FK Ventspils

FK Ventspils is a Latvian football club, based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils city and is one of the most popular football clubs in the country. The club plays in the Latvian Virsliga.

Ventspils
Full nameFutbola Klubs Ventspils
Nickname(s)Yellow-Blues
Founded1997 (1997)
GroundVentspils Olimpiskais Stadions
Capacity3,200
ManagerViorel Frunză
LeagueVirsliga
20204th
WebsiteClub website

In total, FK Ventspils has won six league titles and seven Latvian Cups. They became Latvian Higher League champions in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014.[1] In 2009 FK Ventspils became the first Latvian club to participate in the group stages of a UEFA competition after beating BATE Borisov from Belarus.

History

FK Ventspils was founded in 1997 with the merger of two former Ventspils clubs FK Venta and FK Nafta. Its predecessor, Venta, was one of the leading clubs in the Latvian league in the 1960s.

FK Venta

The next notable success for “Venta” was in 1967, when they won the Latvian Cup. By that time they had quite a fighting fit line-up, and 1969 already was their golden year when Venta became champions. During the tournament they gained 43 points; 20 matches won, 3 matches ended with a draw and only 3 matches lost. Additionally, they lost only in the away matches. They scored 45 goals and 16 conceded. At that time Venta's leader was a player manager, who is well known not only to the admirers of Ventspils, but the whole of Latvian football, Vladimir Chikinov.

This was the golden line-up: Leonid Virko, Konstantin Zhurkevich, Aleksandr Busarov, Valery Yashenko, Aleksandr Tronev, Ariy Shmerling, Vladimir Samohvalov, Aleksandr Novash, Nikolay Chaevky, Nikolay Pozdnyakov, Vladimir Chikinov, Viktor Yurinov, Viktor Litvinenko, Aleksandr Rakicky, Valentin Ipolitov, Vladimir Kutuzov, Valentin Vetrenko, Genady Hrustalov.

Of course, the victories did not come easy. There was a huge effort put into both – the matches and training. However, at that time they had quite a modest material and technical basis. They trained in the sport hall of Ventspils port, had training camps in Piltene and went to Moldova several times. They had close contacts with a children’s sport school from which talented youth players often came into the team. Whereas these days there are limits on foreign born players, at that time it was an obligation for the team to have two players younger than 18 years of age in the line-up. Thus, V. Kutuzov, V. Ivankovich, N. Dishlov and later Y. Romanenko, V. Fedotov and others appeared in the team.

In 1963 Ventspils gained a place and the rights to play in the Latvian championship (Virsliga). The next major achievement for "Venta" came in 1967, when it won the Latvian Cup. In 1969 "Venta" were champions of Latvia, in that season "Venta" got 43 points, 20 matches won, three drawn and three lost. In the 1970s the team lost its position, in the 1980s it lost its financial support and became defunct for some years. In 1994 Venta returned to 1. līga but after that season many players left the club as FK Nafta was formed. Until the merger Venta played in 1. liga.

FK Nafta

FK Nafta was formed in 1995, in the first season the club won its 2nd league division and earned a promotion to the 1st league. In its only season there the club finished higher than FK Venta. After the season the teams merged to form FK Ventspils.

FK Ventspils

The recent history of “Ventspils” began in 1997, the year of the team’s foundation. In February 2007, the club that represents the town on the bank of the river Venta with a population of 45 thousand people, celebrated its 10th anniversary. In a relatively short period of time FK “Ventspils” has become one of the strongest clubs in Latvia. FK “Ventspils” has rapidly developed and gained a reputation of a serious Latvian club, winning various trophies.

In 2003 FK "Ventspils” won the Latvian Cup for the first time in the club's history. The team won this trophy the next two years in a row. And only the main trophy – golden medal of the Latvian championship – hadn't been achieved for a long time. The team won silver and bronze medals of the Latvian championship several times, and, finally, in 2006 FK "Ventspils" became the champions of Latvia.

The Ukrainian specialist Roman Hryhorchuk led FK Ventspils to the main trophy. Prior to that, in 2003, FK Ventspils had won the Latvian Cup for the first time. Also, in 2004 and in 2005, FK Ventspils won the trophy, but only finished second and third in the Latvian championship. Before Hryhorchuk the team was managed by Russian coach Boris Sinicin, English coach Paul Anthony Ashworth, Lithuanian specialist Saulius Širmelis and the Latvian local Sergejs Semjonovs.

Despite being a relatively new club, FK Ventspils has also had a quite rich and interesting history in the Eurocups. In 1999 FK Ventspils had its debut in the Intertoto Cup and beat Norwegian team Vålerenga on aggregate. Later the club took part in the UEFA Cup, thus allowing fans to see matches against such famous European clubs as Stuttgart, Rosenborg, Brøndby and Newcastle United. The 0–0 draw in the away match against Newcastle United might have been called the greatest achievement of FK Ventspils until 2009. However, even more memorable were the matches against Brøndby in 2004, when FK Ventspils eliminated the Danish club from the UEFA Cup.

