2014 Latvian Higher League

Latvian Higher League
Season	2014
Champions	FK Ventspils
Relegated	FC Jūrmala
Champions League	FK Ventspils
Europa League	Skonto FC ; FK Jelgava ; FK Spartaks Jūrmala
Matches played	162
Goals scored	505 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorer	Vladislavs Gutkovskis (28)
Biggest home win	Liepāja 7-0 FC Jūrmala
Biggest away win	FC Jūrmala 0-6 Ventspils ; FC Jūrmala 0-6 Daugava Rīga
Highest scoring	Daugava Daugavpils 5-3 Liepāja
Longest winning run	12 matches: ; Ventspils
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches: ; Skonto ; Ventspils
Longest winless run	23 matches: ; FC Jūrmala
Longest losing run	11 matches: ; FC Jūrmala
	← 2013 2015 →

The 2014 Latvian Higher League was the 23rd season of top-tier football in Latvia. FK Ventspils are the defending champions. The season started on 21 March 2014. Initially, Skonto Riga and Daugava Daugavpils, the second and third teams from the previous season, were denied a license to participate and the league began with eight clubs. However, their appeals against this were successful and the league was restored to ten clubs.^[1]

Teams

This year the league had ten participants.

Stadiums and locations

Daugava Riga
FS METTA
Skonto

Spartaks

Ventspils

class=notpageimage|

Locations of the 2014 Latvian Higher League teams

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
BFC Daugavpils	Daugavpils	Celtnieks Stadium	3,980
FC Daugava	Daugavpils	Daugava Stadium	4,100
FK Daugava Rīga	Riga	Daugava Stadium	5,000
FK Jelgava	Jelgava	Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs	2,200
FC Jūrmala	Jūrmala	Slokas Stadium	5,000
FK Liepāja	Liepāja	Daugava Stadium	6,000
FS Metta/LU	Riga	Stadions Arkādija	500
Skonto FC	Riga	Skonto Stadium	10,000
FK Spartaks Jūrmala	Jūrmala	Slokas Stadium	5,000
FK Ventspils	Ventspils	Olimpiskais Stadium	3,200

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ventspils (C)	36	26	5	5	73	20	+53	83	Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2	Skonto	36	25	1	10	77	34	+43	71^[a]	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3	Jelgava	36	20	10	6	57	27	+30	70	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
4	Liepāja	36	21	3	12	72	45	+27	66
5	Daugava Daugavpils (R)	36	19	8	9	53	39	+14	65	Relegation to Latvian First League
6	Spartaks Jūrmala	36	14	9	13	38	32	+6	51	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round^[b]
7	Daugava Rīga (R)	36	13	4	19	48	64	−16	43	Relegation to Latvian First League
8	BFC Daugavpils	36	8	5	23	30	65	−35	29
9	METTA/LU (O)	36	3	7	26	26	69	−43	16	Qualification for relegation play-offs
10	FC Jūrmala (R)	36	2	6	28	29	108	−79	7^[c]	Relegation to Latvian First League

Source: Virslīga 2014
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th overall wins; 5th goal difference; 6th goals scored. The winners of the 2014–15 Latvian Football Cup competition will qualify for the first qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Skonto FC have had 5 point(s) deducted
^ Liepāja would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round, but failed to obtain a UEFA license as they were affiliated with the Latvian Football Federation for less than three years after reforming from the dissolved Liepājas Metalurgs. As a result, the berth was given to Spartaks Jūrmala, as Daugava Daugavpils also failed to obtain a UEFA license.^[2]
^ FC Jūrmala have had 5 point(s) deducted

Relegation play-offs

The 9th-placed side faced the runners-up of the 2014 Latvian First League in a two-legged play-off, with the winner being awarded a spot in the 2015 Higher League competition.

12 November 2014

19:00

FS METTA/LU	1–0	Rēzeknes BJSS
Kalniņš 44'

Hanzas vidusskolas laukums, Riga

16 November 2014

14:00

Rēzeknes BJSS	1–5	FS METTA/LU
Aguls 14'		Loginovs 26', 55' Milašēvičs 29', 72' Pallo 80'

RPD Sporta pārvaldes stadions, Rezekne

FS METTA/LU won 6–1 on aggregate.

