The 2020 A Lyga was the 31st season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 6 March and was planned to end on 7 November 2020. On 12 March all sports events were postponed for two weeks in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teams
FK Sūduva Marijampolė begin the season as defending champions having won their third consecutive league title last year.
Three clubs dropped out of A Lyga last season - Stumbras folded in the summer, while Atlantas and Palanga were disqualified after the end of the season after investigation revealed numerous match-fixing incidents.
Licensing process The top 5 previous season's teams - FK Sūduva Marijampolė, FK Žalgiris, FK Riteriai, FK Kauno Žalgiris and FK Panevėžys met licensing criteria and received a straight pass to their licenses. Disqualified FK Palanga and FK Atlantas appealed the disqualification decision and expressed interest in playing in A Lyga. Their appeals were rejected.
Five of the I Lyga teams applied for A Lyga licenses - FK Banga Gargždai, FC Džiugas, Vilniaus Vytis, DFK Dainava and FC Hegelmann Litauen. The previous year's I Lyga winners FC Džiugas failed to meet A Lyga licensing criteria, and their application was rejected. FC Džiugas will continue playing in I Lyga this season. FK Banga Gargždai won the play-off match against FK Palanga and earned the right to play in A Lyga. Their A Lyga license was granted upon appeal. Vilniaus Vytis and DFK Dainava did not earn promotion to A Lyga, however they were hoping for exceptions which are common in Lithuanian football. In this instance their applications were rejected on the grounds of failing to meet several critical criteria. FC Hegelmann Litauen withdrew their application prior to the licensing committee's meeting. This meant that only six teams will play in the 2020 A Lyga championship. The LFF announced that four I Lyga teams will qualify for promotion to A Lyga next season.
+2020 A Lyga competitors Club Location Stadium Surface Capacity Seasons in A Lyga 2019 position Gargždai Gargždai Stadium Artificial 2,323 7 2nd in LFF I lyga — — — Kaunas SM Tauras Stadium Natural 500 6 4th NFA Stadium Artificial 500 Panevėžys Aukštaitija Stadium Natural 6,600 2 5th Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium Artificial 500 Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 7 3rd Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157 Marijampolė Sūduva Stadium (Hikvision Arena) Natural 6,250 18 1st Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena (Hikvision FIA) Artificial 2,660 Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 19 2nd Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157
Personnel and kits
Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorBanga Tomas Tamošauskas Deividas Padaigis Nike -Kauno Žalgiris Rokas Garastas Linas Pilibaitis Hummel BC ŽalgirisPanevėžys João Luís Martins Paulius Janušauskas Hummel KalnapilisRiteriai Tommi Pikkarainen Valdemaras Borovskis Nike EcoilSūduva Saulius Širmelis Algis Jankauskas Joma HikvisionŽalgiris Aleksey Baga Saulius Mikoliūnas Nike Top Sport
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointmentRiteriai Albert Rybak end of caretaker spell 3 January 2020 Mindaugas Čepas 7 January 2020Sūduva Vladimir Cheburin contract expiry at the end of the 2019 season Heimo Pfeifenberger 8 January 2020Žalgiris João Luís Martins end of caretaker spell 27 November 2019 Aleksey Baga 19 January 2020Kauno Žalgiris Mindaugas Čepas contract expiry 2 December 2019 Rokas Garastas 3 December 2019Sūduva Heimo Pfeifenberger contract termination 14 April 2020 Saulius Širmelis 23 May 2020Panevėžys Alexandru Curteian contract termination 15 June 2020 João Luís Martins 4 July 2020Riteriai Mindaugas Čepas resigned 28 June 2020 Vaidas Sabaliauskas (caretaker) 28 June 2020Riteriai Vaidas Sabaliauskas end of caretaker spell 26 July 2020 Janusz Niedźwiedź 26 July 2020Riteriai Janusz Niedźwiedź contract termination 1 August 2020 Vaidas Sabaliauskas (caretaker) 1 August 2020Riteriai Vaidas Sabaliauskas end of caretaker spell 11 August 2020 Tommi Pikkarainen 11 August 2020
Regular season On 12 March all sports events were postponed for two weeks in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.
League table
Fixtures and results
Rounds 1–10
Rounds 11–20
Season statistics Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Hugo Vidémont Žalgiris132 Josip Tadić Sūduva113 Linas Pilibaitis Kauno Žalgiris84 Liviu Antal Žalgiris6 5 Mihret Topčagić Sūduva 5 Jorge Elias Panevėžys 6 Emmanuel David Kauno Žalgiris 4 Yuriy Bushman Kauno Žalgiris Semir Kerla Sūduva Valērijs Šabala Sūduva Richie Ennin Žalgiris Andrija Kaluđerović Žalgiris
See also 2020 LFF I Lyga Football in Lithuania 2020 Lithuanian Football Cup
References
External links