Avsnitt
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Virsliga 2024 is up and running and we sit down to look back at the first five rounds of what is proving to be a truly unpredictable, dynamic and highly competitive league this year! We also put FK Liepaja under the microscope and discuss possible causes of their poor performance as well as offer our Best XI for March-April.
(00:01:02) Reflections on the first 5 rounds
(00:10:41) Impactful players
(00:17:51) Teams to watch (especially if you are new to the league!)
(00:21:35) What's wrong with FK Liepaja?
(00:58:57) Frank's tour of Latvian stadiums; new main stand at LNK Sporta Parks
(01:10:16) Best XI of March/April
(01:13:17) Please support the show! -
Virsliga 2024 is upon us and so is the second year of the podcast. In this episode, we introduce some changes to the format and composition of the show, talk about major news from pre-season, and introduce the upcoming eight months of highly anticipated Latvian club football! We think this is going to be the best season yet, so tune in to find out why!
(00:00) New cast and new format
(02:44) Paolo Nicolato - new Latvia coach
(07:51) The failed Leevon Saldus takeover
(11:32) Livonian Winter League
(14:09) Latvian Super Cup
(20:27) Virsliga 2024: new derby in Liepaja
(26:50) Virsliga 2024: new coaches
(37:53) Virsliga 2024: our predictions
(55:11) 10 players to watch
(1:11:41) Where/how to watch Virsliga games?
(1:16:02) Why care about Latvian football and concluding remarks -
Saknas det avsnitt?
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As the first run of the Livonian Winter League - an international pre-season competition between 24 Latvian and Estonian clubs - comes to a close with a narrow victory for Latvia, we sit down with the Estonian Football Podcast to reflect on the competition, the good and the bad things about it, as well as to have a general chat about the state of Latvian and Estonian association football, not forgetting to briefly discuss the Baltic League idea and the Estonian resistance to it. Tune in, enjoy our first ever crossover episode and please leave a review on whatever platform you use to listen to podcasts!
Estonian Premium liiga starts 1st March and Latvian Virsliga a week later, on the 8th March! -
The Baltic League is a pioneering cross-border league project within the UEFA, meant to unite and enlarge the football markets and competitive levels of Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian clubs. But while there are many things that make a great deal of sense about the proposal spearheaded by the Latvian Virsliga, many questions, concerns and even sources of political resistance remain. Pivoting off of the Livonian Winter League, Nick Ames, The Guardian's European sport correspondent, travelled to Riga to find out about the idea first-hand. In this episode, Dmitrijs and Nick sit down to talk about his visit, what he thought of Latvian and regional football, and about the idea of cross-border leagues in general and the proposed Baltic League in particular!
Nick's article in The Guardian 'Baltic League could be pioneer for cross-border football in Europe' (17 Feb 2024): https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/17/baltic-league-could-be-pioneer-for-cross-border-football-in-europe -
What does the Virsliga look like to a Latvia-based Welshman and how did he come to support Valmiera FC? Frank Marr joins the show to talk about his love of football, the good and the bad things about Latvian football and the Latvian National Team (NB. this episode was recorded before the appointment of Paolo Nicolato), and about his vision for the future growth of association football in Latvia and in the Baltics!
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Dmitrijs sits down with Charlotte Patterson, an avid football fan and prolific reader, writer, scout, commentator and media manager for Durham City AFC, to find out how she discovered Latvian Virsliga, what she likes and does not like about it, and why Riga is a surprising yet very worthwhile football getaway destination!
Charlotte's book recommendations:
Titans of the Teardrop Isle: A Season as a Pro Footballer in Sri Lanka, by Seth BurkettUp Pohnpei: Leading the ultimate football underdogs to glory, by Paul Watson (of the Sweeper podcast)One Football, No Nets, by Justin Walley -
In this new segment, Dmitrijs sits down with Ben Griffis to find out what Virsliga looks like from the outside (of Latvia). We talk about how Ben, himself from the USA, discovered Latvian football and the Virsliga, what he likes or does not like about it, as well as his work with football data and which of Virsliga teams is the closest to his heart.
