Valmiera FC

Valmiera Football Club[1] or shortly Valmiera FC is a Latvian football club, playing in the Virslīga, the highest division of Latvian football. The club is based in the city of Valmiera. By winning the 2017 Latvian First League, the team was promoted to the 2018 Virslīga after a 14-year absence, and won their first title in 2022 Virslīga.

Valmiera FC
Full nameValmiera Football Club
Founded1996 (1996)
GroundJānis Daliņš Stadium, Valmiera, Latvia
Capacity2,000
ChairmanUldis Pūcītis
ManagerJurģis Kalns
LeagueVirslīga
20221st of 10 (champions)
WebsiteClub website

History

A predecessor of the club and the main team of the city of Valmiera from 1978 to 1993 was FK Gauja Valmiera, which won the final Football Championship of the Latvian SSR in 1990 and continued in the top flight after the restoration of the independence of Latvia. However, after the 1993 Virslīga season Gauja was relegated and slowly declined, disbanding in the mid-1990s while playing in the 2. līga.

The current club was founded in 1996 as Valmieras FK (Valmieras futbola klubs). It participated in the 1. līga (the second-highest division of Latvian football). The team finished second in the league which gave Valmiera the possibility to battle with the second from bottom team of the Higher League Skonto-Metāls for a place in the top division of Latvian football. In the first game in Riga Skonto-Metāls won 1:0, but at home Valmiera overcame the one goal deficit and won 2:0 (I. Maļukovs, Dz. Savaļnieks), thus earning a place in the Virslīga.

In its debut season in the Virslīga Valmiera managed to finish 7th out of 9 teams with a comfortable margin over the two weakest teams. The following season was even more successful as the team finished 5th in Virslīga, and the same result was repeated in 1999. The new millennium brought financial difficulties for FK Valmiera. After the 2003 season the team had to leave the Virslīga because of financial difficulties and since then played in the 1. līga, paying more attention to developing young talent.[2]

Several of former Valmiera players have played in the Latvia national football team. Those include Vīts Rimkus, Viktors Morozs, Gatis Kalniņš, Deniss Romanovs and Māris Smirnovs.

For more than ten years Valmiera was a mid level team in the 1. līga. Since 2010, under manager Gatis Ērglis a number of young local players experienced rapid development and the team became one of the leaders of the 1. līga.[3] In 2016 the sports organisation was established as "SO Valmiera Glass / Vidzemes Augstskola" or "Valmiera Glass ViA" - taking the name of the team's long-time sponsor Valmiera Fiberglass and Vidzeme University, which inherited the legacy of Valmiera football.[4] Also joining Valmiera Glass ViA was the school's basketball club.[5] In 2017 the team's best scorers were Alvis Dubovs and Niks Savaļnieks, helping Valmiera Glass ViA to win the Latvian First League with a ten-point margin.

In 2018, Valmiera Glass ViA returned to the Virslīga. One of the biggest offseason deals for the team was the return of Gatis Kalniņš to his hometown, but the veteran striker was mostly sidelined due to injuries.[6] The team struggled in amidst fierce competition and earned only one point in the first ten rounds of the league. That led to the decision to replace long time manager Ērglis with Ukrainian coach Mykola Trubachov.[7] In 2019, he was replaced by Georgian coach Tamaz Pertia.

In 2020 club was renamed to "Valmiera FC" (Valmiera Football Club), reportedly due to Valmiera Fibreglass entering a legal protection process due to financial difficulties.[8][9]

In 2022, Valmiera won the Latvian top tier league for the first time in history.

