2020 A Lyga


The 2020 A Lyga is the 31st season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 6 March and was planned to end on 7 November 2020. On 12 March all sports events were postponed for two weeks in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teams

begin the season as defending champions having won their third consecutive league title last year.
Three clubs dropped out of A Lyga last season - Stumbras folded in the summer, while Atlantas and Palanga were disqualified after the end of the season after investigation revealed numerous match-fixing incidents.

Licensing process

The top 5 previous season's teams - FK Sūduva Marijampolė, FK Žalgiris, FK Riteriai, FK Kauno Žalgiris and FK Panevėžys met licensing criteria and received a straight pass to their licenses. Disqualified FK Palanga and FK Atlantas appealed the disqualification decision and expressed interest in playing in A Lyga. Their appeals were rejected.
Five of the I Lyga teams applied for A Lyga licenses - FK Banga Gargždai, FC Džiugas, Vilniaus Vytis, DFK Dainava and FC Hegelmann Litauen. The previous year's I Lyga winners FC Džiugas failed to meet A Lyga licensing criteria, and their application was rejected. FC Džiugas will continue playing in I Lyga this season. FK Banga Gargždai won the play-off match against FK Palanga and earned the right to play in A Lyga. Their A Lyga license was granted upon appeal. Vilniaus Vytis and DFK Dainava did not earn promotion to A Lyga, however they were hoping for exceptions which are common in Lithuanian football. In this instance their applications were rejected on the grounds of failing to meet several critical criteria. FC Hegelmann Litauen withdrew their application prior to the licensing committee's meeting. This meant that only six teams will play in the 2020 A Lyga championship. The LFF announced that four I Lyga teams will qualify for promotion to A Lyga next season.
ClubLocationStadiumSurfaceCapacitySeasons
in A Lyga		2019 position
GargždaiGargždai StadiumArtificial2,32372nd in LFF I lyga
Gargždai———72nd in LFF I lyga
KaunasSM Tauras StadiumNatural50064th
KaunasNFA StadiumArtificial50064th
PanevėžysAukštaitija StadiumNatural6,60025th
PanevėžysŽemyna Progymnasium StadiumArtificial50025th
VilniusLFF StadiumArtificial5,06773rd
VilniusSportima ArenaArtificial3,15773rd
MarijampolėARVI Football ArenaNatural6,250181st
MarijampolėARVI Football Indoor ArenaArtificial2,660181st
VilniusLFF StadiumArtificial5,067192nd
VilniusSportima ArenaArtificial3,157192nd

Personnel and kits

TeamHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Banga Tomas Tamošauskas Deividas Padaigis Nike-
Kauno Žalgiris Rokas Garastas Linas Pilibaitis HummelBC Žalgiris
Panevėžys João Luís Martins Paulius Janušauskas HummelKalnapilis
Riteriai Vaidas Sabaliauskas Valdemaras Borovskis NikeEcoil
Sūduva Saulius Širmelis Algis Jankauskas JomaHIK Vision
Žalgiris Aleksey Baga Saulius Mikoliūnas NikeTop Sport

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointment
Riteriai Albert Rybakend of caretaker spell3 January 2020 Mindaugas Čepas7 January 2020
Sūduva Vladimir Cheburincontract expiryat the end of the 2019 season Heimo Pfeifenberger8 January 2020
Žalgiris João Luís Martinsend of caretaker spell27 November 2019 Aleksey Baga19 January 2020
Kauno Žalgiris Mindaugas Čepascontract expiry2 December 2019 Rokas Garastas3 December 2019
Sūduva Heimo Pfeifenbergercontract termination14 April 2020 Saulius Širmelis23 May 2020
Panevėžys Alexandru Curteiancontract termination15 June 2020 João Luís Martins4 July 2020
Riteriai Mindaugas Čepasresigned28 June 2020 Vaidas Sabaliauskas 28 June 2020

Regular season

On 12 March all sports events were postponed for two weeks in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.

League Table

Fixtures and results

Rounds 1–10

Rounds 11–20

Rounds 21–30

Season statistics

Top scorers