2002 Latvian Higher League

The 2002 season in the Latvian Higher League, named Virslīga, was the twelfth 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	2002
Champions	Skonto FC
UEFA Champions League	Skonto FC
UEFA Cup	FK Ventspils FK Liepajas Metalurgs
UEFA Intertoto Cup	Dinaburg FC
Top goalscorer	Mihails Miholaps (23 goals)
← 2001 2003 →

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Skonto (C)	28	23	4	1	95	19	+76	73	Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2	Ventspils	28	22	5	1	77	20	+57	71	Qualification for UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	Liepājas Metalurgs	28	15	6	7	56	31	+25	51
4	Dinaburg	28	12	4	12	37	35	+2	40	Qualification for Intertoto Cup first round
5	Valmiera	28	6	6	16	26	54	−28	24
6	PFK Daugava (R)	28	6	5	17	29	60	−31	23	Dissolved after the season
7	Rīga	28	6	2	20	24	75	−51	20
8	Auda	28	5	2	21	23	73	−50	17

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

Match table

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

Second half of the season Home \ Away AUD DIN MET PFK RĪG VAL SKO VEN Auda 1–0 0–4 1–3 1–2 3–1 0–3 0–3 Dinaburg 4–2 3–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 0–4 1–1 Liepājas Metalurgs 6–0 3–1 4–4 5–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 PFK Daugava 3–1 1–1 1–2 6–1 2–1 0–6 0–2 Rīga 4–0 1–2 0–2 0–0 1–2 1–6 0–4 Valmiera 3–1 1–0 0–1 3–2 0–3 2–6 1–3 Skonto 7–2 3–1 3–1 4–0 2–0 4–0 1–1 Ventspils 4–0 3–1 1–1 5–0 8–2 3–0 2–2 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
2	Aleksandr Katasonov (RUS)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs	18
3	Vīts Rimkus (LAT)	FK Ventspils	17
4	Jurijs Molotkovs (LAT)	Dinaburg FC	16
5	Yevgeniy Landyrev (RUS)	FK Ventspils	15
6	Andrejs Butriks (LAT)	FK Ventspils	14
	Kristaps Grebis (LAT)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs
8	Viktors Dobrecovs (LAT)	FK Liepājas Metalurgs	12
9	Vladimirs Koļesņičenko (LAT)	Skonto FC	11

Awards

Best	Name	Team
Goalkeeper	Andrejs Piedels (LAT)	Skonto FC
Defender	Mihails Zemļinskis (LAT)	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Orestas Buitkus (LTU)	Skonto FC
Forward	Māris Verpakovskis (LAT)	Skonto FC