Riga FC

Not to be confused with FK Rīga.

Riga Football Club, commonly referred to as Riga FC, is a Latvian football club, founded in 2014. The club is based at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Since 2016 the club has been playing in the Virslīga.

Riga FC

Full name	Riga Football Club
Founded	30 April 2014; 9 years ago (2014-04-30)
Ground	Skonto Stadium
Capacity	8,087
Chairman	Aleksandrs Proņins
Manager	Tomislav Stipić
League	Virslīga
2022	Virsliga, 2nd of 10
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

History

The club was officially registered in April 2014.^[1] The team was established before the 2015 season after a merger of two Riga based teams – FC Caramba and Dinamo Rīga. In the 2015 season the team played in the Latvian First League under the name of FC Caramba/Dinamo, since Caramba had won promotion to the 1. līga after winning the Latvian Second League in 2014. After winning the First League and promotion to the Higher League, the club changed its name to Riga FC.^[2] In 2018 was appointed as coach the Ukrainian Viktor Skrypnyk, where he managed to lead to win two Latvian Higher Leagues in 2018, 2019 and the Latvian Football Cup in 2018.

 

Ukrainian manager Viktor Skrypnyk has won the first ever Virslīga title in the club's history.

Domestic

Season	Division (Name)	Pos./Teams	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Latvian Football Cup	Top Scorer (League)	Manager
2015	2nd	1/(16)	30	27	3	0	142	14	84	Round of 16	Verners Apiņš – 31	Mihails Koņevs
2016	1st	5/(8)	28	8	12	8	28	24	36	Runner-up	Roberts Savaļnieks   Yōsuke Saitō – 5	Kiril Kurbatov   Dmitri Khomukha   Vladimir Volchek
2017	1st	3/(7)	24	10	7	7	28	20	37	Runner-up	Bogdan Vaštšuk – 8	Vladimir Volchek   Mihails Koņevs   Yevgeny Perevertaylo   Slaviša Stojanovič
2018	1st	1/(8)	28	20	4	4	45	16	64	Winner	Darko Lemajić – 15	Goce Sedloski   Mihails Koņevs   Viktor Skrypnyk
2019	1st	1/(9)	32	20	6	6	59	21	66	Semi-Finals	Roman Debelko – 7	Luís Berkemeier Pimenta   Oleg Kubarev   Mihails Koņevs
2020	1st	1/(10)	27	23	0	4	60	21	69	Quarter-finals	Kule Mbombo – 12	Oleg Kononov   Mihails Koņevs
2021	1st	4/(9)	28	14	8	6	54	26	50	Semifinals	Stefan Milošević – 13	Denis Laktionov   Kristaps Blanks   Andris Rihters   Sashko Poposki
2022	1st	2/(10)	36	26	3	7	68	23	81	Round of 16	Marcelo Torres – 11	Thorsten Fink   Kristaps Blanks   Sandro Perković

European

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Champions League	5	0	3	2	1	4	–3
UEFA Europa League	10	4	2	4	11	12	–1
UEFA Europa Conference League	12	7	2	3	19	12	+7
Total	27	11	7	9	31	28	+3

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Agg.
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	1QR	CSKA Sofia	1−0	0−1	1−1^[a]
2019–20	UEFA Champions League	1QR	Dundalk	0−0	0−0	0−0^[b]
	UEFA Europa League	2QR	Piast Gliwice	2−1	2−3	4−4 (a)
		3QR	HJK	1−1	2−2	3−3 (a)
		PO	Copenhagen	1−0	1−3	2−3
2020–21	UEFA Champions League	1QR	Maccabi Tel Aviv	—	0−2	—
	UEFA Europa League	2QR	Tre Fiori	1−0	—	—
		3QR	Celtic	0−1	—	—
2021–22	UEFA Champions League	1QR	Malmö	1−1	0−1	1−2
	UEFA Europa Conference League	2QR	Shkëndija	2−0	1−0	3−0
		3QR	Hibernians	0−1	4−1 (a.e.t.)	4−2
		PO	Lincoln Red Imps	1−1	1−3 (a.e.t.)	2−4
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	1QR	Derry City	2−0	2−0	4−0
		2QR	Ružomberok	2−1	3−0	5−1
		3QR	Gil Vicente	1−1	0−4	1−5
2023–24	UEFA Europa Conference League	1QR	Víkingur Reykjavík

Notes

• 1QR: First qualifying round
• 2QR: Second qualifying round
• 3QR: Third qualifying round
• PO: Play-off round

Honours

Latvian Higher League

• Champions: 2018, 2019, 2020
• Runners-up: 2022

Latvian Cup

• Winners: 2018
• Runners-up: 2016–17, 2017

Latvian First League

• Champions: 2015

Kits

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2015	Adidas	—
2016	Jako	—
2017		Marine Service Group
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022