On 17 July 2007 FK Ventspils made its debut in the UEFA Champions League. The yellow-and-blue started their historical trip of the most prestigious club tournament in Europe in Wales, where they played against TNS. The author of the first FK Ventspils goal in the Champions League was forward Vits Rimkus. One week later, on 25 July, FK Ventspils achieved their first victory in the Champions league, beating TNS 2–1 at home. Goals were scored by defenders Jean-Paul Ndeki and Deniss Kačanovs. In the second qualifying round the Roman Hryhorchuk's team played against Red Bull Salzburg, led by the legendary Italian specialist Giovanni Trapattoni and lost. In 2008 FK Ventspils participated in the Champions league for the second time. The first opponents of the team were again the champions of Wales, Llanelli.

In the 2009–10 season FK Ventspils became the first Latvian club to participate in the group stages of UEFA club competitions after beating BATE Borisov from Belarus in the last UEFA Europa League qualification round. FK Ventspils opponents in the group stages were Sporting CP from Portugal, Hertha BSC from Germany and Heerenveen from the Netherlands. Adding several experienced players to the squad, FK Ventspils showed a remarkable performance, playing 1–1 draws away in the Olympiastadion in Berlin and Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. They also kept a 0–0 draw against Heerenveen at home. With three points in six matches, FK Ventspils finished last in Group D, failing to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stages.

In 2010 FK Ventspils won the 2009–10 Baltic League. They finished second in the national championship, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League first qualification stage. The club was knocked out of the tournament in the third qualification stage by Red Star Belgrade. In 2011, they won the national championship, securing their fourth league title. In 2013 FK Ventspils won the league for the fifth time and lifted the Latvian Cup for the sixth time in the club's history. In the middle of 2013 the club participated in the UEFA Europa League qualification stages, reaching the third qualification stage. They knocked out the Welsh champions Airbus UK Broughton and Luxembourg National Division club Jeunesse Esch, but lost to the Israeli club Maccabi Haifa.

Team honours

Individual honours

Year Player/manager Award
2005 Igors Sļesarčuks Virslīga top scorer
2006 Jean-Paul Ndeki Virslīga best defender
2006 Jean-Paul Ndeki Virslīga best player
2006, 2007, 2008 Andris Vaņins Virslīga best goalkeeper
2006, 2007, 2008 Roman Hryhorchuk Virslīga best manager
2007 Vīts Rimkus Virslīga best player
2007 Jean-Paul Ndeki CIS Cup best player
2007, 2008 Vīts Rimkus Virslīga top scorer
2007, 2008 Vīts Rimkus Virslīga best forward
2008 Andris Vaņins Virslīga best player
2008 Andris Vaņins Latvian Footballer of the Year
2010 Jurijs Žigajevs Virslīga best player
2010, 2013 Jurijs Žigajevs Virslīga best midfielder
2011 Oļegs Laizāns Virslīga best midfielder
2011 Oļegs Laizāns Virslīga best player
2011 Sergei Podpaly Virslīga best manager
2013 Jurijs Žigajevs Virslīga best player
2013, 2014 Jurģis Pučinskis Virslīga best manager
2014 Kaspars Dubra Virslīga best defender

Participation in Latvian Championships

Year Division Position
1997 Virsliga 4th
1998 Virsliga 3rd
1999 Virsliga 3rd
2000 Virsliga 2nd
2001 Virsliga 2nd
2002 Virsliga 2nd
2003 Virsliga 3rd
2004 Virsliga 3rd
2005 Virsliga 3rd
2006 Virsliga 1st
2007 Virsliga 1st
2008 Virsliga 1st
2009 Virsliga 2nd
2010 Virsliga 2nd
2011 Virsliga 1st
2012 Virsliga 3rd
2013 Virsliga 1st
2014 Virsliga 1st
2015 Virsliga 3rd
2016 Virsliga 3rd
2017 Virsliga 4th
2018 Virsliga 2nd
2019 Virsliga 3rd

Participation in Baltic League

Year Position
2007–08 Runners-up
2008–09 Semi-finals
2009–10 Winners
2010–11 Runners-up

