FK Metta

FK Metta
Full nameFutbola Klubs METTA
(Football Club METTA)
Founded2 May 2006
GroundDaugava Stadium, Riga
Capacity10,461
ChairmanĢirts Mihelsons
ManagerAndris Riherts
LeagueVirslīga
2023Virslīga, 9th of 10
Websitehttp://www.fsmetta.lv/

FK Metta (also called FK Metta/Latvijas Universitāte from 2007 till the end of 2018 season) is a professional Latvian football club in Riga. As of 2012 they play in the Latvian Higher League. Metta play their home games at Daugava Stadium. Until June 2018, their home venue was the Riga Hanza Secondary School Stadium.

History

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FS Metta was officially founded on May 2, 2006, though the club had been active in youth tournaments since 2000. In 2007 FS Metta and University of Latvia (Latvijas Universitāte) merged as a senior professional team and participated in the Latvian Championship first division (Traffic 1. līga). They finished the season in the fourth position. The club remained at the same level for the next four seasons. Though a professional club, Metta retained the prefix FS (Futbola Skola), since their policy was to invest in youth players. In 2011 Metta won the Latvian First League championship and were automatically promoted to the Latvian Higher League – the top tier of Latvian football.[1]

The affiliation with the university provides the club with a greater financial backing and the players with the opportunity, if wanted, to study at the most prestigious Latvian University. The club was created with the aim to gather the greatest youth talents from across the country and surrounding areas to build and shape them into expensive players for sale to bigger clubs.[2]

In 2020 FK Metta were the youngest top-tier team in Europe.[3] At the end of the season, the team's average age was 19,5.[4]

In September 2020, FK Metta forward Raimonds Krollis made his debut for the Latvia national football team.[5] He became the first-ever player that has gone through the whole FK Metta academy and played for the Senior national team.

Patron of the University of Latvia

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Football school "Metta" is a silver patron of the University of Latvia Foundation. They have supported the University of Latvia since 2016, donating to the football system and scholarships.[6]

Participation in Latvian Championships

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Season Division (Name) Pos./Teams Pl. W D L GS GA P Latvian Football Cup
2007 2nd (1.līga) 4/(16) 30 18 7 5 67 23 61 1/8 finals
2008 2nd (1.līga) 5/(15) 28 13 9 6 43 27 48 1/8 finals
2009 2nd (1.līga) 6/(14) 26 13 6 7 47 19 45 Not Held
2010 2nd (1.līga) 5/(12) 22 10 6 6 42 25 36 1/8 finals
2011 2nd (1.līga) 1/(13) 24 17 5 2 61 14 56 1/8 finals
2012 1st (Virslīga) 8(10) 36 7 8 21 39 82 29 1/8 finals
2013 1st (Virslīga) 9(10) 27 4 7 16 15 47 19 1/16 finals
2014 1st (Virslīga) 9(10) 36 3 7 26 26 69 16 1/16 finals
2015 1st (Virslīga) 7(8) 24 3 3 18 19 56 12 1/4 finals
2016 1st (Virslīga) 7(8) 28 8 6 14 32 47 30 1/4 finals
2017 1st (Virslīga) 7(8) 24 3 6 15 21 46 15 1/4 finals
2018 1st (Virslīga) 7(8) 28 5 4 19 24 52 19 1/2 finals
2019 1st (Virslīga) 9(9) 32 6 8 18 35 60 26 1/8 finals
2020 1st (Virslīga) 9(10) 27 4 4 19 22 55 16 1/8 finals

Honours

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Managers

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  • Latvia Andris Riherts (02.05.2006 – 09.06.2021)
  • Latvia Andrejs Gluščuks (11.06.2021 – present)

