Went to a Champions League qualifying game between Skonto and Inter in Riga back in '98 it was a great experience. This video was a great reminder of those youthful adventures, I love Latvia to this day.
I watched the first episode, and now this one too - I'm looking forward to the next episode. :) You were very unlucky with both football games - FK Auda is currently probably the only club in the top league of Latvian football that does not really have its own home. In my opinion, this is also the real reason why not too many fans come to their "home" games at Skonto Stadium. In general, their historical home is a completely different district of Riga and they have nothing to do with the center of Riga. Historically, FK Auda is a club from the Riga port district (Vecmīlgrāvis and Mangaļsala), practically it would be a club that should represent the northern districts of Riga. As far as I remember, their real home stadium still exists today, but it does not meet the standards of the Latvian top league - the stadium is the "Alberta Šeibeļa" stadium, it is named in honor of Alberts Šeibelis, the captain of the Latvian national team before the Second World War. After that, the club moved to a completely different city (Ķekava) - it's about 20-30 km outside of Riga and they started building their training base there (I personally even went to watch their game once when FK Auda did not play in the top league yet) and there were much more spectators there in the stands than they have at the Skonto Stadium. FK Auda starts the season at the Ķeizarmeža stadium, then moves to Skonto, then suddenly they can start playing at the "Jāņa Skredeļa" stadium, which is on the other side of the Daugava river, etc. - FK Auda's problem is that they cannot stick to one place, which scares away the fans, because you don't know where they will think of playing next. FK Metta vs BFC Daugavpils - should be an exciting game, but there are few fans for this game, because it took place at the Sloka stadium - in the city of Jūrmala (the reason why it took place there and not in Riga? Because there was a big concert there because of the Riga city festival and the Daugava stadium does not belong to FK Metta). By the way, an interesting fact about the Sloka stadium - when FK Jūrmala Spartaks played there a couple of years ago and became the champions of Latvia twice - they had the lowest attendance record, because the stadium is good, but it is built in the middle of nowhere and it is difficult to access without your own car. About the Podcast - we have two information podcasts of this kind - one is this one that you met and I must say that they have a good analysis of information before many games and it is interesting to listen to the information they collect. And there is also the PPK podcast hosted by the former Latvian national team player and FK Ventspils player Jurijs Žigajevs with an amateur level goalkeeper Kristians Kareļins who works as an actor in one of Riga's theaters - they are fun to listen to, but they have a slightly different content - often there are simply interviews with Latvian football connect with people who tell you about things that you might never know from the outside, and they also often run youtube live streams where you can ask direct questions about Latvian football. So both of these podcasts are very good and interesting.
Interesting in depth information! I wouldn’t think it would take that much to get a stadium up to Virsliga standards in Latvia? Loads of clubs just have a one-sided stadium, maybe as small as 500 seats, and a pitch. I also went to Spartaks Jūrmala in 2022; they lost 6-1 at home to eventual champions Valmiera. The club withdrew from the Virsliga at the end of that season. For me it was reasonably straightforward to get the train to Jūrmala from Riga and then walk to the stadium from the station, and walk to the beach afterwards. The stadium is half-surrounded by forest, which adds to the charm, and the nearby roads and houses are covered and surrounded by forest. I can’t remember finding something like a town centre nearby. I also heard there’s a big Russian population there, I guess attracted by the coast.
