2014 Latvian Higher League

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]

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 →

Teams

This year the league had ten participants.

Stadiums and locations

Daugava
Daugavpils

Jūrmala

Jelgava

FK Liepāja

Daugava Riga
FS METTA
Skonto

Spartaks

Ventspils

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[lower-alpha 1]	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3	Jelgava	36	20	10	6	57	27	+30	70
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[lower-alpha 2]
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[lower-alpha 3]	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) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Skonto FC have had 5 point(s) deducted
2. 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]
3. 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

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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

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