2011 Latvian Higher League


The 2011 Latvian Higher League was the 20th season of top-tier football in Latvia. It began on 15 April 2011 and ended on 5 November 2011.
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.

Teams

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. 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.

Team summaries

ClubLocationStadiumCapacityCurrent manager
DaugavpilsDaugava Stadium4,500 Leonid Nazarenko
GulbeneGulbenes SC1,500 Mihails Koņevs
JelgavaZemgales Olimpiskais Sporta Centrs2,200 Dainis Kazakevičs
JūrmalaSlokas Stadium5,000 Igors Stepanovs
JūrmalaSlokas Stadium5,000 Jurijs Popkovs
LiepājaDaugava Stadium5,500 Vladimirs Osipovs
RigaDaugava Stadium6,000 Tamaz Pertia
RigaSkonto Stadium10,000 Marians Pahars
VentspilsOlimpiskais Stadium3,200 Sergei Podpaly

League table

Results

First half of season

Second half of season

Relegation play-offs

At the season's end, the 9th place club in the Latvian Higher League will face the runners-up of the Latvian First League in a two-legged playoff, with the winner being awarded a spot in the 2012 Higher League competition.
----

Top goalscorers

Source:
RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Nathan JúniorSkonto Riga22
2 Mamuka GhonghadzeDaugava Daugavpils21
3 Jurģis KalnsLiepājas Metalurgs16
3 Vladislavs KozlovsJelgava16
4 Vadim YanchukVentspils12
5 Vladimirs KamešsLiepājas Metalurgs11

Awards

Team of the Tournament

sportacentrs.com version:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Latvian Football Federation version:''

Individual nominations

Players selected by sportacentrs.com:
Best foreign player: Daniel Ola
Best young player : Arevshat Khachatryan
Best coach: Tamaz Pertia
Surprise of the season: Oļegs Laizāns
Player of the season: Jurģis Kalns
Players selected by LFF:
Best goalkeeper: Germans Māliņš
Best defender: Pāvels Mihadjuks
Best midfielder: Oļegs Laizāns
Best forward: Nathan Júnior
Best coach: Sergei Podpaly
Top scorer: Nathan Júnior '
Best young player : Valērijs Šabala
Player of the season''': Oļegs Laizāns

Team awards

Players selected by LFF:
Best match organization:Jelgava
Fair-play award:Gulbene