@@thomasjohnson2862 Unfortunately, the development of football in Latvia is slow - and it does not always correspond to logic, due to a lack of knowledge and experience. We often have cases when the municipality in Latvia invests money in a football stadium or field, but it turns out that some small technical thing is missing so that the stadium gets a UEFA second-category rating, or even the right to play games in the Latvian top league. For example, as far as I remember, the club "Leevon Saldus" had to leave the city of Saldus, because the artificial surface area was new, but made a few meters shorter than the standards. The club of the Latvian top league "Grobinas SC" is forced to play games in the city of Liepāja (approximately 5-7 km from the city of Grobinas), because the dressing rooms are located further than the rules of the top league of Latvia stipulate. In short - the money is spent, but it often does not meet the various rules and standards of UEFA or the Latvian top league - this is because designers often lack knowledge and experience of how and where to build stadiums and football fields. That's why I say - the Sloka stadium is a good stadium for Latvia, but it was built almost nowhere where a large mass of people do not live around. An even bigger curizos is with the "Balvi SC" football team, which plays in the 3rd league of Latvia (in the fourth league after the pyramid). In the city of Balvi, the pitch is not of ideal quality, so games are rarely played there, so the team's home games are played in a populated place such as Rugāji, which is located some 35 km outside the city of Balvi. The football field in Rugāji is very good, but it is a village with a few hundred inhabitants.
Very interesting info! As a finn i dont know much about Latvian football, but this was some interesting stuff😮Do you have any interesting anecdotes about Latvian football? One of my Teams(KuPs) former players, Ikaunieks plays in Latvia, its a shame he left but he seems like a star in Latvia!
I am of latvian heritage but grew up in the USA. I’m currently playing amateur football in Spain, and this video was super interesting to compare with the other experiences I have and see the culture of my grandfather.
Great videos! I am not long back from my 4th trip to Riga having previously met a good pal from there at uni. I love the city, great people (much better looking people than the UK), way of life, food, bars, history, parks and public transport, and also like the countryside, forests, Jurmala beach and Liepaja city. Always visit the radisson blu skyline bar for perfect cocktails/views. Dead interesting video to see/hear more about the football. Enjoyed the 2 Riga FC matches I've been to. Albeit think RFS and Riga are a much much higher level than the rest of the league. Looking forward to the next video on Riga history. For any other countries for your future videos I'd be most interested in Italy or Poland, or other eastern european countries (I also enjoyed Baku when i went but not sure this type of video would be feasible there)
It's nice, just one correction. It's jurmala city not jurmala beach. Just like it's not liepaja beach but liepaja city. Both have beaches but are cities in latvia. Daugavpils and kraslava are also very nice, the latgale region
about the football fans, in Latvia. We have the best Ice hockey fans in the world, and we love basketball. In my opinion seeing how football has grown in Latvia the fans are only question of time.
great vid bro! I like that you are showing our football to the rest of the world thus makes it more known that we aint just all hockey and basketball. Also a typo of yours, its not Valmeira its Valmiera.
@@SamWardrop97 I would Like my country Croatia but I think we have enough exposure thru Dinamo,Hajduk,Rijeka to not fit the series so I would Like you to go to a lesser known league on a similar popularitiy to the latvian league
How are they on the rise? They are surrounded by countries where either the level of football is higher or the payments are way better (every Scandinavian nation has more money involved and when you go down south to Poland you will have way bigger stadiums and more viewers). Even the player you interviewed said many do aim for Belgium, Netherlands, Germany.
Mainly due to foreign money bags (it's sad, but mostly Russian, even non grata persons). For example, Riga FC is completely a Russian project, but still brings some good players into the league. In my opinion, RFS is a better project, playing with quite a few of the best Latvian players plus very good foreign players. I think, the football hierarchy in Latvia has surely made a few steps up over the past 10 years or so. I remember, our amateur club played in League 2 (third tier league), which was actually the lowest league back then where almost everyone could play with 6-7 regional clubs, not the best skills and mainly awful pitches. Now the same club fights in League 3 (fourth tier league) with several regions, 8-10 teams each and not the worst quality football, infrastucture has improved a lot, almost all teams have a good home pitch. The problem is that this rise somehow does not translate into the national team performance, which is currently going through quite dreadful times.
I lived in Latvia for 5 years but never once went to a game. Summers are hot (usually) but blighted by mosquitoes and uncomfortable, humid, sleepless nights. Winters are cold, but for me more bearable than summer. I left in early 2022 when the situation in Ukraine nosedived, with Putin threatening a near future recapture of the Baltic states too. I do miss Latvia, but I am glad to be home in the UK.
