2016 Latvian Higher League

Latvian Higher League 2016
Season information
Winners	Spartaks Jūrmala 1st title
Relegated	BFC Daugavpils
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Spartaks Jūrmala
Europa League	Jelgava Ventspils
Season statistics
Matches played	112
Goals scored	252
Top goalscorer	Ģirts Karlsons (17 goals)
Biggest home win	Jelgava 4–0 Rīgas Futbola skola (12 March 2016) Spartaks Jūrmala 5–1 Ventspils (10 June 2016)
Biggest away win	BFC Daugavpils 0–5 Ventspils (16 April 2016)
Highest scoring	Jelgava 4–3 Ventspils (22 June 2016) Liepāja 4–3 Spartaks Jūrmala (24 July 2016)
← 2015	2017 →

The 2016 Latvian Higher League was the 25th season of top-tier football in Latvia. FK Liepāja were the defending champions. The season began on 11 March 2016 and ended on 5 November 2016; the relegation play-offs took place on 9 and 13 November 2016.

Teams

FB Gulbene were excluded from the previous season due to suspicion of match-fixing. 2015 Latvian First League winners FC Caramba/Dinamo were promoted to the league and before the season changed their name to Riga FC.

Skonto FC did not obtain a license to play in the 2016 Higher League. Skonto appealed the decision, but the appeal was denied. Since 2015 Latvian First League runners-up Valmiera Glass FK/BSS turned down the opportunity to be promoted to the Higher League, third-placed Rīgas Futbola skola (RFS) was promoted instead.

Stadiums and locations

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
BFC Daugavpils	Daugavpils	Celtnieks Stadium	1,980
FK Jelgava	Jelgava	Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs	1,560
FK Liepāja	Liepāja	Daugava Stadium	5,000
FS Metta/LU	Riga	Hanzas vidusskolas futbola laukums	500
Riga FC	Riga	Skonto Stadium	9,500
Rīgas Futbola skola	Riga	Stadions Arkādija	500
FK Spartaks Jūrmala	Jūrmala	Slokas Stadium	2,500
FK Ventspils	Ventspils	Olimpiskais Stadium	3,200

Kits manufacturer and sponsors

Club	Kit manufacturer	Sponsor
BFC Daugavpils	Adidas	Intergaz
FK Jelgava	Nike	Igate
FK Liepāja	Adidas	Mogo
FS Metta/LU	Nike
Riga FC	Jako
Rīgas Futbola skola	Nike	LNK Group
FK Spartaks Jūrmala	Nike	Hanseatisches Fußball Kontor
FK Ventspils	Adidas	VK Tranzīts

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Template:Fb team Spartaks Jurmala (C)	28	17	4	7	46	22	+24	55	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Jelgava	28	16	3	9	37	24	+13	51	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3	Ventspils	28	15	6	7	47	28	+19	51
4	Template:Fb team FK Liepāja	28	12	6	10	38	31	+7	42
5	Riga	28	8	12	8	28	24	+4	36
6	Template:Fb team Rīgas Futbola skola	28	9	8	11	11	31	−20	35
7	Template:Fb team Metta-LU (O)	28	8	6	14	21	47	−26	30	Qualification to Relegation play-offs
8	Template:Fb team Daugava Daugavpils (R)	28	2	5	21	13	56	−43	11	Relegation to Latvian First League

Source: Virslĩga (Latvian), UEFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Relegation play-offs

The 7th-placed side, FS METTA/LU, faced AFA Olaine, runners-up of the 2016 Latvian First League in a two-legged play-off, with the winner being awarded a spot in the 2017 Higher League competition.

First Leg

9 November 2016 (2016-11-09) 19:00 EET	AFA Olaine	1–1	METTA/LU	Olaines pilsētas stadions, Olaine Attendance: 150 Referee: Mareks Ķere
	Asgarov  85'	Report	Uldriķis  52'

Second Leg

13 November 2016 (2016-11-13) 15:00 EET	METTA/LU	1–0	AFA Olaine	Hanzas vidusskolas futbola laukums, Riga Attendance: 250 Referee: Aleksandrs Anufrijevs
	Šibass  10'	Report

METTA/LU won 2–1 on aggregate and retained their place in the 2017 Higher League.

Results

First half of the season

Home \ Away	Template:Fb team BFC Daugavpils	Jelgava	Template:Fb team FK Liepāja	Template:Fb team Metta-LU	Template:Fb team Riga FC	Template:Fb team Rīgas Futbola skola	Template:Fb team Spartaks Jurmala	Ventspils
Template:Fb team BFC Daugavpils		0–0	0–3	0–1	0–2	1–0	0–2	0–5
Jelgava	3–1		0–1	2–0	2–1	4–0	0–1	4–3
Template:Fb team FK Liepāja	1–0	0–1		3–0	3–0	3–1	1–2	2–3
Template:Fb team Metta-LU	2–1	3–0	0–2		1–0	1–1	0–1	1–1
Template:Fb team Riga FC	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–1		0–0	0–0	1–1
Template:Fb team Rīgas Futbola skola	0–0	1–0	1–0	3–2	1–1		0–2	1–2
Template:Fb team Spartaks Jurmala	3–0	3–0	0–1	4–1	1–0	2–0		5–1
Ventspils	3–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–1

Source: Virslīga 2016 (Latvian)
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season

Home \ Away	Template:Fb team BFC Daugavpils	Jelgava	Template:Fb team FK Liepāja	Template:Fb team Metta-LU	Template:Fb team Riga FC	Template:Fb team Rīgas Futbola skola	Template:Fb team Spartaks Jurmala	Ventspils
Template:Fb team BFC Daugavpils		0–1	0–1	3–3	2–2	0–1	2–1	0–4
Jelgava	2–0		3–2	1–2	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0
Template:Fb team FK Liepāja	1–0	1–3		2–3	2–2	0–1	4–3	0–0
Template:Fb team Metta-LU	2–2	0–1	3–1		1–1	1–1	1–3	2–1
Template:Fb team Riga FC	3–0	1–0	0–1	2–1		1–0	1–1	1–2
Template:Fb team Rīgas Futbola skola	2–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	0–0		0–2	0–3
Template:Fb team Spartaks Jurmala	4–1	0–0	0–0	2–0	0–3	2–1		0–1
Ventspils	2–0	1–2	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1

Source: Virslīga 2016 (Latvian)
¹The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

^†The Round 28 match between Spartaks Jūrmala and Riga was cancelled due to a snow laden pitch. On 7 November 2016, the LFF awarded a 3–0 win to Riga.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 29 October 2016

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ģirts Karlsons	Ventspils	17
2	Dzmitry Platonaw	Spartaks	11
3	Jevgēņijs Kazačoks	Spartaks	10
4	Eduards Tīdenbergs	Ventspils	8
5	Edgars Gauračs	Liepāja/Spartaks	7
	Gļebs Kļuškins	Jelgava
7	Andrejs Kovaļovs	Jelgava	6
	Oskars Kļava	Liepāja
	Roberts Uldriķis	FS Metta/LU
	Raivis Jurkovskis	Rīgas Futbola skola
	Yevgeni Kozlov	Spartaks

Updated to match(es) played on 29 October 2016.
Source:UEFA

External links

• Official website (Latvian)

2016 in Latvian football
Domestic leagues
Latvian Higher League · Latvian First League · Latvian Second League
Domestic cups
Latvian Cup · Virsligas Winter Cup
European competitions
Champions League (Final) · Europa League (Final)
2015                                                        2017