Latvian First League

The Latvian First League (Latvian: Latvijas Pirmā līga, 1. līga) is the second tier of football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. Since 2021, its full name is Nākotnes Līga (Future League).

Latvian First League

Founded	1992; 33 years ago (1992)
Country	Latvia
Number of clubs	14
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	TonyBet Virslīga
Relegation to	Altero.lv LIIGA
Domestic cup(s)	Responsible Game Latvian Cup
Current champions	SK Super Nova (2024)
Website	lff.lv/1st-league
Current: 2025 Latvian First League

History

The league was founded together with other Latvian football competitions in 1992. From 2007 to 2008, the tournament was known as the Traffic 1. līga, due to its first sponsorship deal concluded with the "Traffic auto advert" advertising company.^[1] From 2015 its name was Komanda.lv First League (Komanda.lv 1. līga) for sponsorship reasons, after the Komanda.lv sporting goods store became the league's main sponsor in 2015.^[2] Between 2021 and 2024, the league's general sponsor was the gambling company Optibet, so the league was called "Optibet Future League".

Format

There are 14 clubs in the First League. During the course of the season each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, with a total of 26 games. At the end of the season, the highest placed club is automatically promoted to the Virslīga. The second lowest placed club in the Virslīga and the second placed club in the First League compete in a two-legged tie for the remaining place in the following season's Virslīga. The two clubs finishing at the bottom of the First League are relegated to the Second League, while the third-from-bottom team competes in a two-legged tie with the third-placed team of the Second League for a place in the First League.^[3]

First League clubs (2025)

14 clubs took part in the Nākotne līga season:

• Rēzekne (Rēzekne)
• Mārupes SC (Mārupe)
• Ogre United (Ogre)
• JDFS Alberts (Riga)
• Leevon PPK (Rīga)
• FK Smiltene/BJSS (Smiltene)
• Skanstes SK (Rīga)
• AFA Olaine (Olaine)
• JFK Ventspils (Ventspils)
• Riga FC-2 (Rīga)
• FK RFS-2 (Rīga)
• Augšdaugavas NSS (Ilūkste)
• FK Tukums 2000-2 (Tukums)
• Riga Mariners (Rīga)

Past First League winners

Season	Winner	Total wins	Runner-up
1992	Decemviri Rīga	1	"Zenta Rīga"
1993	Gemma-RFS	1	Baltnet Daugavpils
1994	FK Kvadrāts	1	Starts Brocēni
1995	FK Jūrnieks	1	FK Lokomotīve Daugavpils
1996	Vecrīga Rīga	1	FK Valmiera
1997	Ranto/AVV	1	FK Jūrnieks
1998	PFK Rīga	1	Jaunība Daugavpils
1999	LU-Daugava	1	LBB-Mido
2000	Zibens-Zemessardze Daugavpils	1	Skonto/Metāls Rīga
2001	Auda Rīga	1	RKB-Arma Rīga
2002	RKB-Arma Rīga	2a	Ditton Daugavpils
2003	FK Jūrmala	1	Multibanka Rīga
2004	FK Ventspils-2	1	Ditton-2 Daugavpils
2005	Skonto-2 Rīga	1	Skonto-2 Rīga
2006	JFK Olimps Rīga	1	Ditton-2 Daugavpils
2007	FK Vindava Ventspils	1	FK Blāzma Rēzekne
2008	FK Daugava	1	FC Tranzīts
2009	FK Jelgava	1	FK Jaunība Rīga
2010	FB Gulbene 2005	1	FC Jūrmala
2011	FS METTA/LU	1	FK Liepājas Metalurgs-2
2012	FK Liepājas Metalurgs-2	1	Ilūkstes NSS
2013	BFC Daugavpils	1	FB Gulbene 2005
2014	FB Gulbene 2005	2	Rēzeknes BJSS
2015	Riga FC	1	Valmiera Glass FK/BSS
2016	SK Babīte	1	Olaine/Super Nova
2017	FK Valmiera Glass/ViA	1	FK Progress/AFA Olaine
2018	BFC Daugavpils/Progress	2	SK Super Nova
2019	FK Tukums 2000	1	SK Super Nova
2020	FC Lokomotiv Daugavpils	1	FK Auda
2021	FK Auda	2	FK Tukums 2000
2022	FS Jelgava	1	Grobiņas SC
2023	Grobiņas SC	1	Riga FC-2
2024	SK Super Nova	1	RFS-2

^a Previously won as Ranto/AVV.