2013 Latvian Higher League

The 2013 Latvian Higher League was the 22nd season of top-tier football in Latvia. FC Daugava were the defending champions. The season started on 29 March 2013.^[1]

Latvian Higher League

Season	2013
Champions	FK Ventspils
Relegated	Ilūkstes NSS
Champions League	FK Ventspils
Europa League	Daugava Daugavpils Daugava Riga
Matches played	135
Goals scored	392 (2.9 per match)
Top goalscorer	Artūrs Karašausks Andrejs Kovaļovs (16 goals)
Biggest home win	FK Daugava 7-1 Ilūkstes NSS
Biggest away win	Ilūkstes NSS 2-10 SK Liepājas Metalurgs
Highest scoring	Ilūkstes NSS 2-10 SK Liepājas Metalurgs
Longest winning run	FK Ventspils, Skonto FC (6)
Longest unbeaten run	Skonto FC (26)
Longest losing run	Ilūkstes NSS (7)
← 2012 2014 →

The league comprised ten teams. The champions of this season were FK Ventspils, followed by Skonto FC

Teams

The league had a ten-team circuit like the 2012 season. 2012 Latvian First League champions Ilūkstes NSS from Ilūkste were directly promoted.

FK Daugava Rīga finished the 2012 season in ninth place and were therefore required to compete in a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off against First Division runners-up BFC Daugava. FK Daugava Riga won the play-off 4–1 on aggregate and therefore stayed in the Higher League.

Stadiums and locations

Ventspils

Ilūkstes NSS

Daugava Riga
FS METTA
Skonto

Metalurgs

Jūrmala
Spartaks

Jelgava

Daugava

Location of teams in the 2013 Latvian Higher League

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
FC Daugava	Daugavpils	Daugava Stadium	4,100
FK Daugava Rīga	Riga	Daugava Stadium	5,000
Ilūkstes NSS	Ilūkste	Ilūkstes pilsētas stadions	500
FK Jelgava	Jelgava	Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs	2,200
FC Jūrmala	Jūrmala	Slokas Stadium	5,000
SK Liepājas Metalurgs	Liepāja	Daugava Stadium	6,000
FS Metta/LU	Riga	Stadions Arkādija	500
Skonto FC	Riga	Skonto Stadium	10,000
FK Spartaks Jūrmala	Jūrmala	Slokas Stadium	5,000
FK Ventspils	Ventspils	Olimpiskais Stadium	3,200

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
FC Daugava Daugavpils	Ivan Tabanov	Daniel Ola	Erreà	—
FK Daugava Rīga	Virginijus Liubšys	Mantas Savenas	Nike	—
Ilūkstes NSS	Alens Vinakurovs	Dmitri Kozlov	Erreà	—
FK Jelgava	Sergejs Golubevs	Deniss Petrenko	Macron	Igate
FC Jūrmala	Mihails Koņevs	Alberts Nikoļskis	Givova	—
SK Liepājas Metalurgs	Jānis Intenbergs	Antons Jemeļins	Adidas	—
FS Metta/LU	Andris Riherts	Artūrs Biezais	Nike	SMS Credit.lv
Skonto FC	Tamaz Pertia	Juris Laizāns	Jako	Granat Investment
FK Spartaks Jūrmala	Jurijs Popkovs	Dmitrijs Daņilovs	Nike	—
FK Ventspils	Jurģis Pučinsks	Vitālijs Smirnovs	Adidas	VK Tranzīts

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Jelgava	Dainis Kazakevičs	Own decision	4 December 2012	Pre-Season	Jānis Dreimanis	20 December 2012
Skonto	Marians Pahars	Own decision	22 December 2012	Pre-Season	Tamaz Pertia	22 December 2012
FK Daugava Rīga	Jurijs Popkovs	End of contract	27 December 2012	Pre-Season	Virginijus Liubšys	27 December 2012
FC Jūrmala	Vladimir Pachko	End of contract	9 January 2013	Pre-Season	Mihails Koņevs	9 January 2013
Spartaks	Arminas Narbekovas	End of contract	10 December 2012	Pre-Season	Oleg Kubarev	7 February 2013
Ilūkste	Alens Vinakurovs	Own decision	6 March 2013	Pre-Season	Vladimir Pachko	6 March 2013
Jelgava	Jānis Dreimanis	Health issues	22 March 2013	Pre-Season	Sergejs Golubevs	22 March 2013
Spartaks	Oleg Kubarev	Sacked	27 July 2013	5th	Aleksandrs Stradiņš	27 July 2013
Spartaks	Aleksandrs Stradiņš	Sacked	22 September 2013	6th	Jurijs Popkovs	22 September 2013
Ilūkste	Vladimir Pachko	Own decision	End of September	10th	Alens Vinakurovs	End of September

