The 2012 Latvian Higher League was the 21st season of top-tier football in Latvia. It began on 24 March 2012 and ended on 10 November 2012. FK Ventspils are the defending champions.
The league comprised ten teams, one more than in the previous season.
Teams The league returned to a ten-team circuit after having been forced to play the 2011 season with only nine teams, following the withdrawal of SK Blāzma a few weeks before the season commenced. As a consequence of the Blāzma withdrawal, no team was directly relegated.
2011 Latvian First League champions FS METTA/Latvijas Universitāte from Riga were directly promoted. The team, which was founded by the METTA football school and the University of Latvia in 2007, entered the Higher League for the first time in their history.
JFK Olimps/RFS finished the 2011 season in ninth place and were therefore required to compete in a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off against First Division runners-up Spartaks Jūrmala. Spartaks won the play-off 4–1 on aggregate and were therefore promoted to the Higher League. Similar to METTA/LU, they made their debut at the highest level of the Latvian football pyramid. Accordingly, Olimps/RFS were relegated to the First League after five seasons at the top flight.
Stadiums and locations
Following the promotion of FK Spartaks, the city of Jūrmala should have featured three clubs during the 2012 season, one more than the capital, Riga, but FK Jūrmala-VV moved to Riga, changing their name to Daugava Riga.
Club Location Stadium Capacity FC Daugava Daugavpils Daugava Stadium 4,100 FK Daugava Rīga Riga Daugava Stadium 5,000 FB Gulbene Gulbene Gulbenes Sporta Centrs 1,500 FK Jelgava Jelgava Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs 2,200 FC Jūrmala Jūrmala Slokas Stadium 5,000 SK Liepājas Metalurgs Liepāja Daugava Stadium 5,083 FS Metta/LU Riga Rīgas 49. vidusskola Stadium 250 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 sponsorFC Daugava Ivan Tabanov Jurijs Sokolovs Erreà —FK Daugava Rīga Jurijs Popkovs Vadims Gospodars Adidas —FB Gulbene Mihails Koņevs Alberts Nikoļskis Erreà PiebalgaFK Jelgava Dainis Kazakevičs Valērijs Redjko Macron LDz CargoFC Jūrmala Vladimirs Pačko Maksims Daņilovs Givova —SK Liepājas Metalurgs Jānis Intenbergs Tomas Tamošauskas Adidas —FS Metta/LU Andris Riherts Romāns Rožkovskis Nike SMS Credit.lvSkonto FC Marians Pahars Germans Māliņš Kappa —FK Spartaks Jūrmala Arminas Narbekovas Nauris Bulvītis Masita —FK Ventspils Jurģis Pučinskis Vitālijs Smirnovs Adidas VK Tranzīts
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentDaugava Daugavpils Leonid NazarenkoSacked2011-12-22pre-season Ravil Sabitov2011-12-22Spartaks Jūrmala Artūrs ŠketovsSacked2012-02-02pre-season Oļegs Blagonadeždins2012-02-02Daugava Daugavpils Ravil SabitovSacked2012-04-295th Ivan Tabanov2012-05-05Liepājas Metalurgs Vladimirs OsipovsSacked2012-05-016th Jānis Intenbergs2012-05-24FK Ventspils Sergey PodpalySacked2012-05-184th Jurģis Pučinskis2012-05-18Spartaks Jūrmala Oļegs BlagonadeždinsSacked2012-07-204th Arminas Narbekovas2012-07-23
Broadcasting Just as last season most of the matches were transmitted live via sportacentrs.com online and Sportacentrs' TV channel. In June 2012 broadcasting rights were also bought by the English company Bet365. Since 2012 league's homepage futbolavirsliga.lv has been active and since September 2012 this website has been accompanied by InStat Football system, showing information and analysis of each match individually. Since October 2012 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's transmitted via TV.
League table
Relegation play-offs The 9th-placed sides will face the runners-up of the 2012 Latvian First League in a two-legged play-off, with the winner being awarded a spot in the 2013 Higher League competition. The dates and exact sequence of these matches are still to be determined.
Results
Season statistics
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Mamuka GhonghadzeFC Daugava182 Yōsuke SaitoFB Gulbene/FK Ventspils153 David CortésFK Spartaks Jūrmala12 Daniils TurkovsFK Ventspils5 Antons JemeļinsFK Spartaks Jūrmala11 Tadas LabukasSkonto FC Valērijs ŠabalaSkonto FC7 Stanley IbeFC Daugava10 Valērijs AfanasjevsSK Liepājas Metalurgs Vladimirs KamešsSK Liepājas Metalurgs Mārtiņš MilašēvičsFS Metta/LU Patrick TwumasiFK Spartaks Jūrmala Vitālijs ZiļsFK Daugava Rīga
Player of the Month MonthPlayerClubMarch/April Yōsuke SaitoGulbeneMay Mamuka GhonghadzeDaugava DaugavpilsJune Valērijs ŠabalaSkonto RigaJuly Sergei YashinDaugava DaugavpilsAugust Rytis LeliūgaLiepājas MetalurgsSeptember Ģirts KarlsonsLiepājas MetalurgsOctober/November Vladimirs KamešsLiepājas Metalurgs
Manager of the Month MonthManagerClubMarch/April Marians PaharsSkonto RigaMay Oļegs BlagonadeždinsSpartaks JūrmalaJune Marians PaharsSkonto RigaJuly Ivan TabanovDaugava DaugavpilsAugust Jurģis PučinsksVentspilsSeptember Andris RihertsMetta/LUOctober/November Ivan TabanovDaugava Daugavpils
Team of the Tournament
LFF version PositionPlayerClubGoalkeeper Germans MāliņšSkonto RigaDefender Dmitri PolovinchukDaugava DaugavpilsDefender Vitālijs MaksimenkoSkonto RigaDefender Igors SavčenkovsSkonto RigaDefender Nauris BulvītisSpartaks JūrmalaMidfielder Daniel OlaDaugava DaugavpilsMidfielder Aleksandrs FertovsSkonto RigaMidfielder Ruslan MingazovSkonto RigaForward Vladimirs KamešsLiepājas MetalurgsForward Yosuke SaitoVentspilsForward Mamuka GhonghadzeDaugava DaugavpilsManager Ivan TabanovDaugava Daugavpils
Sportacentrs.com version PositionPlayerClubGoalkeeper Maksims UvarenkoVentspilsDefender Dmitri PolovinchukDaugava DaugavpilsDefender Vitālijs MaksimenkoSkonto RigaDefender Vitālijs SmirnovsVentspilsDefender Jurijs SokolovsDaugava DaugavpilsMidfielder Daniel OlaDaugava DaugavpilsMidfielder Igors TarasovsVentspilsMidfielder Mihails ZiziļevsDaugava DaugavpilsForward Vladimirs KamešsLiepājas MetalurgsForward Ahmed AbdultaofikVentspilsForward Stanley IbeDaugava DaugavpilsManager Ivan TabanovDaugava Daugavpils
Awards LFF awards 2012CategoryWinnerClubBest goalkeeper Germans MāliņšSkonto RigaBest defender Vitālijs MaksimenkoSkonto RigaBest midfielder Vladimirs KamešsLiepājas MetalurgsBest forward Mamuka GhonghadzeDaugava DaugavpilsTop scorer Mamuka GhonghadzeDaugava DaugavpilsBest U-21 player Valērijs ŠabalaSkonto RigaBest player Vladimirs KamešsLiepājas MetalurgsBest manager Ivan TabanovDaugava DaugavpilsFair play awardClubDaugava DaugavpilsBest match organisationClubMetta/LU
References
External links Latvian Football Federation