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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 nameRiga Football Club
Riga FC, SIA
Founded30 April 2014; 10 years ago (2014-04-30)
GroundSkonto Stadium
Capacity8,087
ChairmanAleksandrs Proņins
ManagerMareks Zuntners
LeagueVirslīga
2024Virslīga, 2nd of 10
Websiterigafc.lv

History

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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.

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

Domestic

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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

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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  
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

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Kits

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Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

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

Players

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Current squad

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As of 19 December 2024[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. 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)
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
23 MF   LVA Eduards Dašķevičs
24 MF   SEN Pape Gueye (on loan from United FC)
25 DF   COD Ngonda Muzinga
34 DF   LVA Antonijs Černomordijs (captain)
35 DF   ARG Iván Erquiaga
77 MF   COD Gauthier Mankenda
93 MF   FRA Kemelho Nguena
- DF   LVA Maksims Toņiševs

Other players under contract

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

No. Pos. Nation Player

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. 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

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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
2023 MF   Miloš Jojić

Current staff

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As of 14 December 2023 [7][8]

Coaches
Position Name
Head coach   Mareks Zuntners
Assistant coach  
Coach  
Coach   Kristaps Blanks
Goalkeeper coach  
Fitness coach  
Physiotherapist  
Medical department
Position Name
Doctor   Viktors Simanovičs
Doctor   Rolands Brencāns

Current board

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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

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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

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Former managers

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Coach Period Major
Titles
Domestic
from until days 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 373 -

Player records

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Top goalscorers

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As of 16 November 2024
# Name Years League Cup Europe Total
1   Marko Regža 2023 – present 37 3 1 41
2   Darko Lemajić 2017 – 2019 23 3 0 26
3   Anthony Contreras 2023 – present 14 6 1 21
4   Mikael Soisalo 2021 – 2023 16 0 3 19
5   Felipe Brisola 2018 – 2021 15 2 1 18
6   Douglas Aurélio 2022 – 2023 13 1 3 17
7   Reginaldo Ramires 2023 – present 14 1 0 15
8   Gabriel Ramos 2021 – 2022 12 0 3 15
9   Stefan Milošević 2020 – 2021 15 0 0 15
10   Kemelho Nguena 2023 – present 14 0 0 14

Bold signifies a current Riga FC player

Most appearances

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As of 22 November 2024
# Name Years League Cup Europe Total
1   Antonijs Černomordijs 2016 – 2017
2018 – present
179 15 24 218
2   Armands Pētersons 2016 – 2023 134 11 22 167
3   Roberts Ozols 2015 – 2022 105 13 15 133
4   Antons Kurakins 2017 – 2022 100 16 2 118
5   Oļegs Laizāns 2016 – 2021 96 13 8 117
6   Raivis Jurkovskis 2022 – present 87 5 13 105
7   Felipe Brisola 2018 – 2021 80 3 18 101
8   Nils Toms Puriņš 2018 – present 80 1 12 93
9   Hrvoje Babec 2022 – present 74 5 12 91
10   Mikael Soisalo 2021 – 2023 69 3 19 91

Bold signifies a current Riga FC player

Notes

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

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  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.
  6. ^ "Komanda" [A Team] (in Latvian). Riga FC. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Coaches and staff - Riga Football Club". www.rigafc.lv. Archived from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  8. ^ "Coaches and staff – Riga FC". Riga FC. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Management and administration – Riga FC". Riga FC. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Pēdējo gadu Latvijas spēcīgākās futbola komandas īpašnieks iekļauts valstij nevēlamo personu sarakstā". Jauns.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  11. ^ 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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