2016

2017–18

2019

2020–22

2016

2017

2018–19

2020–22

2021–22

Players

Current squad

As of 9 April 2023^[3]

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   LVA Rihards Matrevics 3 DF   SEN Mouhamed El Bachir Ngom 4 MF   LVA Ilja Korotkovs 5 MF   GRE Thanos Petsos 7 FW   CRO Marko Dabro (on loan from Beijing Guoan) 8 MF   SRB Miloš Jojić 9 DF   LVA Armands Pētersons 10 FW   BRA Douglas Aurélio 11 MF   FIN Mikael Soisalo 12 GK   LVA Kristaps Zommers 13 DF   LVA Raivis Jurkovskis 14 MF   CRO Hrvoje Babec 15 DF   CRO Petar Bosančić 16 GK   LVA Nils Puriņš 17 MF   NGA Olabanjo Ogunji

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW   LVA Marko Regza 19 MF   GHA Joselpho Barnes 21 DF   GHA Baba Musah 22 FW   SEN Ousseynou Niang 23 MF   LVA Eduards Dašķevičs 25 DF   COD Ngonda Muzinga 27 MF   FRA Mohamed Ouadah 33 DF   LVA Kirils Iljins 34 DF   LVA Antonijs Černomordijs (captain) 37 MF   CIV Aboubakar Karamoko (on loan from FK Auda) 55 DF   PER Gustavo Dulanto 70 DF   SEN Mor Talla Gaye 77 MF   UKR Yuriy Vakulko 93 MF   FRA Kemelho Nguena 95 FW   BRA Lucas Rangel 99 FW   BRA Reginaldo Ramires

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 91 FW   BUL Georgi Minchev (on loan at Auda)

Captains

Season	Pos.	Captain
2016	MF	Oļegs Laizāns
2017	DF	Kaspars Gorkšs
2018	DF	Volodymyr Bayenko
2019	MF	Aleksejs Višņakovs
2020	MF	Stefan Panić
2021	DF	Antonijs Černomordijs
2022

Current staff

As of 10 January 2023 ^[4][5]

Coaches

Position	Name
Head coach	Tomislav Stipić
Assistant coach	Vjekoslav Miletić
Coach	Sergejs Kožans
Coach	Kristaps Blanks
Goalkeeper coach	Goran Brašnić
Fitness coach	Milenko Kumić
Physiotherapist	Roberts Krčmar

Medical department

Position	Name
Doctor	Viktors Simanovičs
Doctor	Rolands Brencāns

Current board

As of 13 March 2021 ^[6]

Management and administration

Position	Name
Director-General	Aleksandrs Proņins
Sport director	Aleksandrs Romašins
Executive director	Romāns Lajuks
Administrator	Deniss Čerņikovs
Press officer	Krišs Upenieks
Creative director	Sergejs Sobolevs
Project manager	Andrejs Kaješovs
Photographer	Zigismunds Zālmanis
Video operator	Andrejs Guļko

Notable players

Latvia   Kristaps Blanks   Boriss Bogdaškins   Antonijs Černomordijs   Vladislavs Fjodorovs   Vladislavs Gabovs   Kaspars Gorkšs   Vadims Gospodars   Vladimirs Kamešs   Artūrs Karašausks   Andrejs Kovaļovs   Sergejs Kožans   Antons Kurakins   Oļegs Laizāns   Ivans Lukjanovs   Germans Māliņš   Roberts Ozols   Andrejs Perepļotkins   Armands Pētersons   Ēriks Punculs   Deniss Rakels   Deniss Romanovs   Ritvars Rugins   Roberts Savaļnieks   Vitālijs Smirnovs   Elvis Stuglis   Valērijs Šabala   Oļegs Timofejevs   Daniils Turkovs   Maksims Uvarenko   Aleksejs Višņakovs   Artūrs Zjuzins Europe   Herdi Prenga   Edgar Babayan   Adnan Šećerović   Ivan Brkić   Ivan Paurević   Tomislav Šarić

Jakub Hora   Bogdan Vaštšuk   Mikael Soisalo   Davit Skhirtladze   Giorgos Valerianos   Thanos Petsos   Kévin Bérigaud   Joël Bopesu   Jean-Baptiste Léo   Axel Óskar Andrésson   Stefan Ljubicic   Besar Halimi   Egzon Belica   Stefan Milošević   Milan Vušurović   Abdisalam Ibrahim   Kamil Biliński   Pedrinho   Talocha   Khyzyr Appayev   Vitaliy Fedotov   Vladislav Khatazhyonkov   Denis Kniga   Ivan Knyazev   Stanislav Krapukhin   Ivan Sergeyev   Sergei Shumeyko   Danila Yanov   Ivan Yenin   Dušan Brković   Marko Đurišić   Darko Lemajić   Mario Maslać   Stefan Panić   Nedeljko Piščević   Miloš Vranjanin   Rene Mihelič   Volodymyr Bayenko   Roman Debelko

