2001 Latvian Higher League

The 2001 season in the Latvian Higher League, named Virslīga, was the eleventh domestic competition since the Baltic nation gained independence from the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Eight teams competed in this edition, with Skonto FC claiming the title.

Latvian Higher League

Season	2001
Champions	Skonto FC
Relegated	FK Zibens/Zemessardze
UEFA Champions League	Skonto FC
UEFA Cup	FK Ventspils FK Liepajas Metalurgs
UEFA Intertoto Cup	Dinaburg FC
Top goalscorer	Mihails Miholaps Aleksandr Katasonov (23 goals each one)
← 2000 2002 →

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Skonto (C)	28	22	2	4	94	26	+68	68	Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2	Ventspils	28	22	1	5	69	21	+48	67	Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Liepājas Metalurgs	28	20	4	4	60	24	+36	64
4	Dinaburg	28	15	5	8	60	29	+31	50	Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
5	PFK Daugava	28	12	2	14	37	38	−1	38
6	Valmiera	28	5	4	19	28	56	−28	19
7	Rīga	28	3	5	20	25	72	−47	14
8	Zibens/Zemessardze (R)	28	1	1	26	11	118	−107	4	Relegation to Latvian First League

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Match table

First half of the season Home \ Away DIN MET PFK RĪG SKO VAL VEN ZIB Dinaburg 3–3 3–0 2–0 0–1 4–0 1–4 11–1 Liepājas Metalurgs 1–0 2–0 2–1 4–2 2–1 2–1 2–0 PFK Daugava 0–1 1–4 4–0 0–5 1–1 2–0 6–0 Rīga 2–3 1–4 1–1 1–6 3–2 0–1 2–0 Skonto 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 3–1 3–2 5–0 Valmiera 1–1 0–1 1–2 3–0 1–2 1–2 4–1 Ventspils 2–2 2–1 1–0 6–1 2–0 2–0 9–0 Zibens/Zemessardze 0–1 0–4 0–4 1–5 0–11 0–1 1–4 Source: [citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season Home \ Away DIN MET PFK RĪG SKO VAL VEN ZIB Dinaburg 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 6–1 1–0 4–1 Liepājas Metalurgs 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–2 3–0 1–2 4–0 PFK Daugava 1–3 1–2 3–1 0–2 3–0 0–2 2–0 Rīga 1–2 1–3 0–2 0–5 1–1 0–2 0–0 Skonto 2–0 2–2 3–0 9–1 3–1 2–0 7–2 Valmiera 0–3 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–3 0–4 2–0 Ventspils 2–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 3–2 2–0 3–1 Zibens/Zemessardze 0–5 0–4 0–1 3–1 0–9 0–3 0–4 Source: [citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mihails Miholaps (LAT)	Skonto FC	23[1]
2	Aleksandr Katasonov (RUS)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs	23
3	David Chaladze (GEO)	Skonto FC	21
4	Stanislav Dubrovin (RUS)	Dinaburg FC	20
5	Yevgeniy Landyrev (RUS)	FK Ventspils	18

Awards

Best	Name	Team
Goalkeeper	Vadims Fjodorovs (LAT)	Dinaburg FC
Defender	Mihails Zemļinskis (LAT)	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Igors V. Stepanovs (LAT)	FK Ventspils
Forward	David Chaladze (GEO)	Skonto FC

Skonto FC 2001

Pos	Name	Birthdate	P
DF	Oļegs Blagonadeždins	16.05.1973	21	1	-	-
	Artūrs Bogdanovs	08.09.1981	1	-	-	-
MF	Orestas Buitkus	11.04.1975	22	4	-	-
FW	David Chaladze	22.01.1976	23	21	1	-
	Andriy Chernov	21.10.1976	7	1	-	-
	Igns Dedura	01.06.1978	16	1	1	-
GK	Pāvels Doroševs	09.10.1980	1	0	-	-
	Vadims Gospodars	25.12.1983	1	-	-	-
FW	Aleksandrs Jelisejevs	11.08.1971	15	4	-	-
MF	Vladimirs Koļesņičenko	04.05.1980	28	8	1	-
MF	Levan Korgalidze	21.02.1980	23	5	-	-
FW	Audrius Kšanavičius	28.01.1977	2	-	-	-
MF	Givi Kvaratskhelia	11.05.1979	10	1	1	-
MF	Valentīns Lobaņovs	23.10.1971	22	-	3	-
-	Vladimir Mel'nyk	21.11.1979	1	-	-	-
MF	Zurab Menteshashvili	30.01.1980	21	2	-	-
FW	Mihails Miholaps	24.08.1974	27	23	1	-
MF	Viktors Morozs	30.07.1980	16	-	1	-
MF	Viktoras Olšanskis	14.03.1969	6	-	1	-
GK	Andrejs Pavlovs	22.02.1979	7	–5	-	-
GK	Andrejs Piedels	17.09.1970	21	–21	-	1
MF	Alexander Rekhviashvili	06.08.1974	15	1	2	-
	Mants Samusevs	08.09.1978	9	2	1	-
DF	Andrėjus Tereškinas	10.07.1970	10	-	-	-
FW	Māris Verpakovskis	15.10.1979	22	10	1	1
MF	Aleksejs Višņakovs	03.02.1984	2	-	-	-
DF	Artūrs Zakreševskis	07.08.1971	20	-	3	1
DF	Mihails Zemļinskis	21.12.1969	21	3	5	-
Manager: Aleksandrs Starkovs