I’m Latvian, and it's the first time I'm hearing about the biggest Latvian football podcast.. 'Pa Pāris Kausiem' (PPK) is the biggest football podcast in Latvia, they even have their own team here in Latvia! It’s sad that Sam didn’t mention them, because they have the best culture and fans.
My comment was tongue in cheek. Maybe lost on those not from Scotland. Maybe next time for PPK, I tried my best to meet as many people as possible during my short trip!
Both are great podcasts for Latvian football - it must be said that they really are the biggest, but it is interesting that both differ in terms of style and that is interesting. In my opinion, LatvianFootballPodcast is more serious because it does a very thorough analysis of opponent clubs, squads, statistics, etc.
This video and the previous one your training have been phenomenal content. Really appreciate a view into these clubs and league. Great stuff!
Much appreciated
Went to a Champions League qualifying game between Skonto and Inter in Riga back in '98 it was a great experience. This video was a great reminder of those youthful adventures, I love Latvia to this day.
Did you enjoy a cold beer too 🍻
@@SamWardrop97 aye Sam, I think it was called Aldaris?
I watched the first episode, and now this one too - I'm looking forward to the next episode. :)
You were very unlucky with both football games - FK Auda is currently probably the only club in the top league of Latvian football that does not really have its own home. In my opinion, this is also the real reason why not too many fans come to their "home" games at Skonto Stadium. In general, their historical home is a completely different district of Riga and they have nothing to do with the center of Riga. Historically, FK Auda is a club from the Riga port district (Vecmīlgrāvis and Mangaļsala), practically it would be a club that should represent the northern districts of Riga. As far as I remember, their real home stadium still exists today, but it does not meet the standards of the Latvian top league - the stadium is the "Alberta Šeibeļa" stadium, it is named in honor of Alberts Šeibelis, the captain of the Latvian national team before the Second World War. After that, the club moved to a completely different city (Ķekava) - it's about 20-30 km outside of Riga and they started building their training base there (I personally even went to watch their game once when FK Auda did not play in the top league yet) and there were much more spectators there in the stands than they have at the Skonto Stadium. FK Auda starts the season at the Ķeizarmeža stadium, then moves to Skonto, then suddenly they can start playing at the "Jāņa Skredeļa" stadium, which is on the other side of the Daugava river, etc. - FK Auda's problem is that they cannot stick to one place, which scares away the fans, because you don't know where they will think of playing next.
FK Metta vs BFC Daugavpils - should be an exciting game, but there are few fans for this game, because it took place at the Sloka stadium - in the city of Jūrmala (the reason why it took place there and not in Riga? Because there was a big concert there because of the Riga city festival and the Daugava stadium does not belong to FK Metta). By the way, an interesting fact about the Sloka stadium - when FK Jūrmala Spartaks played there a couple of years ago and became the champions of Latvia twice - they had the lowest attendance record, because the stadium is good, but it is built in the middle of nowhere and it is difficult to access without your own car.
About the Podcast - we have two information podcasts of this kind - one is this one that you met and I must say that they have a good analysis of information before many games and it is interesting to listen to the information they collect. And there is also the PPK podcast hosted by the former Latvian national team player and FK Ventspils player Jurijs Žigajevs with an amateur level goalkeeper Kristians Kareļins who works as an actor in one of Riga's theaters - they are fun to listen to, but they have a slightly different content - often there are simply interviews with Latvian football connect with people who tell you about things that you might never know from the outside, and they also often run youtube live streams where you can ask direct questions about Latvian football. So both of these podcasts are very good and interesting.
Thanks for sharing! Hopefully episode 3 does Latvia justice too!
Interesting in depth information! I wouldn’t think it would take that much to get a stadium up to Virsliga standards in Latvia? Loads of clubs just have a one-sided stadium, maybe as small as 500 seats, and a pitch.
