The Latvian Second League ( or Otrā līga), known for sponsorship reasons as Altero.lv LIIGA since 2023, is the third tier of football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation.
Competition format
Regional stage There are 20 clubs in the Second League. There are 2 groups - A grupa and B grupa (formerly - West and East regions), with both containing 10 teams which must play home and away games against their regional opponents. From each group, 5 teams advance to the promotion round, whereas the other 5 teams advance to the relegation round. This stage of the league is typically contested from April to August.
Promotion/relegation stage The promotion round involves additional matches among the best 10 teams in the league, allowing two of the best teams to be promoted to the First League at the conclusion of the season. Additionally, the third-finishing team contests a two-legged playoff against the third-from-bottom-team in the First League, with the winner of the playoff securing an additional First League berth for the next season. From 2009 to 2017, the winners of the Latvian Second League in odd years also qualified for the UEFA Regions' Cup.
The relegation round, contested by the bottom 5 teams of each of the two divisions, sees the bottom 3 of those total 10 teams relegated to the Third League.
Past Second League winners SeasonWinnerRunner-upThird place 1992 Vārpa-SCO Smiltene 1993 Cerība PreiļiLokomotīve 1994 Konvoja pulks Dialogs Jelgava 1995 Vecrīga Nafta Ventspils 1996 FK Ozolnieki FK IlūksteFK VAD 1997 Valmiera-2 AudaSmiltene / Ogre 1998 Zibens Zemessardze FK Lode 1999 AS Lode Robežsardze 2000 Akora Viola 2001 FC Ditton Auda-Neo 2002 FK Balvu Vilki Nafta Ventspils 2003 Skonto/Juniors Fortūna Ogre 2004 Eirobaltija Saldus/Brocēni 2005 Miku/UPTK FK Abuls 2006 Olimps FK IlūksteMiku/UPTK 2007 FK Spartaks Jēkabpils SCFK Gulbene/Rubate 2008 FK Kauguri-PBLC Preiļu BJSSFK Viesulis 2009 RFS/Flaminko FK IlūksteColdGel/Varavīksne 2010 SFK Varavīksne OSC/FK-33FK Ilūkste 2011 Rīnūži/Strong SK UpesciemsFK Ozolnieki 2012 Kuldīgas NSS FK Jēkabpils/JSCKvarcs/Madona 2013 RTU Futbola centrs JFK Saldus 2014 FC Caramba FK Staiceles Bebri2015FC CarambaFC Nikers2016Grobiņas SCSK Cēsis2017LDZ Cargo/DFAMonarhs/Flaminko 2018 FC Betlanes FK Krāslava 2019 LDZ Cargo/DFA Ghetto FC 2020 Albatroz SC/FK Jelgava FK Salaspils 2021 Skanstes SK SK SpēksFK Karosta 2022 FK Beitar FK VentspilsFK Karosta2023Mārupes SCOgre UnitedAugšdaugavas NSS2024SK Super Nova-2FS Jelgava-22025Valmiera FCSK Super Nova-2FS Jelgava-2
References
External links Latvian Football Federation website