Broadcasting

As in the previous season most of the matches are being transmitted live via sportacentrs.com online and sportacentrs TV channel.^[2] In June 2012 broadcasting rights were also bought by the English company Bet365.^[3] Since 2012, the league's homepage futbolavirsliga.lv has been active and since September 2012 this website has been accompanied by the InStat Football system, showing information and analysis of each match individually.^[4] Since October 2012, the Virslīga has also had its own analytical broadcast after each round of matches with football experts discussing the games and future events connected to Latvian football. It is transmitted via sportacentrs TV.^[5]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ventspils (C)	27	21	4	2	65	19	+46	67	Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2	Skonto	27	18	8	1	68	11	+57	62	Excluded from European competitions[a]
3	Daugava Daugavpils	27	15	7	5	44	19	+25	52	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
4	Daugava Rīga	27	14	6	7	44	21	+23	48
5	Liepājas Metalurgs	27	11	7	9	54	35	+19	40	Dissolved after the season
6	Jūrmala	27	7	5	15	20	52	−32	26
7	Spartaks Jūrmala	27	7	4	16	30	49	−19	25
8	Jelgava	27	5	8	14	26	46	−20	23	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
9	METTA/LU (O)	27	4	7	16	15	47	−32	19	Qualification for relegation play-offs
10	Ilūkstes NSS (R)	27	2	6	19	26	93	−67	12	Relegation to Latvian First League

Source: LFF:Virslīga 2013
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th overall wins; 5th goal difference; 6th goals scored. The winners of the 2013–14 Latvian Football Cup competition will qualify for the first qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. UEFA barred Skonto from European competitions for three years for falling foul of Financial Fair Play regulations.^[6]

Relegation play-offs

The 9th-placed sides will face the runners-up of the 2013 Latvian First League in a two-legged play-off, with the winner being awarded a spot in the 2014 Higher League competition.

FS METTA/LU	1–0	FB Gulbene
Vapne 72' (pen.)

14 November 2013

19:00

Hanzas vidusskolas laukums, Riga

---

FB Gulbene	2–4	FS METTA/LU
Rimkus 26' Kazura 33'		Kalniņš 11', 85', 88' Milašēvičs 67' (pen.)

17 November 2013

14:00

Hanzas vidusskolas laukums, Riga

FS METTA/LU won 5–2 on aggregate.

Results

Regular home games Home \ Away DGD ILU JEL FCJ DGR LIE MLU SKO SPJ VEN FC Daugava Daugavpils 5–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–4 3–2 0–1 Ilūkstes NSS 0–2 2–1 0–2 2–5 1–2 1–1 1–7 1–3 1–7 Jelgava 0–3 2–2 0–1 0–3 2–2 1–0 0–3 1–2 1–2 FC Jūrmala 0–1 1–1 4–2 0–5 3–1 1–2 0–5 0–1 0–2 FK Daugava Rīga 0–1 4–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 SK Liepājas Metalurgs 2–2 3–1 3–0 2–0 0–2 4–0 0–5 1–2 3–1 METTA/LU 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–2 1–2 0–3 0–2 0–1 0–2 Skonto FC 0–0 5–0 1–1 0–0 5–0 2–0 4–0 3–1 3–0 Spartaks Jūrmala 0–2 2–2 4–2 0–0 0–1 1–2 4–0 1–2 2–3 Ventspils 4–3 4–1 4–0 3–0 2–1 2–2 4–0 0–0 1–0 Source: [citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Additional home games Home \ Away DGD ILU JEL FCJ DGR LIE MLU SKO SPJ VEN FC Daugava Daugavpils 6–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 Ilūkstes NSS 2–10 1–2 0–2 0–5 Jelgava 3–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 FC Jūrmala 0–3 0–0 0–4 2–1 FK Daugava Rīga 7–1 2–2 0–2 0–1 SK Liepājas Metalurgs 0–0 3–0 0–0 6–0 0–1 METTA/LU 1–0 0–1 0–2 2–0 Skonto FC 0–2 5–0 2–1 2–2 1–1 Spartaks Jūrmala 0–2 2–4 1–3 0–0 0–3 Ventspils 0–0 2–0 6–1 3–0 3–0 Source: LFF Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 9 November 2013

