2019 A Lyga

The 2019 A Lyga was the 30th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 2 March 2019 and ended on 27 November 2019.^[1]

A Lyga

Season	2019
Champions	Sūduva
Relegated	Atlantas Palanga Stumbras
Champions League	Sūduva
Europa League	Žalgiris Riteriai Kauno Žalgiris
Matches played	127
Goals scored	405 (3.19 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tomislav Kiš (27 goals)
Biggest home win	Sūduva 9–1 Atlantas (30 October 2019)
Biggest away win	Atlantas 0–5 Sūduva (10 March 2019) Panevėžys 2–7 Sūduva (24 September 2019)
Highest scoring	Sūduva 9–1 Atlantas (30 October 2019)
Longest winning run	16 games Sūduva
Longest unbeaten run	16 games Sūduva
Longest winless run	22 games Stumbras
Longest losing run	18 games Stumbras
Highest attendance	2,500 Žalgiris v Sūduva (20 October 2019)
Lowest attendance	50 Palanga v Sūduva (20 April 2019)
Total attendance	52,357
Average attendance	468
← 2018 2020 → All statistics correct as of 1 December.

Sūduva Marijampolė began the season as defending champions having won their second consecutive league title last year. They secured a third consecutive title in Aukštaitija Stadium on 3 November, after they beat Panevėžys 5–1.

Only five league clubs survived throughout the year – Stumbras folded in the summer, while Atlantas and Palanga were disqualified in the off-season.

Teams

Eight clubs competed – the top six of the 2018 season, the winner of the relegation play-offs and the champions of the 2018 LFF I Lyga. Palanga remained in the league having won the play-offs, while Panevėžys made their top-tier debut replacing relegated Jonava.

Trakai changed their name to Riteriai during the preseason, for a better identification with Vilnius, where the main team has been located since 2014.^[2]

Stumbras bankruptcy

In 2019 Stumbras started the season very well by winning against FK Sūduva Marijampolė and FK Žalgiris Vilnius, claiming the top position of the 2019 A Lyga table. However, after the first half of the season the club ran into financial problems. The players and staff started leaving the team. The club was stripped of the place in 2019–20 UEFA Europa League and it's A Lyga license revoked. The club became defunct shortly afterwards.

Match fixing scandal

On 5 December 2019, the Lithuanian Football Federation announce that two A Lyga clubs, FK Atlantas Klaipėda and FK Palanga have been excluded from the A Lyga due to manipulation of the match results, fined 42,000 euros and relegated to the II Lyga. Ten players and one staff were punished with fines and a ban from all football activity ranging from 6 to 12 months.

Clubs and locations

Atlantas

Kaunas

Palanga

Panevėžys

Sūduva

Vilnius

Vilnius teams
Riteriai
Žalgiris

Locations of the 2019 A Lyga teams

Stumbras

Kauno
Žalgiris

Kaunas teams

The following teams competed in the 2019 championship:

Club	Location	Stadium	Turf	Capacity	2018 position
Atlantas	Klaipėda	Central Stadium of Klaipėda	Natural	4,428	6th
		Klaipėda Artificial Football Pitch	Artificial	1,000
Kauno Žalgiris	Kaunas	SM Tauras Stadium	Natural	500	5th
		NFA Stadium	Artificial	500
Palanga	Palanga	Palanga Stadium	Natural	1,212	7th
	KlaipėdaSL	Klaipėda Artificial Football Pitch	Artificial	1,000
Panevėžys	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija Stadium	Natural	6,600	I Lyga, 1st
		Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium	Artificial	500
Riteriai	Vilnius	LFF Stadium	Artificial	5,067	3rd
		Sportima Arena	Artificial	3,157
Stumbras	Kaunas	NFA Stadium	Artificial	500	4th
Sūduva	Marijampolė	ARVI Football Arena	Natural	6,250	1st
		ARVI Football Indoor Arena	Artificial	2,660
Žalgiris	Vilnius	LFF Stadium	Artificial	5,067	2nd
		Sportima Arena	Artificial	3,157

^ Stadium location

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	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Atlantas	Viktors Dobrecovs	Darvydas Šernas[3]	Nike[3]	—
Kauno Žalgiris	Mindaugas Čepas	Linas Pilibaitis[4]	Hummel	BC Žalgiris
Palanga	Artyom Gorlov	Gvidas Juška	Nike	011[5]
Panevėžys	Alexandru Curteian	Paulius Janušauskas	Hummel[6]	Kalnapilis
Riteriai	Aurelijus Skarbalius	Valdemaras Borovskis	Nike	Ecoil
Stumbras	João Luís Martins	Rimvydas Sadauskas	Joma	—
Sūduva	Vladimir Cheburin	Algis Jankauskas	Joma	Sumeda
Žalgiris	João Luís Martins	Saulius Mikoliūnas[7]	Nike	Top Sport

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Atlantas	Vacys Lekevičius	End of caretaker spell	11 November 2018[8]	Pre-season	Viktors Dobrecovs	16 February 2019[9]
Riteriai	Albert Rybak		21 December 2018[10]		Aurelijus Skarbalius	21 December 2018[10]
Palanga	Valdas Trakys	Mutual consent	2 January 2019[11]		Artyom Gorlov	29 January 2019[12]
Stumbras	Mariano Barreto		31 January 2019[13]		João Luís Martins	22 February 2019[14]
Žalgiris	Valdas Urbonas	Signed by Lithuania national team	2 February 2019[15]		Marek Zub	13 February 2019[16]

Regular season