Oleksandr Filippov   Vladlen Yurchenko   Valeriy Fedorchuk   Bohdan Kovalenko   Ihor Lytovka   Myroslav Slavov   Vyacheslav Sharpar   Yuriy Vakulko   Serhiy Zahynaylov   Pavlo Fedosov Africa   Aristide Bancé   Gaël Etock   Kule Mbombo   Ngonda Muzinga   Jordan Nkololo   David Addy   Karim Loukili   George Davies   John Kamara Asia   Yōsuke Saitō   Minori Sato South America   Federico Bravo   Felipe Brisola   Dário   Stênio Júnior   Wesley Natã   Thiago Primão   Gabriel Ramos   Roger   Lipe Veloso   Brayan Angulo   Juan Camilo Saiz

Former managers

Coach	Period			Major Titles	Domestic
	from	until	days		LČ	LK	1L
Mihails Koņevs	1 March 2015	30 November 2015	274	1	–	–	1
Kiril Kurbatov	1 January 2016	10 April 2016	100	–	–	–	–
Dmitri Khomukha	11 April 2016	9 August 2016	120	–	–	–	–
Vladimir Volchek	12 August 2016	19 April 2017	250	–	–	–	–
Mihails Koņevs (caretaker)	20 April 2017	11 May 2017	21	–	–	–	–
Yevgeny Perevertaylo	12 May 2017	29 July 2017	78	–	–	–	–
Slaviša Stojanović	30 July 2017	31 December 2017	154	–	–	–	–
Goce Sedloski	27 January 2018	25 May 2018	118	–	–	–	–
Mihails Koņevs (caretaker)	26 May 2018	4 July 2018	39	–	–	–	–
Viktor Skrypnyk	5 July 2018	31 January 2019	210	2	1	1	–
Luís Berkemeier Pimenta	5 February 2019	2 March 2019	25	–	–	–	–
Mihails Koņevs (caretaker)	3 March 2019	27 March 2019	24	–	–	–	–
Oleg Kubarev	28 March 2019	26 April 2019	29	–	–	–	–
Mihails Koņevs	27 April 2019	5 February 2020	284	1	1	–	–
Oleg Kononov	5 February 2020	11 November 2020	280	–	–	–	–
Mihails Koņevs (caretaker)	12 November 2020	31 December 2020	49	1	1	–	–
Denis Laktionov	1 January 2021	25 May 2021	144	–	–	–	–
Kristaps Blanks (caretaker)	27 May 2021	8 June 2021	12	–	–	–	–
Andris Rihters	9 June 2021	10 September 2021	93	–	–	–	–
Sashko Poposki (caretaker)	12 September 2021	30 November 2021	79	–	–	–	–
Thorsten Fink	4 January 2022	16 May 2022	132	–	–	–	–
Kristaps Blanks (caretaker)	16 May 2022	7 June 2022	382	–	–	–	–
Sandro Perković	7 June 2022		382	–	–	–	–

Player records

Top goalscorers

As of 30 November 2021

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Europe	Total
1	Darko Lemajić	2017 – 2019	23	3	0	26
2	Felipe Brisola	2018 – 2021	15	2	1	18
3	Stefan Milošević	2020 – 2021	15	0	0	15
4	Kamil Biliński	2018 – 2019	7	5	2	14
	Roman Debelko	2019 – 2020	11	0	3	14

Bold signifies a current Riga FC player

Most appearances

As of 30 November 2021

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Europe	Total
1	Armands Pētersons	2016 – present	117	11	17	145
2	Antonijs Černomordijs	2016 – 2017 2018 – present	96	9	15	120
3	Oļegs Laizāns	2016 – 2021	96	13	8	117
4	Roberts Ozols	2015 – present	88	12	15	115
5	Antons Kurakins	2017 – present	86	15	2	103

Bold signifies a current Riga FC player

References

1. LURSOFT (2019-04-01). "Riga Football Club , 40008223802 - company data". Lursoft. from the original on 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
2. ""Caramba/Dinamo" pārmaiņas: jauns treneris, cits nosaukums un stadions". sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 22 December 2015. from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
3. "Komanda" [A Team] (in Latvian). Riga FC. from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
4. "Coaches and staff - Riga Football Club". www.rigafc.lv. from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
5. "Coaches and staff – Riga FC". Riga FC. from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
6. "Management and administration – Riga FC". Riga FC. from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.

Notes

1. Lost 5−3 on Penalty shootout.
2. Lost 5−4 on Penalty shootout.

External links

• Official website
• Latvian Higher League website (in Latvian)