Results

First half of the season
Home \ Away	BFC	DGD	JEL	FCJ	DGR	LIE	MLU	SKO	SPJ	VEN
BFC Daugavpils		0–1	2–3	1–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–3
FC Daugava Daugavpils	2–1		1–2	1–0	1–0	5–3	1–0	0–4	3–3	0–3
Jelgava	1–0	1–1		5–0	4–1	3–0	1–1	0–3	0–0	1–2
FC Jūrmala	1–2	2–3	1–3		1–1	2–3	0–3	0–5	0–1	0–6
FK Daugava Rīga	1–0	0–1	0–3	3–0		4–0	1–0	1–6	0–2	0–4
Liepāja	2–1	0–3	2–1	7–0	1–0		2–1	1–0	2–0	2–0
METTA/LU	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–4	0–2	1–4		1–2	2–2	0–2
Skonto FC	3–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	5–1	2–0	3–1		2–1	2–0
Spartaks Jūrmala	0–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	4–1	0–2		1–0
Ventspils	0–1	3–0	0–0	3–1	2–0	3–2	2–0	1–0	1–0

Source: Virslīga 2014
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season
Home \ Away	BFC	DGD	JEL	FCJ	DGR	LIE	MLU	SKO	SPJ	VEN
BFC Daugavpils		0–2	0–2	4–2	0–1	0–4	4–1	1–0	1–0	0–1
FC Daugava Daugavpils	5–0		1–0	1–0	2–2	3–1	2–1	0–1	1–0	1–1
Jelgava	2–0	1–0		2–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0
FC Jūrmala	1–1	1–1	0–2		0–6	0–1	1–0	1–7	1–2	0–6
FK Daugava Rīga	4–2	1–4	1–3	3–1		2–4	2–0	1–2	2–1	0–3
Liepāja	5–0	3–2	2–1	6–0	1–2		2–0	3–0	3–0	1–1
METTA/LU	1–1	0–1	0–3	1–1	1–2	0–2		0–3	2–1	0–3
Skonto FC	2–0	1–0	0–3	4–3	4–1	1–2	3–1		0–1	2–4
Spartaks Jūrmala	2–0	0–0	1–1	4–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–2		1–2
Ventspils	2–0	4–0	2–0	6–1	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–0

Source: Virslīga 2014
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 8 November 2014

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	Skonto	28
2	Jānis Ikaunieks	Liepāja	23
3	Vladislavs Kozlovs	Jelgava	15
4	Edgars Gauračs	Spartaks	14
5	Jevgēņijs Kosmačovs	Daugava	12
	Kristaps Grebis	Liepāja
	Mantas Savėnas	Daugava Rīga
	Ndue Mujeci	Ventspils
9	Ahmed Abdultaofik	Ventspils	11
10	Ruslan Mingazow	Skonto	9

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club
March/April^[3]	Jurijs Žigajevs	FK Ventspils
May^[4]	Jānis Ikaunieks	FK Liepāja
June^[5]	Edgars Gauračs	JPFS/FK Spartaks
July^[6]	Edgars Gauračs	JPFS/FK Spartaks
August^[7]	Kaspars Ikstens	FK Jelgava
September^[8]	Jānis Ikaunieks	FK Liepāja
October/November^[9]	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	Skonto FC

Manager of the Month

Month	Manager	Club
March/April^[3]	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils
May^[4]	Vladimirs Beškarevs	FK Jelgava
June^[5]	Tamaz Pertia	Skonto FC
July^[6]	Roman Pylypchuk	JPFS/FK Spartaks
August^[7]	Vitālijs Astafjevs	FK Jelgava
September^[8]	Viktors Dobrecovs	FK Liepāja
October/November^[9]	Jurģis Pučinsks	FK Ventspils

References

^ 'Skonto' un Daugavpils 'Daugava' tomēr tiek pielaista startam Latvijas futbola virslīgā, delfi.lv, accessed 22 March 2014
^ "LFF Apelācijas komisija atstāj spēkā aizliegumu FK 'Liepāja' piedalīties Eirokausos". Delfi Sports. 28 May 2015.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Rolands Eliņš (2014-05-07). ""Ventspilnieki" Žigajevs un Pučinsks marta/aprīļa labākie Virslīgā". Sportacentrs.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Jānis Rubulis (2014-06-06). "Virslīgas labākie maijā - J.Ikaunieks un Beškarevs". Sportacentrs.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Jānis Rubulis (2014-07-04). "Virslīgas labākie jūnijā - Gauračs un Pertija". Sportacentrs.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Jānis Rubulis (2014-08-06). "Gauračs otro mēnesi pēc kārtas atzīts par Virslīgas labāko futbolistu". Sportacentrs.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Rolands Eliņš (2014-09-10). "Virslīgas labākie augustā - "Jelgavas" pārstāvji Astafjevs un Ikstens". Sportacentrs.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Edmunds Novickis (2014-10-10). "Labākie septembrī - Jānis Ikaunieks un Viktors Dobrecovs". Sportacentrs.com.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Edmunds Novickis (2014-11-15). "Gutkovskis finišā pirmoreiz mēneša labākais, starp treneriem - Pučinsks". Sportacentrs.com.

