1996 Latvian Higher League

The 1996 season in the Latvian Higher League, named Virslīga, was the sixth domestic competition since the Baltic nation gained independence from the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Tenth teams competed in this edition, with Skonto FC claiming the title.

Latvian Higher League
Season1996
← 1995
1997 →

First round
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Skonto 18 15 2 1 74 9 +65 47 Qualification for championship group
2 Daugava Rīga 18 13 4 1 41 11 +30 43
3 Dinaburg 18 9 5 4 30 19 +11 32
4 Baltika Liepāja 18 8 4 6 23 21 +2 28
5 Universitāte 18 7 5 6 24 29 −5 26
6 Starts 18 5 5 8 20 35 −15 20
7 Vairogs 18 5 3 10 19 32 −13 18 Qualification for relegation group
8 Lokomotīve 18 4 5 9 18 31 −13 17
9 Skonto/Metāls 18 2 3 13 9 38 −29 9
10 Jūrnieks 18 1 6 11 11 44 −33 9
Source: rsssf.com

Match table
Home \ Away BAL DAU DIN JŪR LOK SKO SKM STA UNI VAI
Baltika Liepāja 0–1 0–3 4–0 2–3 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 3–1
Daugava Rīga 1–1 2–2 7–0 1–0 0–1 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–0
Dinaburg 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–0 0–4 1–2 5–0 0–0 4–0
Jūrnieks 2–2 0–3 0–0 1–1 0–4 1–0 0–0 4–4 0–2
Lokomotīve 1–2 1–5 0–1 2–1 0–5 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–0
Skonto 5–0 3–3 7–0 5–0 3–2 4–1 4–0 11–1 6–0
Skonto/Metāls 0–2 0–4 0–2 1–1 1–0 0–5 2–2 1–2 0–3
Starts 0–2 0–0 0–4 4–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 0–2 3–6
Universitāte 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 0–0 4–0 0–1 0–3
Vairogs 0–0 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–5 0–0 1–2 1–2
Source:
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second round

Championship group
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Skonto (C) 28 23 4 1 98 12 +86 73 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2 Daugava Rīga 28 18 7 3 61 18 +43 61 Qualification for UEFA Cup first qualifying round
3 Dinaburg 28 13 8 7 53 31 +22 47 Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round
4 Universitāte 28 11 6 11 37 45 −8 39 Qualification for Intertoto Cup group stage
5 Baltika Liepāja 28 11 5 12 32 44 −12 38
6 Starts (R) 28 6 5 17 26 69 −43 23 Dissolved after the season
Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.

Match table
Home \ Away BAL DAU DIN SKO STA UNI
Baltika Liepāja 0–5 2–0 0–2 3–1 0–4
Daugava Rīga 3–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 0–1
Dinaburg 3–0 1–1 1–1 7–0 2–1
Skonto 3–0 1–0 3–1 4–0 6–0
Starts 0–1 1–4 2–8 0–2 1–0
Universitāte 2–2 1–3 2–0 0–1 2–1
Source:
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation group
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
7 Lokomotīve 30 10 9 11 38 45 −7 39
8 Vairogs 30 9 6 15 37 54 −17 33
9 Skonto/Metāls (R) 30 7 6 17 25 53 −28 27 Qualification for relegation play-offs
10 Jūrnieks (R) 30 4 8 18 25 61 −36 20 Relegation to Latvian First League
Source: rsssf.com
(R) Relegated.

Match table
Matches 19–24
Home \ Away JŪR LOK SKM VAI
Jūrnieks 0–2 0–2 2–3
Lokomotīve 2–1 1–1 1–2
Skonto/Metāls 0–1 1–4 1–2
Vairogs 1–1 1–1 2–1
Source:
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Matches 25–30
Home \ Away JŪR LOK SKM VAI
Jūrnieks 1–2 1–2 5–1
Lokomotīve 1–0 0–2 3–2
Skonto/Metāls 0–0 2–2 3–2
Vairogs 1–2 1–1 0–1
Source:
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

The matches were played on 29 October and 3 November 1996.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Skonto/Metāls 1–2 Valmiera 1–0 0–2

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Mihails Miholaps (LAT)FK Daugava Rīga33
2 Aleksandr Pindeyev (UKR)Skonto FC17
3 Vladimirs Babičevs (LAT)Skonto FC16
 Juris Karašausks (LAT)Dinaburg FC
5 Aleksandrs Fedotovs (LAT)Dinaburg FC13

Awards
Best Name Team
Goalkeeper Raimonds Laizāns (LAT)Skonto FC
Defender Jurijs Ševļakovs (LAT)Skonto FC
Midfielder Vitālijs Astafjevs (LAT)Skonto FC
Forward Mihails Miholaps (LAT)FK Daugava Rīga

Skonto FC 1996
Pos Name Birthdate P
MF Vitālijs Astafjevs03.04.197118121-
MF Vladimirs Babičevs22.04.196825163-
- Vladlen Bausev03.03.1967103--
DF Oļegs Blagonadeždins16.05.1973231--
MF Imants Bleidelis16.08.1975203--
- Konstantin Ivanov10.05.19646---
MF Valērijs Ivanovs23.02.19702732-
FW Aleksandrs Jelisejevs11.08.197115101-
GK Aleksandrs Koļiņko18.06.19759–31-
GK Raimonds Laizāns05.08.196419–91-
- Vsevolods Līdaks22.10.197761--
- Valentins Lobaņovs23.10.19711932-
DF Boriss Monjaks11.04.197010---
FW Marians Pahars05.08.197628122-
- Aleksandr Pindejev03.03.197126175-
- Igors Stepanovs21.01.19762223-
DF Jurijs Ševļakovs24.01.19592415-
FW Andrejs Štolcers08.07.19742663-
DF Igors Troickis11.01.19692634-
DF Mihails Zemļinskis21.12.19692443-
Manager: Aleksandrs Starkovs

References
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