Liepaja

Ground: Stadions Daugava (Liepaja)

Visits: 1

Date: 21st June 2014

Match: FK Liepaja - FC Daugava 0-3 (Virsliga)

Attendance: 300

The match at Stadions Olimpija, 1625 Liepaja vs Salapils, finished around 15.50. Kick-off for my second match of the day, FK Liepaja vs FC Daugava, was at 17.00 meaning no rush to be at the ground in time for the match. Having already been to Stadions Daugava twice today I was looking forward to actually watch some football at the ground. Stadions Daugava is nicely situated in a park and next to the beach. In November I would choose other grounds to visit but in June and having as nice weather as today I knew had chosen the right day for my visit. Stadions Daugava has running tracks and quite a big main stand on the west side of the ground. This stand is covered and has a capacity of around 3 000. The open stand on the east side of the ground has around 1 000 seats. For this match I was hoping for an attendance of 500 but the official number was given as 300. At least they couldn´t blame the weather!

FK Liepaja used to be called Liepajas Metalurgs and under that name the club won two Latvian league titles. In 2005 Liepajas Metalurgs became the first team other than Skonto Riga to win the Virsliga since the league restarted in 1991. Last year (the company) Liepajas Metalurgs went bankrupt and that is the reason the club changed their name to FK Liepaja. Before this match FK Liepaja were third in the table with the visitors, FC Daugava, a place behind them. This was not going to be FK Liepajas day though. 1-0 to the visitors at half-time. In the second half Liepaja missed one chance after the other and from two counter-attacks FC Daugava scored and won the match 3-0. Disappointment for FK Liepaja and their fans. I could celebrate today though, two new grounds but above all a new Länderpunkt for me. I celebrated with a nice dinner at my hotel before watching Germany vs Ghana on TV. Tomorrow I go by bus to Ventspils for my fifth and final match on this tour.

close to the beach