Current players

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First-team squad

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As of 15 July, 2024 [7] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Latvia LVA Alvis Sorokins
2 DF Latvia LVA Rendijs Šibass
3 MF United States USA Jordan Bender
4 DF Latvia LVA Kārlis Vilnis
5 DF Ghana GHA Yusif Yakubu
6 MF Latvia LVA Oskars Vientiess
7 FW Senegal SEN Mohamet Lamine Corréa
8 MF Senegal SEN Ousmane Sow
9 FW Brazil BRA Vinícius Souza
10 FW Latvia LVA Bruno Melnis
12 GK Latvia LVA Toms Tolmanis
13 MF Latvia LVA Tomass Zants
14 DF Latvia LVA Hugo Jesse
15 MF Latvia LVA Daņiils Čiņajevs
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 FW Latvia LVA Markuss Ivulāns
18 DF Latvia LVA Mikus Vasilevskis
19 MF Latvia LVA Ralfs Pakulis
20 MF Latvia LVA Emils Aizpurietis
21 MF Latvia LVA Kristofers Rēķis
23 FW Ghana GHA Mahamud Karimu
24 GK Latvia LVA Ņikita Parfjonovs
25 MF Ukraine UKR Yevhen Stadnik
26 MF Ukraine UKR Oleksandr Kurtsev
27 DF Latvia LVA Maksims Semesko
28 MF Latvia LVA Daniils Ulimbaševs
30 MF Latvia LVA Dans Sirbu (on loan from Riga FC II)
33 DF Latvia LVA Jegors Novikovs (on loan from FK Auda)
FW Latvia LVA Artjoms Puzirevskis

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Lithuania LTU Kristupas Keršys (at FA Šiauliai until 30 November 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Latvia LVA Lūkass Vapne (at Valmiera until 31 December 2024)

Player of the year

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Season Player
2006 Latvia Jānis Kauss
2007 Latvia Vladimirs Cīmanis
2008 Latvia Ivars Gailis
2009 Latvia Marsels Vapne
2010 Latvia Juris Skābardis
2011 Latvia Rūdolfs Puķītis
2012 Latvia Mārtiņš Milašēvičs
2013 Latvia Gatis Kalniņš
2014 Latvia Edgars Vardanjans
2015 Latvia Eduards Emsis
2016 Latvia Roberts Uldriķis
2017 Latvia Dāvis Indrāns
2019 Latvia Dāvis Ošs
2019 South Africa Kgotso Masangane
2020 Latvia Raimonds Krollis
2021 Latvia Lūkass Vapne
2022 Latvia Jānis Beks

Club officials

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Board of directors

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  • General secretary: Ģirts Mihelsons
  • Executive Director: Maira Mihelsone

Coaching staff

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  • Manager: Andris Riherts
  • Coach: Kristaps Niemans
  • Coach: Jurģis Rosenbergs
  • Fitness Coach: Filips Grojsmans
  • Second team coach: Aleksejs Berezins
  • Goalkeeping Coach: Vsevolods Popkovs

Medical staff

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  • Physiotherapist: Rajmonds Hegels
  • Physiotherapist: Aleksandrs Volodins

Staff

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  • Press Officer: Māris Gerhards
  • PR manager: Vladimirs Morozovs
  • Technical manager: Ivans Rebrovs

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

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Period Kit manufacturer Shirt Sponsor
2007 United States Nike Latvia Deac
2008 Latvia Elko
2009 Latvia Deac
2010
2011
2012 Latvia SMScredit.lv
2013
2014 none
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021

References

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  1. ^ "Metta" uzvar 1. līgā un nākamgad spēlēs Virslīgā Archived 2012-12-05 at the Wayback Machine (Latvian)
  2. ^ Komanda Archived 2016-07-27 at the Wayback Machine (Latvian)
  3. ^ "FK Metta - the youngest team in European football highest leagues". 25 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Sezonas apskats - Andris Riherts: Paši sevi nolikām uz izkrišanas sliekšņa, kas nebija patīkami.". 6 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Atskats METTAs vēsturē: Zīmīgākie notikumi septembrī". 9 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Futbola skola "METTA"".
  7. ^ "Players".
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