Skonto FC

Fourteen titles in a row (1991–2004)

Skonto FC was founded in 1991. Starting from its very beginnings the club won the Latvian championship 14 seasons in a row, and only in 2005 finished second after FK Liepājas Metalurgs. In 2006, Skonto finished third in a close contest with FK Liepājas Metalurgs and FK Ventspils. Skonto FC have won the Latvian Cup on eight occasions, acquiring the Cup most recently in 2012.

Skonto FC was by no means among the favorites in the first years after its establishment, and the champion’s title had to be won in a fierce competition both with FK Olimpija from Liepāja and RAF Jelgava – even then an additional game was required since the regular championship in 1992 was insufficient to determine the winner of the season. In the same 1992 season, Skonto FC made its debut in the Champion’s League by beating the Faroe Islands champions Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag. After the season, a coach replacement was made and Aleksandrs Starkovs took over from Marks Zahodins.

For the next 10 years in the domestic league none of their rivals were able to offer significant opposition to Skonto. For two seasons running the team did not lose a single match, surpassing their closest rivals by more than 20 points in the final standings, ensuring the regular title was awarded long before the end of the season.

During the 1998 season, Skonto FC thrashed FK Valmiera 15–2. This saw the highest number of goals scored in a single game in the club's history. During these years Skonto FC players were the source of the Latvian national team – Māris Verpakovskis, Marians Pahars, Aleksandrs Koļinko, Vitālijs Astafjevs, Igors Stepanovs, Imants Bleidelis, Juris Laizāns, Mihails Zemļinskis, Valentīns Lobaņovs, Andrejs Rubins and others played for Skonto, also playing major roles in the national team, which miraculously managed to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2004 championship in Portugal.

Defender Mihails Zemļinskis has made 252 appearances, the largest number of matches played in the ranks of Skonto FC during the Latvian championships. His 52 games played in the European cups are also the highest number within the team. Mihails Miholaps is the all-time top scorer of Skonto FC. He has scored 155 goals in 216 Latvian championship games, and 18 goals in 38 European cup matches. In July 2000 Skonto defender Igors Stepanovs was sold to the English Premier League club Arsenal for a fee around 1 million £. In January 2001 midfielder Juris Laizāns joined the Russian Premier League side CSKA Moscow for £1,57 million, which is up to date the highest ever transfer fee received by a Latvian club.

The first major victory for Skonto FC players in the European cups was gained in 1994, when they defeated the Scottish club Aberdeen, the former European Super Cup winners. Also, in 1999 they managed a 0–0 draw at home with Chelsea in a UEFA Champions League qualifier (but lost the tie 3–0 on aggregate). Skonto FC also played against Spanish Barcelona and Italian Internazionale.

An exciting battle for the Latvian championship title was seen again in the 2001 season when Skonto FC had a two-point deficit before the final round to the leading team FK Ventspils, and they had to face a tough game in Liepāja against FK Liepājas Metalurgs – a team which also had hopes of becoming champions. FK Ventspils players couldn't withstand the strain, whereas Skonto FC showed the spirit of champions and won again.

End of the winners' era (2005–2009)

Starting from 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs and FK Ventspils were in a close pursuit of Skonto, with their attempts proving to be successful. It has to be noted that in 2004, the head coach Aleksandrs Starkovs – one of the essential pillars of the club – left Skonto FC by accepting a proposal to work at Spartak Moskva, that time champions of Russia. The leadership of the team was entrusted to Jurijs Andrejevs, his long-term assistant, but after the loss against FK Rabotnički, of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje in the UEFA Champions League qualification tournament, he resigned from the post. Jurijs Andrejevs was replaced by Paul Ashworth, who had previously worked with FK Ventspils and FK Rīga in the Latvian Higher League and FC Rostov in the Russian Premier League.

Champions again (2010)

On 8 July 2010, Skonto lost in the Europa League first qualifying round to the Northern Irish club Portadown. In the first leg Skonto drew 1–1 away from home after an equaliser in injury time. They lost 1–0 at home and went out to a team who hadn't won a European tie in 36 years. Consolation came later in the season, when Skonto drew 2–2 at home to win the Latvian Higher League title for the first time since 2004. It was yet again done under the management of Aleksandrs Starkovs.

