2012 Latvian Higher League
# 2012 Latvian Higher League

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 sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| FC Daugava | Ivan Tabanov | Jurijs Sokolovs | Erreà | — |
| FK Daugava Rīga | Jurijs Popkovs | Vadims Gospodars | Adidas | — |
| FB Gulbene | Mihails Koņevs | Alberts Nikoļskis | Erreà | Piebalga |
| FK Jelgava | Dainis Kazakevičs | Valērijs Redjko | Macron | LDz Cargo |
| FC Jūrmala | Vladimirs Pačko | Maksims Daņilovs | Givova | — |
| SK Liepājas Metalurgs | Jānis Intenbergs | Tomas Tamošauskas | Adidas | — |
| FS Metta/LU | Andris Riherts | Romāns Rožkovskis | Nike | SMS Credit.lv |
| Skonto 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

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Daugava Daugavpils | Leonid Nazarenko | Sacked | 2011-12-22 | pre-season | Ravil Sabitov | 2011-12-22 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | Artūrs Šketovs | Sacked | 2012-02-02 | pre-season | Oļegs Blagonadeždins | 2012-02-02 |
| Daugava Daugavpils | Ravil Sabitov | Sacked | 2012-04-29 | 5th | Ivan Tabanov | 2012-05-05 |
| Liepājas Metalurgs | Vladimirs Osipovs | Sacked | 2012-05-01 | 6th | Jānis Intenbergs | 2012-05-24 |
| FK Ventspils | Sergey Podpaly | Sacked | 2012-05-18 | 4th | Jurģis Pučinskis | 2012-05-18 |
| Spartaks Jūrmala | Oļegs Blagonadeždins | Sacked | 2012-07-20 | 4th | Arminas Narbekovas | 2012-07-23 |

## 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 Sportacentrs TV.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Daugava Daugavpils (C) | 36 | 23 | 9 | 4 | 64 | 25 | +39 | 78 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Skonto | 36 | 21 | 11 | 4 | 58 | 22 | +36 | 74 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Ventspils | 36 | 23 | 5 | 8 | 63 | 22 | +41 | 74 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Liepājas Metalurgs | 36 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 60 | 33 | +27 | 70 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Spartaks Jūrmala | 36 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 61 | 56 | +5 | 49 | |
| 6 | Jūrmala | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 47 | 49 | −2 | 39 | |
| 7 | Jelgava | 36 | 7 | 10 | 19 | 32 | 56 | −24 | 31 | |
| 8 | METTA/LU | 36 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 39 | 82 | −43 | 29 | |
| 9 | Daugava Rīga (O) | 36 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 42 | 79 | −37 | 27 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |
| 10 | FB Gulbene (R) | 36 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 28 | 70 | −42 | 24 | Relegation to Latvian First League |

* ↑ Winners of the 2012–13 Latvian Football Cup.

### 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.

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

    As of 7 November 2012

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Mamuka Ghonghadze | FC Daugava | 18 |
| 2 | Yōsuke Saito | FB Gulbene/FK Ventspils | 15 |
| 3 | David Cortés | FK Spartaks Jūrmala | 12 |
| 3 | Daniils Turkovs | FK Ventspils | 12 |
| 5 | Antons Jemeļins | FK Spartaks Jūrmala | 11 |
| 5 | Tadas Labukas | Skonto FC | 11 |
| 5 | Valērijs Šabala | Skonto FC | 11 |
| 7 | Stanley Ibe | FC Daugava | 10 |
| 7 | Valērijs Afanasjevs | SK Liepājas Metalurgs | 10 |
| 7 | Vladimirs Kamešs | SK Liepājas Metalurgs | 10 |
| 7 | Mārtiņš Milašēvičs | FS Metta/LU | 10 |
| 7 | Patrick Twumasi | FK Spartaks Jūrmala | 10 |
| 7 | Vitālijs Ziļs | FK Daugava Rīga | 10 |

## Player of the Month

| Month | Player | Club |
| - | - | - |
| March/April | Yōsuke Saito | Gulbene |
| May | Mamuka Ghonghadze | Daugava Daugavpils |
| June | Valērijs Šabala | Skonto Riga |
| July | Sergei Yashin | Daugava Daugavpils |
| August | Rytis Leliūga | Liepājas Metalurgs |
| September | Ģirts Karlsons | Liepājas Metalurgs |
| October/November | Vladimirs Kamešs | Liepājas Metalurgs |

## Manager of the Month

| Month | Manager | Club |
| - | - | - |
| March/April | Marians Pahars | Skonto Riga |
| May | Oļegs Blagonadeždins | Spartaks Jūrmala |
| June | Marians Pahars | Skonto Riga |
| July | Ivan Tabanov | Daugava Daugavpils |
| August | Jurģis Pučinsks | Ventspils |
| September | Andris Riherts | Metta/LU |
| October/November | Ivan Tabanov | Daugava Daugavpils |

## Team of the Tournament

### LFF version

| Position | Player | Club |
| - | - | - |
| Goalkeeper | Germans Māliņš | Skonto Riga |
| Defender | Dmitri Polovinchuk | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Defender | Vitālijs Maksimenko | Skonto Riga |
| Defender | Igors Savčenkovs | Skonto Riga |
| Defender | Nauris Bulvītis | Spartaks Jūrmala |
| Midfielder | Daniel Ola | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Midfielder | Aleksandrs Fertovs | Skonto Riga |
| Midfielder | Ruslan Mingazov | Skonto Riga |
| Forward | Vladimirs Kamešs | Liepājas Metalurgs |
| Forward | Yosuke Saito | Ventspils |
| Forward | Mamuka Ghonghadze | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Manager | Ivan Tabanov | Daugava Daugavpils |

### Sportacentrs.com version

| Position | Player | Club |
| - | - | - |
| Goalkeeper | Maksims Uvarenko | Ventspils |
| Defender | Dmitri Polovinchuk | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Defender | Vitālijs Maksimenko | Skonto Riga |
| Defender | Vitālijs Smirnovs | Ventspils |
| Defender | Jurijs Sokolovs | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Midfielder | Daniel Ola | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Midfielder | Igors Tarasovs | Ventspils |
| Midfielder | Mihails Ziziļevs | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Forward | Vladimirs Kamešs | Liepājas Metalurgs |
| Forward | Ahmed Abdultaofik | Ventspils |
| Forward | Stanley Ibe | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Manager | Ivan Tabanov | Daugava Daugavpils |

## Awards

LFF awards 2012 :

| Category | Winner | Club |
| - | - | - |
| Best goalkeeper | Germans Māliņš | Skonto Riga |
| Best defender | Vitālijs Maksimenko | Skonto Riga |
| Best midfielder | Vladimirs Kamešs | Liepājas Metalurgs |
| Best forward | Mamuka Ghonghadze | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Top scorer | Mamuka Ghonghadze | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Best U-21 player | Valērijs Šabala | Skonto Riga |
| Best player | Vladimirs Kamešs | Liepājas Metalurgs |
| Best manager | Ivan Tabanov | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Fair play award | Club | Daugava Daugavpils |
| Best match organisation | Club | Metta/LU |