[table_hth_SKO0.21278539030477-2] Skonto FC have had 5 point(s) deducted

[table_note_res_EL1b0.21278539030477-4] Liepāja would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round, but failed to obtain a UEFA license as they were affiliated with the Latvian Football Federation for less than three years after reforming from the dissolved Liepājas Metalurgs. As a result, the berth was given to Spartaks Jūrmala, as Daugava Daugavpils also failed to obtain a UEFA license.^[2]

[table_hth_FCJ0.21278539030477-5] FC Jūrmala have had 5 point(s) deducted

[1] 'Skonto' un Daugavpils 'Daugava' tomēr tiek pielaista startam Latvijas futbola virslīgā, delfi.lv, accessed 22 March 2014

[3] "LFF Apelācijas komisija atstāj spēkā aizliegumu FK 'Liepāja' piedalīties Eirokausos". Delfi Sports. 28 May 2015.

[march/april-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b Rolands Eliņš (2014-05-07). ""Ventspilnieki" Žigajevs un Pučinsks marta/aprīļa labākie Virslīgā". Sportacentrs.com.

[may-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b Jānis Rubulis (2014-06-06). "Virslīgas labākie maijā - J.Ikaunieks un Beškarevs". Sportacentrs.com.

[june-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b Jānis Rubulis (2014-07-04). "Virslīgas labākie jūnijā - Gauračs un Pertija". Sportacentrs.com.

[july-9] Jump up to: ^a ^b Jānis Rubulis (2014-08-06). "Gauračs otro mēnesi pēc kārtas atzīts par Virslīgas labāko futbolistu". Sportacentrs.com.

[august-10] Jump up to: ^a ^b Rolands Eliņš (2014-09-10). "Virslīgas labākie augustā - "Jelgavas" pārstāvji Astafjevs un Ikstens". Sportacentrs.com.

[september-11] Jump up to: ^a ^b Edmunds Novickis (2014-10-10). "Labākie septembrī - Jānis Ikaunieks un Viktors Dobrecovs". Sportacentrs.com.

[october/november-12] Jump up to: ^a ^b Edmunds Novickis (2014-11-15). "Gutkovskis finišā pirmoreiz mēneša labākais, starp treneriem - Pučinsks". Sportacentrs.com.

[1]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e Seasons of Top Latvian Football Leagues
Championship	1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926
Higher League	1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1942 1943 1944
Latvian SSR	1941 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991
Higher League	1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 2013–14 in European men's football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '13 '14 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia '13 '14 Faroe Islands '13 '14 Finland '13 '14 France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland '13 '14 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '13 '14 Latvia '13 '14 Lithuania '13 '14 Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '13 '14 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '13 '14 Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '13 '14 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '13 '14 Finland '13 '14 France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland '13 '14 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '13 '14 Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '13 '14 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '13 '14 Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
League cups	England Finland '13 '14 France Gibraltar Hungary Iceland '13 '14 Latvia Northern Ireland Portugal Republic of Ireland '13 '14 Scotland Wales
Supercups	Albania Andorra Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic England Estonia '13 '14 Faroe Islands France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Hungary Iceland Italy Kazakhstan '13 '14 Latvia '13 ~~'14~~ Lithuania Macedonia Malta Moldova Netherlands Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Turkey Ukraine
UEFA competitions	Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round group stage knockout phase Final Europa League qualifying phase play-off round group stage knockout phase Final Super Cup Youth League
International competitions	2014 FIFA World Cup UEFA qualification 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup 2015 Euro Under-21 qualification 2014 Euro Under-19 qualifying round elite round 2014 Euro Under-17 qualifying round elite round

v t e 2014–15 in European men's football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus '14 '15 Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia '14 '15 Faroe Islands '14 '15 Finland '14 '15 France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland '14 '15 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '14 '15 Latvia '14 '15 Lithuania '14 '15 Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '14 '15 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '14 '15 Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden '14 '15 Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
Domestic cups	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands '14 '15 Finland '14 '15 France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland '14 '15 Israel Italy Kazakhstan '14 '15 Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '14 '15 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '14 '15 Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
League cups	England Finland '14 '15 Estonia France Gibraltar Hungary Iceland '14 '15 Israel Latvia Northern Ireland Portugal Republic of Ireland '14 '15 Romania Scotland Wales
Supercups	Albania Andorra Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic England Estonia '14 '15 Faroe Islands France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Hungary Iceland Italy Kazakhstan ~~Latvia '14~~ Lithuania '14 '15 Malta Moldova Netherlands Northern Ireland Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland '14 '15 Romania Russia San Marino Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Turkey Ukraine
UEFA competitions	Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round group stage knockout phase Final Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round group stage knockout phase Final Super Cup Youth League Women's Champions League qualifying round knockout phase Final
International competitions	UEFA Euro 2016 qualification 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup 2015 Euro Under-21 qualification 2015 Euro Under-19 qualification 2015 Euro Under-17 qualification