Riga FC

Riga FC
Full name	Riga Football Club; Riga FC, SIA
Founded	30 April 2014; 10 years ago
Ground	Skonto Stadium
Capacity	8,087
Chairman	Aleksandrs Proņins
Manager	Vacant
League	Virslīga
2023	Virslīga, 2nd of 10
Website	rigafc.lv

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.

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, under the name FC Caramba/Dinamo, the team played in the Latvian First League by using the licence received by FC Caramba, an unrelated team founded by future FK RFS co-founder Maksims Krivuņecs, which had won promotion to the 1. līga after winning the Latvian Second League in 2014.^[2] After winning the 2015 First League and earning promotion to the Higher League, the club changed its name to Riga FC.^[3] However, for most of 2015, the legal name of the team was 'Riga Dinamo Football Club'.^[1] A club named Dinamo Riga played in 1940 and 1945–1960.

In 2017, Riga FC acquired the Šitiks Football Academy (Šitika FA), founded in 1999 by Genādijs Šitiks, and operates as one of its youth academies, Riga FC Academy.^[4]^[5]

In 2018, the Ukrainian Viktor Skrypnyk was appointed as coach. He managed to lead the club to two Latvian Higher Leagues in 2018, 2019 and the Latvian Football Cup in 2018.

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
2023	1st	2/(10)	36	27	7	2	89	21	88	Winner	Marko Regža – 19	Tomislav Stipić

European

Fully up to date as of 1 August 2024

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	20	10	2	8	27	24	+3
Total	35	14	7	14	39	40	–1

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	—	—
	UEFA Europa League	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	2−0	0−1	2−1
		2QR	Kecskemét	3−1 (a.e.t.)	1−2	4−3
		3QR	Twente	0−3	0−2	0−5
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	2QR	Śląsk Wrocław	1−0	1−3	2−3
2025–26	UEFA Conference League	2QR

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, 2023
Latvian Cup
- Winners: 2018, 2023
- 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 25 August 2024^[6]

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	El Bachir Ngom
4	MF	CRC	Orlando Galo (on loan from Herediano)
6	MF	LVA	Tomašs Mickēvičs
7	MF	ARG	Brian Orosco (on loan from Estudiantes de La Plata)
8	MF	SRB	Miloš Jojić
9	FW	CRC	Anthony Contreras
10	FW	BRA	Reginaldo Ramires
11	MF	ESP	Brian Peña
12	GK	LVA	Kristaps Zommers
13	DF	LVA	Raivis Jurkovskis
14	MF	CRO	Hrvoje Babec
15	MF	GHA	Ahmed Ankrah


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	GK	LVA	Nils Toms Puriņš
18	FW	LVA	Marko Regža
20	MF	ARG	Gonzalo Muscia [es]
21	DF	GHA	Baba Musah
22	MF	SEN	Ousseynou Niang
23	MF	LVA	Eduards Dašķevičs
24	MF	SEN	Pape Gueye (on loan from United FC)
25	DF	COD	Ngonda Muzinga
33	DF	LVA	Kirils Iljins
34	DF	LVA	Antonijs Černomordijs (captain)
35	DF	ARG	Iván Erquiaga
77	MF	COD	Gauthier Mankenda
93	MF	FRA	Kemelho Nguena

Other players under contract

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player

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
19	FW	NGA	Abdulrahman Taiwo (on loan at FK Auda)
—	FW	BFA	Ousmane Camara (on loan at Auda)
—	FW	UKR	Maksym Parkhomenko (on loan at Tukums 2000)

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	DF	Antonijs Černomordijs
2023	MF	Miloš Jojić

Current staff

As of 14 December 2023 ^[7]^[8]

Coaches
Position	Name
Head coach
Assistant coach
Coach
Coach	Kristaps Blanks
Goalkeeper coach
Fitness coach
Physiotherapist

Medical department
Position	Name
Doctor	Viktors Simanovičs
Doctor	Rolands Brencāns

Current board

As of 13 March 2021 ^[9]

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

Controversies

In 2020, it was reported that Russian businessman Sergey Lomakin, the owner of Riga FC, was included in Latvia's persona non grata list.^[10] This was denied by the board of the club.^[11]