Ben Griffis is a football analyst perhaps best known for his work with data and statistical model-building, which he shares on social media (on Twitter/X under the username @begriffis) in order to highlight and promote the beauty of football around the world. -
We are joined by Guntars Indriksons for a long and candid conversation about the state of Latvian football. Guntars is one of the most prolific Valmiera FC fans, a former manager of Skonto Stadium and a former member of the Latvian FA Infrastructure Development Committee. Tune in for an uncensored view of the good, the bad, the ugly and the hopeful of Latvian football!
(00:00) Guntars Indriksons - football man, Valmiera fan
(04:52) Latvian National Team
(11:05) Latvia vs Wales
(16:16) #DainisOut, but who instead?
(19:56) On supporting the National Team
(26:14) The Valmiera FC Grand-Player-Garage-Sale: causes and consequences
(33:17) Race for the third place
(38:42) Skonto Stadium
(55:32) What is the ideal stadium capacity for Latvia?
(1:04:45) UAE money for the new national stadium?
(1:10:06) The state of football infrastructure and how it affects the game
(1:29:12) Is football really not King in Latvia? -
In part 2 of our end-of-season-review, we talk about who we thought were the best players and the biggest surprises, as well as reflect on our beginning of the season predictions and on whether we thought 2023 was a step forward for Virsliga or not.
(01:05) Looking back at our predictions
(11:28) Virsliga 2023 Best XI
(36:56) Best Young Player
(38:32) Biggest Flop
(44:47) Biggest Surprise
(46:59) Virsliga 2023 MVP
(49:05) Coaches, goalkeepers, and yellow cards
(52:58) Is Virsliga developing? -
Virsliga 2023 is over, so it’s time to reflect on how it ended, who won (or lost) what, who scored how many goals. In this first episode, we talk about the final standings and the top scorers.
(00:00) How it all ended
(07:07) FK RFS and Riga FC
(10:49) FK Auda
(15:37) Valmiera FC
(21:56) FK Liepaja
(28:42) FS Jelgava
(34:07) BFC Daugavpils
(38:01) FK Tukums 2000/Telms
(42:35) FK Metta
(49:03) SK Super Nova Salaspils
(56:09) Top scorers -
Latvian Cup 2023 is over and Riga FC had won it in a penalty shoot-out against their arch rivals - RFS. Join us as we sit down right after the match to reflect on how it went and on what we can look forward to!
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Jānis Vītols of Latvian Footy in English (@LV_footballnews) joins us for our second special episode to reflect on the Virsliga summer transfer window 2023. Who came, who left, who got loaned out and why, and was this transfer window a net gain for the Latvian Higher League? Tune in to find out what the man behind the largest Latvian football English-language social media account thinks of it all!
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With the Conference League in the rear view mirror, we reflect on how Riga and Valmiera did in QR3 as well as catch-up on the Latvian Cup and the Virsliga.
(02:04) UECL QR3: Riga FC vs FC Twente (and Stipic)
(16:50) UECL QR3: Valmiera FC vs FK Partizani Tirana (and Kalns)
(25:19) Chasing the Top 33
(28:16) The Latvian Cup
(45:52) Catching up on Virsliga
(57:04) Metta in Europe? -
Games that made sense, games that didn't, games that went as expected, and games that made us lose our minds - the UECL QR2 had it all! Join us as we reflect on how it went for the four Latvian teams in QR2 of the Conference League - Riga, RFS, Valmiera, and Auda - and what awaits Riga and Valmiera in QR3.
(00:54) Valmiera FC vs S.P. Tre Penne
(10:13) FK RFS vs Sabah FK
(22:21) FK Auda vs Spartak Trnava FC
(28:27) Riga FC vs Kecskeméti TE
(42:38) European games and Latvian football
(46:05) UECL QR3: Riga FC vs FC Twente and Valmiera vs FK Partizani Tirana -
UEFA Champions League and UEFA Conference League are here and we could not be more excited! Join us as we discuss how Valmiera did in their Champions League debut against Olimpija Ljubljana and how both Riga FC and RFS performed in their respective Conference League draws against Vikingur Reykjavik and Makedonija GP! We also look ahead to Qualification round 2 and compare and contrast our, apparently, very different perspectives on how it's going to go down.
