Season | 2023 |
---|---|
Champions | Grobiņas |
Promoted | Grobiņas |
Relegated | Dinamo Rīga Rēzeknes FA/BJSS |
← 2022 2024 → |
The 2023 Latvian First League (referred to as the Optibet Nākotnes Līga for sponsorship reasons) was the 32nd season of second-tier football in Latvia. The season started on 7 April 2023 and finished on 12 November 2023.[1][2]
The winners (Grobiņas) were promoted to the 2024 Latvian Higher League. The third-placed team (Skanste) qualified for the Latvian Higher League play-off. The twelfth-placed team (Smiltene) qualified for the Latvian First League play-off. The bottom two teams (Dinamo Rīga and Rēzeknes FA/BJSS) were relegated to the 2024 Latvian Second League.
Teams
Team changes
Promoted from 2022 Latvian Second League |
Promoted to 2023 Latvian Higher League |
Relegated to 2023 Latvian Second League |
---|---|---|
Beitar Ventspils |
Jelgava | Salaspils |
Stadia and locations
Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
AFA Olaine | Olaines pilsētas stadions | Olaine | |
Beitar | Salaspils sporta nama stadions | Salaspils | 648 |
Dinamo Rīga | Riga | RTU stadions | 1,000 |
Grobiņas | Grobiņa | Grobiņa Stadium | 1,000 |
JDFS Alberts | Riga | Daugavgrīvas vidusskolas stadions | 1,000 |
Rēzeknes FA/BJSS | Rēzekne | Sporta Aģentūras Stadions | 978 |
RFS 2 | Riga | LNK Sporta Parks | 740 |
Riga II | Riga | Skonto Stadium | 8,087 |
Saldus SS/Leevon | Saldus | Saldus pilsētas stadions | 2,000 |
Skanste | Riga | Hanzas vidusskolas laukums | 2,000 |
Smiltene | Smiltene | Tepera stadions | 1,000 |
Tukums II | Tukums | Tukuma Pilsētas Stadions | |
Valmiera 2/VSS | Valmiera | Jānis Daliņš Stadium | 2,000 |
Ventspils | Ventspils | Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions | 3,200 |
League table
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Grobiņas (C, P) | 26 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 71 | 17 | +54 | 66 | Promotion to Latvian Higher League |
2 | Riga II[lower-alpha 1] | 26 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 85 | 15 | +70 | 64 | |
3 | Skanste | 26 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 58 | 21 | +37 | 59 | Qualification for Latvian Higher League play-off |
4 | JDFS Alberts | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 60 | 36 | +24 | 47 | |
5 | Saldus SS/Leevon | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 40 | 28 | +12 | 40 | |
6 | RFS 2 | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 58 | 42 | +16 | 37 | |
7 | Beitar | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 41 | 66 | −25 | 35 | |
8 | Tukums II | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 41 | 54 | −13 | 33 | |
9 | Ventspils | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 29 | −5 | 30 | |
10 | Valmiera 2/VSS | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 30 | 40 | −10 | 28 | |
11 | AFA Olaine | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 36 | 61 | −25 | 23 | |
12 | Smiltene (O) | 26 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 31 | 67 | −36 | 22 | Qualification for Latvian First League play-off |
13 | Dinamo Rīga[lower-alpha 2] (R) | 26 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 27 | 66 | −39 | 18 | Relegation to Latvian Second League |
14 | Rēzeknes FA/BJSS (R) | 26 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 18 | 78 | −60 | 13 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Fair-play ranking; 7) Play-off. (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played)
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
Latvian First League play-off
The twelfth-placed club (Smiltene) faced the third-placed club from the 2023 Latvian Second League (Augšdaugavas) for the final place in the following season's Latvian First League.
First leg
19 November 2023 | Augšdaugavas | 3–1 | Smiltene | Ilūkste |
12:00 BST | Stadium: Ilūkstes pilsētas stadions |
Second leg
25 November 2023 | Smiltene | 3–0 (4–3 agg.) | Augšdaugavas | Smiltene |
12:00 BST | Stadium: Tepera stadions |