Metalurgs Liepaya
Metalurgs Liepaya is a football (soccer) club from Latvia.
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- For the ice hockey club see HK Liepajas Metalurgs
FK Liepājas Metalurgs is a Latvian Association football club, based in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They play at the Daugava Stadium (Liepāja) (capacity 5,008). In 2005 Liepajas Metalurgs became the first team other than Skonto FC of Riga to win the Virslīga since the league restarted in 1991.
History
Based in Liepāja, FK Liepājas Metalurgs, get their name from the city's metallurgy factory, founded in 1882, the only one of its kind in the Baltic States.
The history of Metalurgs Liepaya can be traced back to 1945 when two football clubs were founded in Liepāja - Daugava Liepāja and Dinamo Liepāja.
Daugava Liepāja and Dinamo Liepāja: 1945-1947
In its debut season Daugava Liepāja were runners-up in the Latvian league behind the champions FK Dinamo Rīga. In 1946 Daugava were coached by former Olimpija Liepāja defender Kārlis Tīls and with one of the best former Olimpija players Ernests Ziņģis in attack won its first Latvian title. Both Valdis Pultraks and Voldemārs Sudmalis were in the squad. Daugava again won the title again in 1947 and the squad included Miervaldis Drāznieks who went on to score 160 goals in the Latvian league. Daugava Liepāja also won the Latvian Football Cup in 1946 and 1947.
Dinamo Liepāja did not play in the Latvian top league. However in 1948 Dinamo won the Latvian Cup with future Liepāja player Žanis Zviedris in the team.
Sarkanais Metalurgs: 1949-1961
In 1949 Daugava Liepāja and Dinamo Liepāja merged to form Sarkanais Metalurgs which, for the next decade was the strongest club in the Latvian league. In 1949 Sarkanais Metalurgs won both the league and the Latvian Cup. More titles followed in 1951, 1953, 1954, 1956-1958. They also won the Latvian Cup three times in a row from 1953 to 1955. In 1954 after beating Daugava Rīga in a match for the chance to play in the Soviet League a united Daugava-Metalurgs club was formed which included six Metalurgs players. In 1954 they competed in the "USSR Class B 1954, 2nd zone" of the Soviet First League the second tier in Soviet football. In the Latvian league the Metalurgs team was made up of mostly the reserves squad. In 1956 Daugava did not include the Metalurgs name in the Soviet League. In 1960 Sarkanais Metalurgs was given a place in the Soviet league and continued playing in the league under various names until 1990. In 1961 Metalurgs Liepaya played as LMR Liepāja.
Zvejnieks Liepāja: 1962-1989
In 1962 Metalurgs Liepaya changed owners and was renamed Zvejnieks Liepāja. It was considered to be a second team for Daugava Rīga and the clubs better players usually had to leave for Daugava. Also if Daugava players needed match practice they were sent to Liepāja. In the Soviet league Zvejnieks was usually a mid-table club. With Metalurgs Liepaya now playing in the Soviet and not the local league players from other Republics of the Soviet Union came to play for Zvejnieks. In the 1960s, defender Mārtiņš Lube was the clubs captain.Jurijs Romaņenkovs who went on to become the clubs coach in 1989-90 played for Zvejnieks in the 1970s.
In the 1980s Vladimirs Žuks coached Zvejnieks and several bright players emerged with Metalurgs Liepaya including Jānis Intenbergs, Ilmārs Verpakovskis, Vladimirs Babičevs and Ainārs Linards. A number of Daugava Rīga players also played for Zvejnieks including Raimonds Laizāns and Dainis Deglis.
Olimpija Liepāja: 1990-1993
In 1990 Metalurgs Liepaya was renamed and given the name of a former Latvian club that plated in the 1920s-1930s - Olimpija Liepāja.
As Olimpija Metalurgs Liepaya played in the Soviet league in 1990, but in 1991 it played only in the Latvian league and finished in third place. The Olimpija period saw the emergence of Viktors Dobrecovs at the club. After the break up of the Soviet Union the first seasons in the newly independent Latvia were difficult for Olimpija as they grew financially weaker from year to year.
FK Liepāja: 1994
In 1994 Metalurgs Liepaya was renamed FK Liepāja but played only the one season.
