Valmiera FC

Valmiera Football Club[1] or shortly Valmiera FC is a Latvian football club, playing in the Virslīga, the highest division of Latvian football. The club is based in the city of Valmiera. By winning the 2017 Latvian First League, the team was promoted to the 2018 Virslīga after a 14-year absence.

"Valmiera Glass Via" redirects here. For the related basketball club, see Valmiera Glass Via (basketball).
Valmiera FC
Full nameValmiera Football Club
Founded1996
GroundJānis Daliņš Stadium, Valmiera, Latvia
Capacity2,000
Chairman Uldis Pūcītis
Manager Tamaz Pertia
LeagueVirslīga
20203rd
WebsiteClub website

History

A predecessor of the club and the main team of the city of Valmiera from 1978 to 1993 was FK Gauja Valmiera, which won the final Football Championship of the Latvian SSR in 1990 and continued in the top flight after the restoration of the independence of Latvia. However, after the 1993 Virslīga season Gauja was relegated and slowly declined, disbanding in the mid-1990s while playing in the 2. līga.

The current club was founded in 1996 as Valmieras FK (Valmieras futbola klubs). It participated in the 1. līga (the second-highest division of Latvian football). The team finished second in the league which gave Valmiera the possibility to battle with the second from bottom team of the Higher League – Skonto-Metāls for a place in the top division of Latvian football. In the first game in Riga Skonto-Metāls won 1:0, but at home Valmiera overcame the one goal deficit and won 2:0 (I. Maļukovs, Dz. Savaļnieks), thus earning a place in the Virslīga.

In its debut season in the Virslīga Valmiera managed to finish 7th out of 9 teams with a comfortable margin over the two weakest teams. The following season was even more successful as the team finished 5th in Virslīga, and the same result was repeated in 1999. The new millennium brought financial difficulties for FK Valmiera. After the 2003 season the team had to leave the Virslīga because of financial difficulties and since then played in the 1. līga, paying more attention to developing young talent.[2]

Several of former Valmiera players have played in the Latvia national football team. Those include Vīts Rimkus, Viktors Morozs, Gatis Kalniņš, Deniss Romanovs and Māris Smirnovs.

For more than ten years Valmiera was a mid level team in the 1. līga. Since 2010, under manager Gatis Ērglis a number of young local players experienced rapid development and the team became one of the leaders of the 1. līga.[3] In 2016 the sports organisation was established as "SO Valmiera Glass / Vidzemes Augstskola" or "Valmiera Glass ViA" - taking the name of the team's long-time sponsor Valmiera Fiberglass and Vidzeme University, which inherited the legacy of Valmiera football.[4] Also joining Valmiera Glass ViA was the school's basketball club.[5] In 2017 the team's best scorers were Alvis Dubovs and Niks Savaļnieks, helping Valmiera Glass ViA to win the Latvian First League with a ten-point margin.

In 2018, Valmiera Glass ViA returned to the Virslīga. One of the biggest offseason deals for the team was the return of Gatis Kalniņš to his hometown, but sadly the veteran striker was mostly sidelined due to injuries.[6] The team struggled in amidst fierce competition and earned only one point in the first ten rounds of the league. That led to the decision to replace long time manager Ērglis with Ukrainian coach Nikolay Trubachov (Mykola Trubachov).[7] In 2019, he was replaced by Georgian coach Tamaz Pertia.

