Valmiera FC

Valmiera Football Club or shortly Valmiera FC is a Latvian football club, playing in the Virsliga, 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 Virsliga after a 14-year absence.

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 Virsliga season Gauja was relegated and slowly declined, disbanding in the mid-1990s while playing in the 2. liga.

The current club was founded in 1996 as Valmieras FK (Valmieras futbola klubs). It participated in the 1. liga (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-Metals for a place in the top division of Latvian football. In the first game in Riga Skonto-Metals won 1:0, but at home Valmiera overcame the one goal deficit and won 2:0 (I. Malukovs, Dz. Savalnieks), thus earning a place in the Virsliga.

In its debut season in the Virsliga 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 Virsliga, 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 Virsliga because of financial difficulties and since then played in the 1. liga, paying more attention to developing young talent.

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

For more than ten years Valmiera was a mid level

This page also has a version in other languages :  Валмиера Гласс ViA (russian)