Full name | Futbola Klubs Liepājas Metalurgs |
---|---|
Founded | 1997 |
Dissolved | 2013 |
Ground |
Daugava Stadium Liepāja, Latvia |
Capacity | 5,083 |
League | Virslīga (1997–2013) |
2013 | 5th |
FK Liepājas Metalurgs (Latvian: Futbola klubs "Liepājas metalurgs") was a Latvian football club in the city of Liepāja and playing in the Virslīga. They played at the Daugava Stadium (capacity 5,083). In 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs became the first team other than Skonto Riga to win the Virslīga since the league restarted in 1991. After the 2013 league season the club was dissolved due to the bankruptcy of its sole sponsor metallurgical plant Liepājas Metalurgs. The club was replaced by FK Liepāja, founded in 2014.
Based in Liepāja, FK Liepājas Metalurgs, got their name from the city's metallurgical factory, founded in 1882, the only one of its kind in the Baltic States.
The history of the club can be traced back to 1945 when two football clubs were founded in Liepāja – Daugava Liepāja and Dinamo Liepāja.
In its debut season Daugava Liepāja were runners-up in the Latvian league behind the champions FK Dinamo Rīga. In 1946 Daugava were coached by former Olimpija Liepāja defender Kārlis Tīls and with one of the best former Olimpija players Ernests Ziņģis in attack the team won its first Latvian title. Both Valdis Pultraks and Voldemārs Sudmalis were in the squad. Daugava again won the title again in 1947 and the squad included Miervaldis Drāznieks who went on to score 160 goals in the Latvian league. Daugava Liepāja also won the Latvian Cup in 1946 and 1947.