Notable players

Latvia

Europe

Africa

Asia

South America

Former managers

Coach	Period			Major Titles	Domestic
Coach	from	until	days	Major Titles	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	22	–	–	–	–
Sandro Perković	7 June 2022	7 January 2023	214	–	–	–	–
Tomislav Stipić	7 January 2023	13 December 2023	340	1	–	1	–
Simo Valakari	14 December 2023	1 October 2024	337	–	–	-	–

Player records

Top goalscorers

As of 11 November 2023

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Europe	Total
1	Darko Lemajić	2017 – 2019	23	3	0	26
2	Marko Regža	2023 – present	19	1	1	21
3	Mikael Soisalo	2021 – 2023	16	0	3	19
4	Felipe Brisola	2018 – 2021	15	2	1	18
5	Douglas Aurélio	2022 – present	13	1	3	17
6	Gabriel Ramos	2021 – 2022	12	0	3	15
6	Stefan Milošević	2020 – 2021	15	0	0	15
8	Kamil Biliński	2018 – 2019	7	5	2	14
8	Roman Debelko	2019 – 2020	11	0	3	14
10	Marcelo Torres	2022 – 2022	11	0	1	12

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

Notes

^ Lost 5−3 on Penalty shootout.
^ Lost 5−4 on Penalty shootout.

References

^ ^a ^b LURSOFT (2019-04-01). "Riga Football Club, 40008223802 - company data". Lursoft. Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
^ Novickis, Edmunds (2016-02-26). "Virslīgas kluba RFS pārstāvji ar entuziasmu: "Šis projekts 100% ir ilgtermiņa!"" [Representatives of Virslīga club RFS say with enthusiasm "This project is 100% long-term!"]. Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
^ ""Caramba/Dinamo" pārmaiņas: jauns treneris, cits nosaukums un stadions". sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
^ "Genādija Šitika trešais cikls". Sporto (in Latvian). Retrieved 2023-10-18.
^ "Par mums – Riga Football Club Academy". Retrieved 2023-10-18.
^ "Komanda" [A Team] (in Latvian). Riga FC. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
^ "Coaches and staff - Riga Football Club". www.rigafc.lv. Archived from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
^ "Coaches and staff – Riga FC". Riga FC. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
^ "Management and administration – Riga FC". Riga FC. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
^ "Pēdējo gadu Latvijas spēcīgākās futbola komandas īpašnieks iekļauts valstij nevēlamo personu sarakstā". Jauns.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ курс, The Baltic Course-Балтийский. "Latvian football club Riga owner Lomakin included on persona non grata list". The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics. Retrieved 2024-02-20.

External links

Official website
Official Latvia Higher Football League website (in Latvian)

[6] Lost 5−3 on Penalty shootout.

[7] Lost 5−4 on Penalty shootout.

[:0-1] LURSOFT (2019-04-01). "Riga Football Club, 40008223802 - company data". Lursoft. Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2019-04-01.

[2] Novickis, Edmunds (2016-02-26). "Virslīgas kluba RFS pārstāvji ar entuziasmu: "Šis projekts 100% ir ilgtermiņa!"" [Representatives of Virslīga club RFS say with enthusiasm "This project is 100% long-term!"]. Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). Retrieved 2024-01-26.

[3] ""Caramba/Dinamo" pārmaiņas: jauns treneris, cits nosaukums un stadions". sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.

[4] "Genādija Šitika trešais cikls". Sporto (in Latvian). Retrieved 2023-10-18.

[5] "Par mums – Riga Football Club Academy". Retrieved 2023-10-18.

[8] "Komanda" [A Team] (in Latvian). Riga FC. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

[9] "Coaches and staff - Riga Football Club". www.rigafc.lv. Archived from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-18.

[10] "Coaches and staff – Riga FC". Riga FC. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.

[11] "Management and administration – Riga FC". Riga FC. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.

[12] "Pēdējo gadu Latvijas spēcīgākās futbola komandas īpašnieks iekļauts valstij nevēlamo personu sarakstā". Jauns.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2024-02-20.

[13] курс, The Baltic Course-Балтийский. "Latvian football club Riga owner Lomakin included on persona non grata list". The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics. Retrieved 2024-02-20.

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