Honours

League and Cup history

FK Valmiera / Valmiera Glass ViA / Valmiera FC
Season Division (Name) Pos./Teams Latvian Football Cup
1996 2nd (1.līga) 2/(13) 1/16 finals
1997 1st (Virslīga) 7/(9) 1/8 finals
1998 1st (Virslīga) 5/(8) 1/2 finals
1999 1st (Virslīga) 5/(8) 1/4 finals
2000 1st (Virslīga) 6/(8) 1/4 finals
2001 1st (Virslīga) 6/(8) 1/4 finals
2002 1st (Virslīga) 5/(8) 1/4 finals
2003 1st (Virslīga) 6/(8) 1/8 finals
2004 2nd (1.līga) 7/(14) 1/16 finals
2005 2nd (1.līga) 6/(14) 1/8 finals
2006 2nd (1.līga) 7/(16) 1/8 finals
2007 2nd (1.līga) 10/(16) 3rd round
2008 2nd (1.līga) 7/(15) Did not participate
2009 2nd (1.līga) 11/(14) Not held
2010 2nd (1.līga) 6/(12) Did not participate
2011 2nd (1.līga) 9/(13) 1/4 finals
2012 2nd (1.līga) 8/(14) 1/8 finals
2013 2nd (1.līga) 3/(16) 1/8 finals
2014 2nd (1.līga) 3/(16) 1/8 finals
2015 2nd (1.līga) 2/(16) 1/8 finals
2016 2nd (1.līga) 4/(15) 1/32 finals
2017 2nd (1.līga) 1/(12) 1/8 finals
2018 1st (Virslīga) 8/(8) 1/4 finals
2019 1st (Virslīga) 4/(9) 1/8 finals
2020 1st (Virslīga) 3/(10) 1/2 finals
2021 1st (Virslīga) 2/(8) 1/2 finals
2022 1st (Virslīga) 1/(10) 1/4 finals
2023 TBD (Virslīga) -/(10) TBD

European record

As of match played 17 August 2023

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Agg.
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1QR Poland Lech Poznań 0−3
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1QR Lithuania Sūduva 0–0 1−2 1−2
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR North Macedonia Shkëndija 1−2 1−3 2−5
2023–24 UEFA Champions League 1QR Slovenia Olimpija Ljubljana 1−2 1−2 2−4
UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR San Marino Tre Penne 7–0 3–0 10–0
3QR Albania Partizani 1−2 0−1 1−3
Notes
  • QR: Qualifying round

Players

Current squad

As of 16 July, 2023[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Venezuela VEN Carlos Olses
2 DF Latvia LVA Daniels Balodis
3 DF Latvia LVA Niks Sliede
4 DF Latvia LVA Roberts Veips
5 DF Latvia LVA Kristers Neilands
7 MF Brazil BRA Gustavo
8 MF Latvia LVA Kristers Čudars
9 FW Brazil BRA Ruan Ribeiro (on loan from Palmeiras)
10 MF Latvia LVA Alvis Jaunzems
11 MF Colombia COL Juan Peñaloza (on loan from Huesca)
14 MF Latvia LVA Renārs Varslavāns
15 DF Ukraine UKR Yevhen Opanasenko
16 MF Latvia LVA Kristers Volkovs
17 DF Senegal SEN Pape Fall
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF Latvia LVA Niks Dusalijevs
19 FW Senegal SEN Djibril Guèye
20 DF Algeria ALG Adel Ghanem (on loan from Mouloudia Algiers)
22 MF Senegal SEN Meissa Diop
23 DF Latvia LVA Maksims Toņiševs
24 FW Senegal SEN Alioune Ndoye
26 GK Latvia LVA Klāvs Lauva
27 DF Latvia LVA Emils Birka
28 FW Latvia LVA Ingars Pūlis
75 FW Brazil BRA Léo Gaúcho
77 FW France FRA Jérémie Porsan-Clémenté
80 MF Senegal SEN Victor Diagne
90 GK Latvia LVA Roberts Apsīts
99 MF Tunisia TUN Fraj Kayramani

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Latvia LVA Davis Veisbuks (at Super Nova until 31 December 2023)
DF Ukraine UKR Roman Yakuba (at Puszcza Niepołomice until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW Latvia LVA Kristiāns Kaušelis (at Super Nova until 31 December 2023)

References

  1. "Kluba paziņojums par nosaukuma maiņu Valmiera FC".
  2. DELFI (2008-02-25). "'Futbols pilsētā': Valmieras futbola vēsture". DELFI (in Latvian). Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  3. ""Valmieras FK" Ērgļa vadībā gatavojas sezonai". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  4. "We are on the ball in supporting young footballers - VALMIERA GLASS GROUP". www.valmiera-glass.com. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  5. "Sport and activities at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences". Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  6. "Kalniņš atgriežas dzimtajā pilsētā un pievienojas Virslīgas jaunpienācējai". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  7. "Virslīgas pastarīti "Valmieru" trenēs ukraiņu speciālists Trubačovs, asistēs Kalniņš". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  8. "Kluba paziņojums par nosaukuma maiņu Valmiera FC". Optibet Virslīga / Futbola Virslīga (in Latvian). Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  9. "Futbola klubs "VALMIERA GLASS VIA" maina nosaukumu uz "Valmiera FC" - VALMIERA GLASS GRUPA" (in Latvian). 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  10. "VALMIERA GLASS VIA futbols » Komanda". www.vgvia.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2018-09-27.
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