FK RFS: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Association football club}}

| fullname = FKFutbola klubs RFS RFS

| chairman = [[Artjoms Milovs]]

| season = [[20242023 Latvian Higher League|20242023]]

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'''FK RFS''' is a professional Latvian[[Latvia]]n [[association football|football]] club based in [[Riga]]. The club competes in [[Latvian Higher League|Virsliga]], the top tier of the [[Latvian football league system]].

Founded in 2016, the club has worn a blue home kit and a white away kit since its inception. Since the start of playing in the Latvian higher league in 2016, RFS played their home matches in [[Jānis Skredelis' stadiumStadium]] for almost 6 years, before moving to [[LNK Sporta Parks]] in the summer of 2022.

The new club had new management as its general sponsor became the Latvian company [[LNK Group]], which is run by the Latvian businessman [[Artjoms Milovs]]. He became the club's president. Learning that they’re going to play in the higher league less than a month before the kickoff of the new season, the club had to act fast by bringing in experienced players, mostly from the [[Skonto FC]] themselves. The most notable arrivals were the center-back [[Ritus Krjauklis]] from FK Ventspils and the forward [[Aleksejs Višņakovs]]. from Skonto.With completely new management and identity, RFS started their first official season in the Virsliga with a finish in 6th place, just 5 points ahead of the relegation play-off spot. Over the course of the season, RFS won 9, drew 8, and lost 11 games, scoring only 22 goals, which was the 2nd lowest result in the league. RFS also secured their place in the [[2016–17 Latvian Football Cup|2016–17 Latvian Cup]] quarterfinal after a trashing 7–0 victory over [[FK Ogre]]. During the season, RFS changed their manager twice, but at the end decided to go with [[Jurijs Ševļakovs]].

In the 2016–17 Latvian Cup, once again thanks to Roberts Uldriķis, RFS managed to beat [[FK Metta]] 1–0 to advance into the semi-final, but suffered a defeat in a two-legged tie (1–2) to [[FK Ventspils]] after Aleksejs Višņakovs did not convert the [[penalty kick]] in the dying minutes of the match in the 2nd leg.

Just 2 months later, the [[2017 Latvian Football Cup|2017 Latvian Cup]] kicked off, in which RFS managed to reach the semi-final, but this time fell 4–1 to [[FK Liepāja]].

RFS faced Metta, while Riga FC faced the current title holders Valmiera FC away from home. The home advantage paid off as Valmiera managed to draw, leaving it in RFS’ hands to win the title. Back in Riga, RFS obtained a crucial penalty, which was converted by Jānis Ikaunieks as the full-time whistle was blown, granting RFSthem their second-ever Latvian championship title.

The sports complex includes two natural grass grounds – one for matches, one for training sessions – and three artificial grounds. They also played selected European matches at [[Skonto Stadium]].

[[File:RFS_11.jpg|thumb|205x205px|The Riga Derby is the most attended club game in Latvian sports.]]

There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in the [[Latvian Higher League|Virsliga]], as in recent years the game between both leading clubs in the country and the capital city of [[Latvia]], RFS and [[Riga FC]], is known as "The Riga Derby" (Rīgas Derbijs). Since 2016, the rivalry has been between Riga FC and RFS, as both clubs made their debuts in the Virsliga at the same time. Both teams slowly became the leading sides of the league, as in this 8-year period, RFS won 2 league titles while Riga FC won 3. Over the years, the head-to-head record between RFS and Riga FC is 14 victories for RFS, 14 victories for Riga FC, and 14 draws.

"Fight for the Dream 22′" is a documentary series created by the Lithuanian director [[Rimvydas Čekavičius]], which reflects the journey of RFS in Europe in the [[2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League|2022 season]], when RFS became only the 2nd club in the history of Latvia to enter the group stage of European competitions.

The Lithuanian filming team spent almost the entire 2022 season with RFS, being together not only in training and games but also outside the football field. The series consist of a total of six episodes, each lasting one hour and are all available for free on RFS’s official YouTube channel.

| [[UEFA Europa Conference League]] || 20 || 6 || 6 || 8 || 28 || 29 || −1

| rowspan="3"| [[UEFA Europa Conference League]]

| rowspan="5"| [[UEFA Europa Conference League]]

| rowspan="2"| [[UEFA Europa Conference League]]

| rowspan="412"| [[Template:2024–25 in European football (UEFA)|2024–25]]

| rowspan="210"| [[UEFA Europa League]]

== Honours ==

== Players ==

{{Fs player|no=22|nat=SRB|pos=FW|name=[[Darko LemajičLemajić]]}}

{{fsFs mid}}

=== Out on loan ===

! Position

! Staff

| Head coach

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} [[Viktors Morozs]]

| Assistant coach

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} Vladimirs Žavoronkovs

| Goalkeeping coach

| {{flagicon|Russia}} Anton Savchenkov

| Fitness coach

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} Oļegs Semjonovs

| Sports therapist

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} Dmitrijs Jefremenkovs, Rihards Ūdris

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} RihardsIļja ŪdrisŠčaņicins

| {{flagicon|Lithuania}} Paulius Jakelis

| Photographer

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} Sanita Ieva Sparāne

! Position

! Staff

| President

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} Artjoms Milovs

| General director

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} [[Māris Verpakovskis]]

| Director of Footballfootball

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} Aleksandrs Usovs

| Executive director

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} Nikolajs Kulmanakovs

| Team administrator

| {{flagicon|Latvia}} Kirils Butovskis

{{reflistReflist}}

== External links ==

* {{in lang|lv}} [https://fkrfs.lv/ Official website]

* (in Latvian) [https://tonybetfan.com/rfs/tonybet-uzsak-sadarbibu-ar-rfs/ RFS news on Tonybet Fan]