European record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1R Vålerenga 2–0 0–1 2–1
2R Kocaelispor 1–1 0–2 1–3
2000–01 UEFA Cup QR Vasas 2–1 1–3 (aet) 3–4
2001–02 UEFA Cup QR HJK Helsinki 0–1 1–2 1–3
2002–03 UEFA Cup QR Lugano 3–0 0–1 3–1
1R Stuttgart 1–4 1–4 2–8
2003–04 UEFA Cup QR Wisła Płock 1–1 2–2 3–3 (a)
1R Rosenborg 1–4 0–6 1–10
2004–05 UEFA Cup 1QR B68 Toftir 8–0 3–0 11–0
2QR Brøndby 0–0 1–1 1–1 (a)
1R Amica Wronki 1–1 0–1 1–2
2005–06 UEFA Cup 1QR Linfield 1–2 1–0 2–2 (a)
2006–07 UEFA Cup 1QR Knattspyrnufélagið Víkingur 2–1 2–0 4–1
2QR Newcastle United 0–1 0–0 0–1
2007–08 UEFA Champions League 1QR The New Saints 2–1 2–3 4–4 (a)
2QR Red Bull Salzburg 0–3 0–4 0–7
2008–09 UEFA Champions League 1QR Llanelli 4–0 0–1 4–1
2QR Brann 2–1 0–1 2–2 (a)
2009–10 UEFA Champions League 2QR F91 Dudelange 3–0 3–1 6–1
3QR BATE Borisov 1–0 1–2 2–2 (a)
PO Zürich 0–3 1–2 1–5
UEFA Europa League Group D Hertha BSC 0–1 1–1 4th
Heerenveen 0–0 0–5
Sporting CP 1–2 1–1
2010–11 UEFA Europa League 1QR Teteks 0–0 1–3 1–3
2011–12 UEFA Europa League 2QR Shakhtyor Soligorsk 3–2 1–0 4–2
3QR Red Star Belgrade 1–2 0–7 1–9
2012–13 UEFA Champions League 2QR Molde 1–1 0–3 1–4
2013–14 UEFA Europa League 1QR Airbus UK Broughton 0–0 1–1 1–1 (a)
2QR Jeunesse Esch 1–0 4–1 5–1
3QR Maccabi Haifa 0–0 0–3 0–3
2014–15 UEFA Champions League 2QR Malmö FF 0–1 0–0 0–1
2015–16 UEFA Champions League 2QR HJK Helsinki 1–3 0–1 1–4
2016–17 UEFA Europa League 1QR Víkingur Gøta 2–0 2–0 4–0
2QR Aberdeen 0–1 0–3 0–4
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1QR Valur 0–0 0–1 0–1
2018–19 UEFA Europa League 1QR Luftëtari 5−0 3–3 8–3
2QR Bordeaux 0–1 1–2 1–3
2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1QR Teuta 3–0 0–1 3–1
2QR Gżira United 4–0 2–2 6–2
3QR Vitória de Guimarães 0–3 0–6 0–9
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1QR Dinamo-Auto 2–1 N/A N/A
2QR Rosenborg 1–5 N/A N/A

Sponsors

General sponsors

Ventspils Pilsētas Dome
VK Tranzīts
LDZ Cargo
Ventspils Nafta

Kit manufacturer

Adidas

Other sponsors

Ventamonjaks Serviss
Ventspils Brīvostas Pārvalde
Latus Sardze
Vats
Venden
Kurzemes Radio
Albert Hotel
Radio SWH
From Me

Players and staff

Current squad

As of 23 December 2020[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
6 MF  LVA Mariss Bite
8 MF  GEO Beka Varshanidze
9 MF  LVA Kristers Neilands
11 FW  NGA Kazeem Aderounmu
12 GK  NGA Dele Alampasu
13 GK  LVA Ignatijs Koļesņiks
17 DF  UKR Andriy Sakhnevych
18 DF  LVA Dmitrijs Litvinskis
20 DF  GEO Giorgi Mchedlishvili
21 MF  LVA Daniils Ulimbaševs
24 DF  TOG Abdoul-Gafar Mamah
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 DF  LVA Artūrs Ļotčikovs
26 FW  LVA Kaspars Kokins
27 MF  LVA Niks Dusalijevs
37 GK  UKR Kostyantyn Makhnovskyi
45 MF  LVA Robins Kokarītis
70 MF  BRA Fabinho
77 FW  RUS Yevgeni Kozlov
88 DF  GEO Giorgi Rekhviashvili
90 FW  NGA Christian Pyagbara
95 MF  RUS Abdula Genaev
99 FW  LVA Kaspars Svārups

For recent squad changes see: List of Latvian football transfers winter 2020–21

International players

Foreign players

Non-EU Nationals

EU Nationals

Staff

Position Name
President Adlan Shishkhanov
Sporting director Andrejs Butriks
Commercial director Sergejs Usačovs
Manager Igors Kļosovs
Masseur Oļegs Nazarovs
Press secretary Mihails Koroļovs
Administrator Nikolajs Djakins

Notable former players

  • Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here.

Managers

Name Period
Sergei Borovsky Jan 1, 1997 – Jan 1, 1998
Saulius Cekanavičius (caretaker) 1998
Boris Sinitsyn 1999–00
Saulius Cekanavičius (caretaker) 2000
Paul Ashworth January 1, 2001 – June 30, 2003
Saulius Širmelis 2003–04
Sergejs Semjonovs 2005
Roman Hryhorchuk July 1, 2005 – Aug 11, 2009
Nunzio Zavettieri Aug 11, 2009 – Dec 31, 2010
Sergei Podpaly Jan 17, 2011 – May 17, 2012
Jurģis Pučinskis July 1, 2012–14th Sept, 2015
Paul Ashworth 2015–2017
Dejan Vukićević 2018–2019
Igors Kļosovs 2019
Viorel Frunză 2020–

References

  1. "Ventspils hold on to oust BATE". UEFA.
  2. "FK Ventspils". FK Ventspils. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
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