Future League
 | |
| Organising body | Latvian Football Federation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1951 |
| Country |  Latvia |
| Number of clubs | 14 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Virslīga |
| Relegation to | LIIGA |
| Domestic cup | Latvian Cup |
| Current champions | Ogre United (2025) |
| Most championships | 2 RKB-Arma Rīga FB Gulbene BFC Daugavpils FK Auda |
| Sponsor(s) | LVBET |
| Website | lff.lv/nakotnes-liga |
| Current: 2026 Future League | |
Prior to Latvia's independence in 1991 the league was called B class Latvian: B Klasse. Now the Future League (Latvian: Nākotnes Līga), currently known as the LVBET League (LVBET līga) for commercial purposes, and prior to 2021 the Latvian First League (Latvian: Latvijas Pirmā līga, 1. līga), is the second tier division of football in Latvia organised by the Latvian Football Federation since 1992. Its winners gain promotion to the Latvian Higher League (Virslīga), while the relegated teams move to the Latvian Second League.
History
[edit]Prior to Latvia's independence in 1991 the league was called B class Latvian: B Klasse, and in the Soviet Union football league system it was the third tier, but domestically it was the second tier, also up until 1991 it was a regional league, with regionas such as the Riga region football Championship, Daugavpils region football championship, Liepaja region football championship and the Valmiera region football championship. The league was founded together with other Latvian football competitions in 1992. From 2007 to 2008, the tournament was known as the Traffic 1. līga, due to its first sponsorship deal concluded with the "Traffic auto advert" advertising company.[1] From 2015 to 2020 its name was Komanda.lv First League (Komanda.lv 1. līga) for sponsorship reasons, after the Komanda.lv sporting goods store became the league's main sponsor in 2015.[2]
It was renamed to Future League before the 2021 season. Between 2021 and 2024, the league's general sponsor was the gambling company Optibet, so the league was called Optibet Future League (Optibet Nākotnes līga). From the 2026 season, the league's general sponsor is the sports betting company LVBET.
Format
[edit]There are 14 clubs in the First League. During the course of the season each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, with a total of 26 games. At the end of the season, the highest placed club is automatically promoted to the Virslīga. The second lowest placed club in the Virslīga and the second placed club in the First League compete in a two-legged tie for the remaining place in the following season's Virslīga. The two clubs finishing at the bottom of the First League are relegated to the Second League, while the third-from-bottom team competes in a two-legged tie with the third-placed team of the Second League for a place in the First League.[3]
Participating clubs (2026)
[edit]Past winners
[edit]- a Previously won as Ranto/AVV.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Second division Traffic League kicks-off". Latvian Football Federation. 2007-04-04. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
- ↑ ""komanda.lv" kļūst par 1. līgas futbola čempionāta titulsponsoru". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ↑ "Latvijas Futbola federācija". lff.lv (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 2021-03-01. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
External links
[edit]- The First League on the Latvian Football Federation website (in Latvian)
- (Archive) The page of the league on the Latvian Football Federation website (in English)
- League321.com - Latvian football league tables, records & statistics database.
(in English)
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