In 2020 club was renamed to "Valmiera FC" (Valmiera Football Club), reportedly due to Valmiera Fibreglass entering a legal protection process due to financial difficulties.[8][9]

League and Cup history
FK Valmiera / Valmiera Glass ViA / Valmiera FC
Season Division (Name) Pos./Teams Latvian Football Cup
1996 2nd (1.līga) 2/(13) 1/16 finals
1997 1st (Virslīga) 7/(9) 1/8 finals
1998 1st (Virslīga) 5/(8) 1/2 finals
1999 1st (Virslīga) 5/(8) 1/4 finals
2000 1st (Virslīga) 6/(8) 1/4 finals
2001 1st (Virslīga) 6/(8) 1/4 finals
2002 1st (Virslīga) 5/(8) 1/4 finals
2003 1st (Virslīga) 6/(8) 1/8 finals
2004 2nd (1.līga) 7/(14) 1/16 finals
2005 2nd (1.līga) 6/(14) 1/8 finals
2006 2nd (1.līga) 7/(16) 1/8 finals
2007 2nd (1.līga) 10/(16) 3rd round
2008 2nd (1.līga) 7/(15) Did not participate
2009 2nd (1.līga) 11/(14) Not held
2010 2nd (1.līga) 6/(12) Did not participate
2011 2nd (1.līga) 9/(13) 1/4 finals
2012 2nd (1.līga) 8/(14) 1/8 finals
2013 2nd (1.līga) 3/(16) 1/8 finals
2014 2nd (1.līga) 3/(16) 1/8 finals
2015 2nd (1.līga) 2/(16) 1/8 finals
2016 2nd (1.līga) 4/(15) 1/32 finals
2017 2nd (1.līga) 1/(12) 1/8 finals
2018 1st (Virslīga) 8/(8) 1/4 finals
2019 1st (Virslīga) 4/(9) 1/8 finals

European record

As of 27 August 2020

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Agg.
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1QR Lech Poznań N/A 0−3 N/A
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1QR
Notes
  • QR: Qualifying round

Players

Current squad
As of 24 August 2020[10]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  LVA Daniels Balodis
5 DF  LVA Kristaps Liepa
6 DF  LVA Krišs Kārkliņš
7 MF  LVA Kristers Lūsiņš
9 FW  LVA Ēriks Punculs
10 MF  LVA Alvis Jaunzems
11 FW  SEN Alioune Ndoye
12 DF  GEO Luka Gadrani
14 MF  GEO Luka Silagadze
15 MF  LVA Dāvis Indrāns
17 DF  SEN Pape Fall
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW  SEN Djibril Guèye
22 DF  NGA Olaide Badmus
29 MF  TUN Motaz Zaddem
31 GK  RUS Vlad Eleferenko
33 MF  LVA Daniils Skopenko
65 GK  LVA Rudolfs Soloha
77 MF  POR Jorge Teixeira
80 MF  SEN Victor Diage
84 GK  LVA Vladislavs Lazarevs
88 FW  LVA Vladimirs Stepanovs
96 DF  CMR Joyskim Dawa
97 GK  LVA Kristaps Zommers

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
99 FW  NGA Tolu Arokodare (on loan to 1. FC Köln)

References
  1. https://optibetvirsliga.com/news/kluba-pazinojums-par-nosaukuma-mainu-valmiera-fc
  2. DELFI (2008-02-25). "'Futbols pilsētā': Valmieras futbola vēsture". DELFI (in Latvian). Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  3. ""Valmieras FK" Ērgļa vadībā gatavojas sezonai". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  4. "We are on the ball in supporting young footballers - VALMIERA GLASS GROUP". www.valmiera-glass.com. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  5. "Sport and activities at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences". Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  6. "Kalniņš atgriežas dzimtajā pilsētā un pievienojas Virslīgas jaunpienācējai". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  7. "Virslīgas pastarīti "Valmieru" trenēs ukraiņu speciālists Trubačovs, asistēs Kalniņš". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  8. "Kluba paziņojums par nosaukuma maiņu Valmiera FC". Optibet Virslīga / Futbola Virslīga (in Latvian). Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  9. "Futbola klubs "VALMIERA GLASS VIA" maina nosaukumu uz "Valmiera FC" - VALMIERA GLASS GRUPA" (in Latvian). 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  10. "VALMIERA GLASS VIA futbols » Komanda". www.vgvia.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2018-09-27.
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