DAG Liepāja: 1995-1996
In 1995 FK Liepāja was merged with FC Dag Rīga to form DAG Liepāja. Metalurgs Liepaya reached the 1995 Latvian Cup final where they lost 3-0 to Skonto FC. Ainārs Linards returned to Metalurgs Liepaya in 1995. In the Latvian league Metalurgs Liepaya finished 8th out of ten clubs in 1996.
Baltika Liepāja: 1996-1997
In 1996 Metalurgs Liepaya changed owners again and became Baltika Liepāja. In 1996 Māris Verpakovskis, the son of Ilmārs Verpakovskis and future Latvia national football team international made his debut for the club. For some time Metalurgs Liepaya was on the brink of bankruptcy and struggled to stop the best players from leaving the club. However, Metalurgs Liepaya got new funding from the local Metallurgy factory and for the 1997 season at last had a strong budget and ambitious plans again.
FK Liepājas Metalurgs: 1997 to present
In 1998 Metalurgs with Jurijs Popkovs as head coach finished second behind Skonto in the Virslīga and each season up to 2004 Metalurgs finished second in the Virslīga. In the Latvian Cup they also lost three cup finals. In 2005 Metalurgs finally became Virslīga champions and won the first title for Liepāja in an independent Latvia since the 1930s. In 2006 Metalurgs also finally won the Latvian Cup.
Honours
- Virsliga winners
- - 2005
- Virsliga runners-up
- - 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007
- Latvian Cup winners
- - 1946, 1947, 1948, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1964, 2006
- Baltic League winners
- - Baltic League 2007
- Latvian Soviet league winners
- - 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958,
Europe record
Virsliga record
- Latvian Higher League 1997 - 5th
- Latvian Higher League 1998 - 2nd
- Latvian Higher League 1999 - 2nd
- Latvian Higher League 2000 - 3rd
- Latvian Higher League 2001 - 3rd
- Latvian Higher League 2002 - 3rd
- Latvian Higher League 2003 - 2nd
- Latvian Higher League 2004 - 2nd
- Latvian Higher League 2005 - 1st
- 2006 Virsliga - 2nd
- 2007 Virsliga - 2nd
- Latvian Higher League 2008 - 2nd
Players
As of 18 June, 2009
Reserve squad
Notable former players
- Miervaldis Drāznieks
- Voldemārs Sudmalis
- Ernests Ziņģis
- Žanis Zviedris
- Jānis Intenbergs
- Ilmārs Verpakovskis
- Ainārs Linards
- Vladimirs Babičevs
- Māris Verpakovskis
Managers
Figures correct as of November 13 2007.
- 1945-1948 Kārlis Tīls (Daugava Liepāja coach)
- 1949-1951 Arturs Bušs
- 1953-1954 Ernests Ziņģis
- 1954-1960 Afanasijs Ptičkins
- 1961 Hārdijs Blūms
- 1962-1963 Lev Korchebokov
- 1964-1965 Afanasijs Ptičkins
- 1966-1967 Lev Korchebokov
- 1967-1968 Boriss Graps
- 1969-1970 Raimonds Dambis
- 1971 Zigfrīds Driķis
- 1971-1975 Afanasijs Ptičkins
- 1976-1978 Vladimirs Davidovs Valentins Obravins
- 1978-1980 Boris Reinhold
- 1981-1982 Valentīns Obrivins
- 1983-1984 Eduards Vlasovs
- 1985-1988 Vladimirs Žuks
- 1989-1990 Jānis Mežeckis
- 1991 Aivars Sveilis
- 1991 Jānis Zuntners
- 1992 Aleksandrs Jurenko
- 1993-1994 Jānis Zuntners
- 1994 Eduards Safjanovs
- 1994 Ilmārs Verpakovskis
- 1995 Viktors Ņesterenko
- 1996 Vladimirs Žuks
- 1996 Šendelas Geršovičius
- 1997 Jānis Gilis
- 1998-2000 Jurijs Popkovs
- 2000-2001 Anatoly Shelest
- 2002 Vladimir Muhanov
- 2002-2003 Viktors Lukins
- 2004-2007 Benjaminas Zelkevičius
- 2007-2008 Jurijs Andrejevs
- 2008 Vladimirs Osipovs (caretaker)
- 2008- Rüdiger Abramczik
Related pages
Dinaburg Daugavpils, Ditton Daugavpils, Dizvanagi, FK Jurmala, FK Riga, FK Ventpils, Futbola Klubs Vindava, Metalurgs Liepaya, Olimps, Skonto Riga