2016) * Alexandru Curteian (December 2016 – August 2017) * Dāvis Caune ''(interim)'' (August 2017) * Ravil Sabitov (August 2017 - May 2018) *

Marians Pahars Marians Pahars (born 5 August 1976) is a Latvian professional football manager and a former player. As a player, he spent the majority of his career operating as a striker for English club Southampton, where he played in the Premier League an ...

(June 2018 - June 2019) * Oleg Kubarev (June 2019 - August 2020) * Dāvis Caune ''(interim)'' (August 2020 -)