(00:38) UCL Q1: Valmiera FC vs Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)
(12:01) UECL Q1: FK RFS vs Makedonija GP (MKD)
(22:27) UECL Q1: Riga FC vs Vikingur Reykjavik (ISL)
(33:55) UECL Q2: Valmiera FC vs Tre Penne (SMR)
(41:41) UECL Q2: FK RFS vs Sabah FC (AZE)
(44:56) UECL Q2: FK Auda vs FC Spartak Trnava (SVK)
(51:16) UECL Q2: Riga FC vs Kecskeméti TE (HUN)
(52:50) Looking back and looking ahead -
In our first Special episode, Dmitrijs sits down with the CEO of Virsliga, Maksims Krivunecs, to talk about the business of Latvian Virsliga. Football, in general, is an interesting context within which to examine the various organisations involved, but Virsliga is even more interesting still on account of it being a young competition with very little budgetary impact of matchday revenue. And yet, Latvian club football is punching well above it's weight, currently being ranked 34th by UEFA. How do they do it?
Join us for this fascinating conversation to learn how Virsliga is pushing the envelope of digitisation and business model innovation, all the while working on a shoestring budget and devoid of even domestic TV sales!
(01:20) Maksims Krivunecs
(05:19) The business model of Virsliga
(17:09) A note on how clubs make money
(17:53) Digitisation and the business of data
(38:12) Interest, engagement, commercialisation
(42:44) Getting more people into the stadiums
(50:01) Three ways to grow further -
Latest two rounds in the run-up to the European games did not bring many surprises, but did deliver a few exciting games (especially from the lower end of the table). Join us as we catch up on what happened in rounds 21 and 22!
(01:29) Tukums vs Metta
(03:51) Auda vs Valmiera
(07:45) RFS vs Jelgava
(12:22) Riga vs Liepaja
(18:34) Daugavpils vs Super Nova
(22:37) Valmiera vs Tukums
(27:42) Liepaja vs RFS
(35:27) Riga vs Auda
(40:08) Jelgava vs Super Nova
(44:39) Metta vs Daugavpils
(47:59) Current standings
(56:30) Goal of the Round -
The biggest domestic football night of the year - The Big Riga Derby at Skonto - has arrived and, boy oh boy, it did not disappoint! Join us, as we talk about our experiences of the game (we were both there), rest of matchday 20 clashes, and about some other news in and around Virsliga!
(00:00) We are now also on Instagram!
(03:09) Some transfer news: Steponavicius, Lemajic, Berqvist, Liepaja, and Riga FC
(22:35) The Harušták interview
(25:17) Valmiera vs Liepaja
(28:49) Metta vs Auda
(35:16) Daugavpils vs Jelgava
(38:30) Super Nova vs Tukums
(43:29) Riga vs RFS
(1:00:39) Goal of the Round -
As we roll into the third lap of Virsliga 2023, another competition is upon us - the Latvian Cup! It's been ongoing in the background for a bit of time now, but we are now at a point where Virsliga teams are mixed into the bunch. Join us, as we review the latest round of Virsliga and introduce the six non-Virsliga teams in the Cup draw!
(00:00) Introduction, Liepaja vs Metta
(09:32) RFS vs Valmiera
(19:23) Super Nova vs Auda
(24:37) Jelgava vs Riga
(32:22) Daugavpils vs Tukums
(37:45) Latvian Cup 1/8 Draw
(40:16) The 6 non-Virsliga teams -
After a crazy rollercoaster of emotions that was Latvia's EURO2024 qualification games against Turkey and Armenia (and the lingering feeling of utter desolution and despair that came with those), we open a new chapter with the first round qualification draws for the Champions League and the Conference League! Exciting! European games are just weeks away and we can't wait!
In the Champions League, debutants Valmiera will face NK Olimpija Ljubljana from Slovenia.
In the Conference League, Riga FC will face Víkingur Reykjavík from Iceland and RFS will square off with Makedonija GP from... North Macedonia, of course. Who are the favourites and who are the underdogs? Join us as we discuss!
(00:00) EURO2024 vs Turkey and Armenia
(09:37) Conference League Q1 Draws
(19:07) Champions League Q1 Draw - Visa fler