Recent years and financial crisis (2011–)

In 2012 founder of the club and long-term president Guntis Indriksons left the post, as it was incompatible with the president's post of the Latvian Football Federation according to the newly established rules. Former player Vladimirs Koļesņičenko took over and, furthermore, the club's manager Marians Pahars accepted an offer to become the head coach of Latvia national U-21 football team. In 2012 Skonto won the Latvian Cup for the first time since 2002 and guaranteed themselves a spot in the first qualifying round of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, even though this was later succeeded once again following the league achievements in 2012.

In 2013 Georgian manager Tamaz Pertia took over and under his management Skonto went on playing without a single loss for 26 matches out of the league's 27 regular games. Run down by injuries with a short amount of reserves, they were defeated by FK Jelgava in the last round of the tournament losing the title to FK Ventspils. Skonto participated considerably well in the 2013-14 UEFA Europa League matches, beating Moldovan FC Tiraspol on aggregate in the first round and being close to knock out the Czech club Slovan Liberec, which later went on to reach Round of 32 of the tournament. In-mid summer Skonto were struck by severe financial problems as their sponsors ended the sponsorship program due to their own financial difficulties. This led to a major loss of income and long-term delays of salaries and other payments.

Before the start of the 2014 season Skonto, initially, were refused the A License necessary to play in the Latvian Higher League due to their long-term debts. However, the license was later obtained after a successful process of appellation. Sanctions followed from the UEFA, with Skonto being disqualified from the 2014-15 UEFA Europa League, a place in which the club had previously secured due to success in the previous year's championship. On 30 May 2014 Latvian Football Federation issued a ban for Skonto to register new players during the summer transfer window until all the debts would have been cleared. On 6 July due to a long-term non-payment of salaries Skonto players refused to play the away match against FK Liepāja and the club suffered a 3–0 technical loss. On 14 July club's president Vladimirs Koļesņičenko announced his resignation and the club was taken over by Igors Zaicevs. On 2 September due to non-fulfillment of liabilities in the prescribed terms, LFF took away three points in the championship table, but on 17 September this penalty was reduced to just one point. On 14 October it was announced that Latvia's State Revenue Service had suspended the club's economic activity, with a possibility for an appellation to be submitted within a period of one month. A day later additional four points were taken away in the tournament table, with Skonto losing even the theoretical chance to win the 2014 championship. The same day Skonto announced the resignation of its president Igors Zaicevs, but the club was still considering the option to submit an appellation to the State Revenue Service. In November 2014 it was announced that Skonto had finally cleared its debts with that time and previous players, still being indebted to the State Revenue Service.

Skonto did not obtain a license to play in the 2016 Higher League. Skonto appealed the decision, but the appeal was denied. Since 2015 Latvian First League runners-up Valmiera Glass FK/BSS rejected the opportunity to be promoted to the Higher League, 3rd placed Rīgas Futbola skola (RFS) was promoted instead.

Stadium

Skonto play their home matches at the Skonto Stadium, which is also the home ground for Latvia national football team. The stadium was opened in 2000 and has a capacity of 10,000 people. Besides regular football matches this stadium has also hosted concerts of worldwide superstars like Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Aerosmith and Metallica. The attendance of the last two was 32,000 and 33,000 people respectively. Skonto stadium is also the venue of Latvian Song and Dance Festival that takes place every five years. The record attendance in regards to a football match was reached on 15 November 2003, when Latvia beat Turkey 1–0 in the UEFA Euro 2004 qualification play-offs match and the game was attended by 9,500 spectators.

Honours

First team squad

As of 26 July, 2016.

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

For recent squad changes see: List of Latvian football transfers summer 2015 and List of Latvian football transfers winter 2015-16

Europe record

^{*Skonto FC were disqualified by UEFA due to long-term debts, not cleared in the restricted term}