I also went to Spartaks Jūrmala in 2022; they lost 6-1 at home to eventual champions Valmiera. The club withdrew from the Virsliga at the end of that season. For me it was reasonably straightforward to get the train to Jūrmala from Riga and then walk to the stadium from the station, and walk to the beach afterwards. The stadium is half-surrounded by forest, which adds to the charm, and the nearby roads and houses are covered and surrounded by forest. I can’t remember finding something like a town centre nearby. I also heard there’s a big Russian population there, I guess attracted by the coast.
@@thomasjohnson2862 Unfortunately, the development of football in Latvia is slow - and it does not always correspond to logic, due to a lack of knowledge and experience. We often have cases when the municipality in Latvia invests money in a football stadium or field, but it turns out that some small technical thing is missing so that the stadium gets a UEFA second-category rating, or even the right to play games in the Latvian top league. For example, as far as I remember, the club "Leevon Saldus" had to leave the city of Saldus, because the artificial surface area was new, but made a few meters shorter than the standards. The club of the Latvian top league "Grobinas SC" is forced to play games in the city of Liepāja (approximately 5-7 km from the city of Grobinas), because the dressing rooms are located further than the rules of the top league of Latvia stipulate. In short - the money is spent, but it often does not meet the various rules and standards of UEFA or the Latvian top league - this is because designers often lack knowledge and experience of how and where to build stadiums and football fields. That's why I say - the Sloka stadium is a good stadium for Latvia, but it was built almost nowhere where a large mass of people do not live around. An even bigger curizos is with the "Balvi SC" football team, which plays in the 3rd league of Latvia (in the fourth league after the pyramid). In the city of Balvi, the pitch is not of ideal quality, so games are rarely played there, so the team's home games are played in a populated place such as Rugāji, which is located some 35 km outside the city of Balvi. The football field in Rugāji is very good, but it is a village with a few hundred inhabitants.
Very interesting info! As a finn i dont know much about Latvian football, but this was some interesting stuff😮Do you have any interesting anecdotes about Latvian football? One of my Teams(KuPs) former players, Ikaunieks plays in Latvia, its a shame he left but he seems like a star in Latvia!
Class to have you bro 🙏🏼
Great to see you!
I am of latvian heritage but grew up in the USA. I’m currently playing amateur football in Spain, and this video was super interesting to compare with the other experiences I have and see the culture of my grandfather.
Glad you enjoyed my friend! Good luck in spain!🇪🇸
Good stuff! Looking forward to part 3 😉
Coming soon!
Great videos! I am not long back from my 4th trip to Riga having previously met a good pal from there at uni. I love the city, great people (much better looking people than the UK), way of life, food, bars, history, parks and public transport, and also like the countryside, forests, Jurmala beach and Liepaja city. Always visit the radisson blu skyline bar for perfect cocktails/views. Dead interesting video to see/hear more about the football. Enjoyed the 2 Riga FC matches I've been to. Albeit think RFS and Riga are a much much higher level than the rest of the league. Looking forward to the next video on Riga history. For any other countries for your future videos I'd be most interested in Italy or Poland, or other eastern european countries (I also enjoyed Baku when i went but not sure this type of video would be feasible there)
It’s a pretty cool place! You’re lucky you have a reason to keep going back!
It's nice, just one correction. It's jurmala city not jurmala beach. Just like it's not liepaja beach but liepaja city. Both have beaches but are cities in latvia. Daugavpils and kraslava are also very nice, the latgale region
Great vid bro❤️👏🏽you should make a series of going to different countries and giving us a perspective of different leagues
I’m going to give it my best shot
about the football fans, in Latvia. We have the best Ice hockey fans in the world, and we love basketball. In my opinion seeing how football has grown in Latvia the fans are only question of time.
Good production quality of the videos!
Glad you think so!
Keep making these videos man and you’ll be blowing up in no time. Glad to be here early before the rise!! Keep it up!
Appreciate it! I’m excited to share even more insights and behind the scene stuff at clubs across the globe. Lots planned. Thanks for the support.
