2009 Latvian Higher League

Teams

Olimps Rīga were relegated after finishing the relegation round in last place. They were replaced by First League champions FK Daugava Riga.

Blāzma won the promotion/relegation play-off against Tranzīts Ventspils with 6–1 on aggregate. However, after several mergers and withdrawals Tranzīts were also awarded a place in Virslīga, as the runners-up of First League.

FK Rīga withdrew due to unpaid debts. They eventually merged with Olimps Rīga and created a new club called Olimps/RFS. The new club plays in Virslīga, what saved Olimps Rīga from relegation.

On 12 January 2009 Vindava withdrew from Virslīga due to financial reasons.

FK Jūrmala merged with JFC Kauguri/Multibanka, which is also a merger of JFC Kauguri Jūrmala and FK Multibanka Rīga, to a new club named FK Jūrmala-VV. The new club carried over the players and other personnel from FK Jūrmala.

Daugava Daugavpils and Dinaburg also merged and remained under the Dinaburg FC name. It is not yet certain which club's staff will operate the new club. Dinaburg also took Daugava's UEFA Europa League 2009–10 spot.

League table

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th overall wins; 5th goal difference; 6th goals scored
¹Dinaburg were excluded from the league due to match-fixing related to betting which involved Dinaburg's president Oļegs Gavrilovs and head coach Tamaz Pertia.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

First half of season

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
²Dinaburg were excluded from the league due to match-fixing related to betting which involved Dinaburg's president Oļegs Gavrilovs and head coach Tamaz Pertia. Dinaburg's remaining matches will be awarded to their opponents with 3–0.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

Since there are only 9 clubs participating in 2009 Virslīga, no teams will be directly relegated. 9th placed Virslīga team and runners-up of First League will compete in relegation play-offs for one spot in Virslīga 2010. The other spot will be taken by First League champions. Since one of the teams were excluded from the league, the relegation play-off will be replaced with the direct promotion of the First League team placing second.

Team of the season 2009

Goalkeepers: Viktors Spole (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), Aleksandrs Vlasovs (Skonto FC )

Defenders: Oskars Kļava (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), Grigori Chirkin (FK Ventspils ), Deniss Ivanovs (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), David Gamezardashvili (Skonto FC ), Tomas Tamošauskas (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), Vitālijs Smirnovs (Skonto FC ), Deniss Kačanovs (FK Ventspils ), Dzintars Zirnis (FK Liepājas Metalurgs )

Midfielders: Jurijs Žigajevs (FK Ventspils ), Andrejs Prohorenkovs (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), Vitālijs Astafjevs (FK Ventspils ), Jevgēņijs Kosmačovs (FK Ventspils ), Maksims Rafaļskis (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), Igors Kozlovs (Skonto FC ), Pāvels Surņins (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), Igor Tigirlas (FK Ventspils )

Forwards: Vits Rimkus (FK Ventspils ), Vladimir Dvalishvili (Skonto FC ), Kristaps Grebis (FK Liepājas Metalurgs ), Ģirts Karlsons (FK Liepājas Metalurgs )