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Artūrs Karašausks	Skonto FC	16
	Andrejs Kovaļovs	FC Daugava
2	Valērijs Šabala	Skonto FC	15
3	Mantas Savėnas	Daugava Rīga	12
	Vadim Yanchuk	FK Ventspils
4	Daniils Turkovs	FK Ventspils	11
5	Povilas Lukšys	Daugava Rīga	10

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club
March/April[7]	Mantas Savenas	FK Daugava Rīga
May[8]	Patrick Twumasi	FK Spartaks Jūrmala
June[9]	Andrejs Kovaļovs	FC Daugava
July[10]	Paulius Grybauskas	Skonto FC
August[11]	Ruslan Mingazow	Skonto FC
September[12]	Juris Laizāns	Skonto FC
October/November[13]	Kaspars Ikstens	FK Jelgava

Manager of the Month

Month	Manager	Club
March/April[7]	Virginijus Liubšys	FK Daugava Rīga
May[8]	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils
June[9]	Tamaz Pertia	Skonto FC
July[10]	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils
August[11]	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils
September[12]	Sergejs Golubevs	FK Jelgava
October/November[13]	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils

Team of the Tournament

LFF version

Position	Player	Club
Goalkeeper	Paulius Grybauskas	Skonto FC
Defender	Antons Kurakins	FK Ventspils
Defender	Vitālijs Smirnovs	FK Ventspils
Defender	Nauris Bulvītis	Skonto FC
Defender	Vladislavs Gabovs	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Jurijs Žigajevs	FK Ventspils
Midfielder	Aleksandrs Fertovs	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Juris Laizāns	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Ruslan Mingazov	Skonto FC
Forward	Vadim Yanchuk	FK Ventspils
Forward	Valērijs Šabala	Skonto FC
Manager	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils

Sporta Avīze version

Position	Player	Club
Goalkeeper	Paulius Grybauskas	Skonto FC
Defender	Vladislavs Gabovs	Skonto FC
Defender	Kaspars Dubra	FK Ventspils
Defender	Renārs Rode	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Jurijs Žigajevs	FK Ventspils
Midfielder	Valērijs Afanasjevs	FK Liepājas Metalurgs
Midfielder	Juris Laizāns	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Ruslan Mingazov	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Andrejs Kovaļovs	FC Daugava
Forward	Artūrs Karašausks	Skonto FC
Forward	Valērijs Šabala	Skonto FC
Manager	Tamaz Pertia	Skonto FC

sportacentrs.com version

Position	Player	Club
Goalkeeper	Paulius Grybauskas	Skonto FC
Defender	Antons Kurakins	FK Ventspils
Defender	Renārs Rode	Skonto FC
Defender	Kaspars Dubra	FK Ventspils
Defender	Vladislavs Gabovs	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Juris Laizāns	Skonto FC
Midfielder	Jurijs Žigajevs	FK Ventspils
Midfielder	Andrejs Kovaļovs	FC Daugava
Midfielder	Ruslan Mingazov	Skonto FC
Forward	Daniils Turkovs	FK Ventspils
Forward	Artūrs Karašausks	Skonto FC
Manager	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils

Awards

LFF awards 2013
Category	Winner	Club
Best goalkeeper	Paulius Grybauskas	Skonto FC
Best defender	Vladislavs Gabovs	Skonto FC
Best midfielder	Jurijs Žigajevs	FK Ventspils
Best forward	Valērijs Šabala	Skonto FC
Top scorer	Artūrs Karašausks / Andrejs Kovaļovs	Skonto FC / FC Daugava
Best U-21 player	Jevgēņijs Kazačoks	FK Spartaks Jūrmala
Best player	Jurijs Žigajevs	FK Ventspils
Best manager	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils
Goal of the season	Jurijs Žigajevs vs FK Spartaks Jūrmala[14]	FK Ventspils
Fair play award	Club award	FC Jūrmala
Best match organisation	Club award	FK Liepājas Metalurgs