Great video. Well done you’ve earned a like and a sub. Keep up the good work
Thanks legend!
great vid bro! I like that you are showing our football to the rest of the world thus makes it more known that we aint just all hockey and basketball. Also a typo of yours, its not Valmeira its Valmiera.
Noted! Thanks
Great staff mate
Love the Baltics, keep these coming!
Fantastic video, Sam ❤
Thank you very much!
do you plan on doing this in multiple countries?I am really enjoying the series so far!
Yep! Where would you like to see next?
@@SamWardrop97 I would Like my country Croatia but I think we have enough exposure thru Dinamo,Hajduk,Rijeka to not fit the series so I would Like you to go to a lesser known league on a similar popularitiy to the latvian league
Haha Indriksons fc Valmiera Ultra fan 😅
Good video ))
Good luck to FK Rīgas Futbola Skola for the 2024/25 Europa League phase.
Insightful documentary, really well made, other than the ‘Englishman referral’!
🤣 it’s the accent!!
Great league to play on Football Manager.
Greetings from India ❤
Hello!
great video, come back soon!💪
I hope so!
Great content, do you plan on doing more countries?
Yes, where would you like to see next?
@@SamWardrop97 Finlan would be cool
@@SamWardrop97 Sweden would be awsome
Why not try the neighbour country Estonia ?
Maybe down the line yes!
Try playing in norway in the professional level its very good
How are they on the rise? They are surrounded by countries where either the level of football is higher or the payments are way better (every Scandinavian nation has more money involved and when you go down south to Poland you will have way bigger stadiums and more viewers). Even the player you interviewed said many do aim for Belgium, Netherlands, Germany.
You’ve got to start somewhere right!
@@SamWardrop97 That's true, but it's a hard position to compete in. I visited the Skonto academy myself in year 2011.
Mainly due to foreign money bags (it's sad, but mostly Russian, even non grata persons). For example, Riga FC is completely a Russian project, but still brings some good players into the league. In my opinion, RFS is a better project, playing with quite a few of the best Latvian players plus very good foreign players. I think, the football hierarchy in Latvia has surely made a few steps up over the past 10 years or so. I remember, our amateur club played in League 2 (third tier league), which was actually the lowest league back then where almost everyone could play with 6-7 regional clubs, not the best skills and mainly awful pitches. Now the same club fights in League 3 (fourth tier league) with several regions, 8-10 teams each and not the worst quality football, infrastucture has improved a lot, almost all teams have a good home pitch. The problem is that this rise somehow does not translate into the national team performance, which is currently going through quite dreadful times.
👍
I lived in Latvia for 5 years but never once went to a game. Summers are hot (usually) but blighted by mosquitoes and uncomfortable, humid, sleepless nights. Winters are cold, but for me more bearable than summer. I left in early 2022 when the situation in Ukraine nosedived, with Putin threatening a near future recapture of the Baltic states too. I do miss Latvia, but I am glad to be home in the UK.
Not for you then 😅
scared for russia to attack a NATO country, lol
I’m Latvian, and it's the first time I'm hearing about the biggest Latvian football podcast..
'Pa Pāris Kausiem' (PPK) is the biggest football podcast in Latvia, they even have their own team here in Latvia! It’s sad that Sam didn’t mention them, because they have the best culture and fans.
My comment was tongue in cheek. Maybe lost on those not from Scotland. Maybe next time for PPK, I tried my best to meet as many people as possible during my short trip!
Both are great podcasts for Latvian football - it must be said that they really are the biggest, but it is interesting that both differ in terms of style and that is interesting. In my opinion, LatvianFootballPodcast is more serious because it does a very thorough analysis of opponent clubs, squads, statistics, etc.
Latvian football? no I haven't heard of it ;D
Lol but latvian national team is the worst in europe 🤣🤣🤣
It actually isnt, Latvia is higher ranked than Moldova,Liechtenstien,Faroe Islands,Lithuania,Andorra,Malta,