2011 Latvian Higher League
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| Season | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Champions | FK Ventspils |
| Relegated | JFK Olimps/RFS |
| Champions League | Ventspils |
| Europa League | Metalurgs Daugava Skonto |
| Baltic League | Ventspils Metalurgs Daugava Skonto FC Jūrmala |
| Matches played | 144 |
| Goals scored | 453 (3.15 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |  Nathan Júnior (22 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Metalurgs 7–1 Olimps/RFS Skonto 6–0 Olimps/RFS |
| Biggest away win | Olimps/RFS 0–8 Ventspils |
| Highest scoring | four matches, eight goals each |
| Longest winning run | 8 matches[1] Metalurgs |
| Longest unbeaten run | 12 matches[1] FK Ventspils |
| Longest winless run | 21 matches[1] JFK Olimps/RFS |
| Longest losing run | 21 matches[1] JFK Olimps/RFS |
← 2010 2012 → | |
The 2011 Latvian Higher League (Latvian: Virslīga 2011) was the 20th season of top-tier football in Latvia. It began on 15 April 2011 and ended on 5 November 2011.[2]
The competition was won by FK Ventspils, who thus qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League. Runners-up Liepājas Metalurgs and third-placed sides Daugava Daugavpils earned spots for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. On the bottom end of the table, JFK Olimps/RFS were relegated after losing their play-off series against Spartaks Jūrmala.
All nine clubs played every other club four times during the course of the season: twice at home and twice away. In addition, there will be no direct relegation to the Latvian First League this year.[3]
Team summaries
Jaunība Rīga finished the previous year's competition in tenth place and were relegated to the Latvian First League. This ended a one-year stay in the top flight. Promoted to the Higher League from the First Division automatically were the previous season's First Division champions, Gulbene 2005, who are taking part in the top flight for the first time in their history in 2011.
FC Tranzit finished 9th in the 2010 Higher League competition and were supposed to compete in a promotion/relegation playoff against the runners-up of the First Division, FC Jūrmala. However, before this playoff took place, Tranzit informed the Latvian Football Federation that they were forfeiting their place in the Higher League altogether, ending a two-year stay in the top flight.[citation needed] Therefore, FC Jūrmala were promoted to the Higher League automatically. Like Gulbene, they are competing in the top flight for the first time in their history in 2011.
Finally, SK Blāzma decided to withdraw from the league during the off-season. This ended a three-year stay in the top flight. At a meeting on 28 January 2011, the LFF decided that they would not be replaced in this year's competition.[3]
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Current manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Daugava | Daugavpils | Daugava Stadium | 4,500 |  Leonid Nazarenko |
| Gulbene 2005 | Gulbene | Gulbenes SC | 1,500 |  Mihails Koņevs |
| FK Jelgava | Jelgava | Zemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs | 2,200 | Dainis Kazakevičs |
| FC Jūrmala | Jūrmala | Slokas Stadium | 5,000 | Igors Stepanovs |
| FK Jūrmala-VV | Jūrmala | Slokas Stadium | 5,000 | Jurijs Popkovs |
| Metalurgs | Liepāja | Daugava Stadium | 5,500 | Vladimirs Osipovs |
| JFK Olimps/RFS | Riga | Daugava Stadium | 6,000 |  Tamaz Pertia |
| Skonto FC | Riga | Skonto Stadium | 10,000 | Marians Pahars |
| FK Ventspils | Ventspils | Olimpiskais Stadium | 3,200 |  Sergei Podpaly |
League table
Results
Top goalscorers
Source: LMT Virslīga 2011 (in Latvian)
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nathan Júnior |
Skonto Riga | 22 |
| 2 | Mamuka Ghonghadze |
Daugava Daugavpils | 21 |
| 3 | Jurģis Kalns |
Liepājas Metalurgs | 16 |
| Vladislavs Kozlovs |
Jelgava | ||
| 4 | Vadim Yanchuk |
Ventspils | 12 |
| 5 | Vladimirs Kamešs |
Liepājas Metalurgs | 11 |
Awards
Team of the Tournament
sportacentrs.com version:[6]
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | |
| Pāvels Šteinbors (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
Giorgi Chikradze (Daugava Daugavpils) |
Valērijs Afanasjevs (Daugava Daugavpils) |
Nathan Júnior (Skonto Riga) | |
| Aleksandrs Vlasovs (Ventspils) |
 Marius Činikas (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
Oļegs Laizāns (Ventspils) |
Mamuka Ghonghadze (Daugava Daugavpils) | |
| Evgeny Postnikov (Ventspils) |
Aleksandrs Fertovs (Skonto Riga) |
Vladislavs Kozlovs (Jelgava) |
Coach: Tamaz Pertia (Daugava Daugavpils/Olimps) | |
 Daniel Ola (Jūrmala) |
Genādijs Soloņicins (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
Jurģis Kalns (Liepājas Metalurgs) | ||
| Georgi Ulyanov (Daugava Daugavpils) |
Konstantin Belov (Jūrmala) |
|||
| Ritvars Rugins (Ventspils) |
Mihails Ziziļevs (Daugava Daugavpils) |
Latvian Football Federation version:[7]
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | |
| Germans Māliņš (Skonto Riga) |
Pāvels Surņins (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
Valērijs Afanasjevs (Daugava Daugavpils) |
Nathan Júnior (Skonto Riga) | |
| Aleksandrs Vlasovs (Ventspils) |
Antons Kurakins (Ventspils) |
Ritvars Rugins (Ventspils) |
Vadim Yanchuk (Ventspils) | |
| Evgeny Postnikov (Ventspils) |
Aleksandrs Fertovs (Skonto Riga) |
Mamuka Ghonghadze (Daugava Daugavpils) |
Coach: Sergei Podpaly (Ventspils) | |
| Daniel Ola (Jūrmala) |
Andrejs Prohorenkovs (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
Vladislavs Kozlovs (Jelgava) | ||
| Pāvels Mihadjuks (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
Oļegs Laizāns (Ventspils) |
|||
| Igors Savčenkovs (Ventspils) |
Tomas Tamošauskas (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
|||
| Vladislavs Gabovs (Ventspils) |
Eduard Sukhanov (Ventspils) |
|||
| Marius Činikas (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
Jurģis Kalns (Liepājas Metalurgs) |
Individual nominations
Players selected by sportacentrs.com:[6]
Best foreign player: Daniel Ola (Jūrmala)
Best young player (U-21): 
Arevshat Khachatryan (Gulbene)
Best coach: Tamaz Pertia (Daugava Daugavpils/ Olimps/RFS)
Surprise of the season: Oļegs Laizāns (Ventspils)
Player of the season: Jurģis Kalns (Liepājas Metalurgs)
Best goalkeeper: Germans Māliņš (Skonto Riga)
Best defender: Pāvels Mihadjuks (Liepājas Metalurgs)
Best midfielder: Oļegs Laizāns (Ventspils)
Best forward: Nathan Júnior (Skonto Riga)
Best coach: Sergei Podpaly (Ventspils)
Top scorer: Nathan Júnior (Skonto Riga) (22 goals)
Best young player (U-21): Valērijs Šabala (Skonto Riga)
Player of the season: Oļegs Laizāns (Ventspils)