33 episódios
Latvian Football Podcast Dmitrijs, Frank & Gustavs
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- Esportes
Delve into the weird and wonderful world of Latvian association football - the youngest top league in Europe - as Dmitrijs, Frank and guests cover the Latvian Virsliga, Cup, National Team and everything in between!
Do you miss football when it was about the game and not about the gloss? Do you enjoy seeing young players grow from youthful obscurity into big international transfers? Maybe you'd like to witness how new football clubs grow and develop their business in real life, warts and all? Perhaps you miss competitive football during the summer months? Or do you like using football as a means to travel and discover beautiful new countries? Latvian Virsliga is a resounding YES to all of these and more, so come on in and join in on the excitement!
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Who are the Ultras of Latvia? Virsliga 2024 Rounds 5-12 and UEFA Rankings with David Parkes
Who are the supporter groups - the Ultras - of Virsliga? In this episode, we delve into the very public yet poorly understood and, in some cases, deliberately concealed world of Latvian Ultras to find out more about who they are, how they function and what they are all about. Additionally, we are joined by football statistician David Parkes to talk about what are club and league coefficients and how they affect clubs and fans from season to season. All of this, of course, after we catch up on the 7 rounds of Virsliga played since the previous episode!
(00:03:47) Virsliga update: Rounds 5-12
(00:26:20) Chastisement of Valmiera
(00:42:03) Who are the Ultras of Virsliga
(01:30:35) Guest interview: club coefficients, with David Parkes
(01:46:01) Final thoughts and what to look forward to in May/June
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What's wrong with Liepaja? Virsliga 2024 Rounds 1-5
Virsliga 2024 is up and running and we sit down to look back at the first five rounds of what is proving to be a truly unpredictable, dynamic and highly competitive league this year! We also put FK Liepaja under the microscope and discuss possible causes of their poor performance as well as offer our Best XI for March-April.
(00:01:02) Reflections on the first 5 rounds
(00:10:41) Impactful players
(00:17:51) Teams to watch (especially if you are new to the league!)
(00:21:35) What's wrong with FK Liepaja?
(00:58:57) Frank's tour of Latvian stadiums; new main stand at LNK Sporta Parks
(01:10:16) Best XI of March/April
(01:13:17) Please support the show! -
Season 2024 Preview
Virsliga 2024 is upon us and so is the second year of the podcast. In this episode, we introduce some changes to the format and composition of the show, talk about major news from pre-season, and introduce the upcoming eight months of highly anticipated Latvian club football! We think this is going to be the best season yet, so tune in to find out why!
(00:00) New cast and new format
(02:44) Paolo Nicolato - new Latvia coach
(07:51) The failed Leevon Saldus takeover
(11:32) Livonian Winter League
(14:09) Latvian Super Cup
(20:27) Virsliga 2024: new derby in Liepaja
(26:50) Virsliga 2024: new coaches
(37:53) Virsliga 2024: our predictions
(55:11) 10 players to watch
(1:11:41) Where/how to watch Virsliga games?
(1:16:02) Why care about Latvian football and concluding remarks -
Livonian Winter League 2024, with Estonian Football Podcast
As the first run of the Livonian Winter League - an international pre-season competition between 24 Latvian and Estonian clubs - comes to a close with a narrow victory for Latvia, we sit down with the Estonian Football Podcast to reflect on the competition, the good and the bad things about it, as well as to have a general chat about the state of Latvian and Estonian association football, not forgetting to briefly discuss the Baltic League idea and the Estonian resistance to it. Tune in, enjoy our first ever crossover episode and please leave a review on whatever platform you use to listen to podcasts!
Estonian Premium liiga starts 1st March and Latvian Virsliga a week later, on the 8th March! -
The Baltic League, with Nick Ames
The Baltic League is a pioneering cross-border league project within the UEFA, meant to unite and enlarge the football markets and competitive levels of Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian clubs. But while there are many things that make a great deal of sense about the proposal spearheaded by the Latvian Virsliga, many questions, concerns and even sources of political resistance remain. Pivoting off of the Livonian Winter League, Nick Ames, The Guardian's European sport correspondent, travelled to Riga to find out about the idea first-hand. In this episode, Dmitrijs and Nick sit down to talk about his visit, what he thought of Latvian and regional football, and about the idea of cross-border leagues in general and the proposed Baltic League in particular!
Nick's article in The Guardian 'Baltic League could be pioneer for cross-border football in Europe' (17 Feb 2024): https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/17/baltic-league-could-be-pioneer-for-cross-border-football-in-europe -
Virsliga from the outside, with Frank Marr
What does the Virsliga look like to a Latvia-based Welshman and how did he come to support Valmiera FC? Frank Marr joins the show to talk about his love of football, the good and the bad things about Latvian football and the Latvian National Team (NB. this episode was recorded before the appointment of Paolo Nicolato), and about his vision for the future growth of association football in Latvia and in the Baltics!