FK Riteriai

Futbolo Klubas Riteriai, also known as FK Riteriai or as Riteriai, is a Lithuanian professional football club based in Vilnius. The team has been playing in the top level of Lithuanian football, the A Lyga, since 2014. Until 21 February 2019, the club was based in Trakai and was known as FK Trakai.[1]

FK Riteriai
Full nameFutbolo Klubas Riteriai
Nickname(s)Riteriai (The Knights)
Founded2005 (2005)
GroundLFF Stadium
Capacity5,067
Coordinates54°40′07″N 25°17′39″E
ChairmanJan Nevoina
ManagerGlenn Ståhl
LeagueA Lyga
20216th
WebsiteClub website

The team's colors are yellow and blue. The club plays at LFF Stadium in Vilnius (capacity 5,067).

History

Logo of the team when it was known as FK Trakai.

2005–2013

The club was established in 2005 as a way to promote physical activity to children and the general society. In 2006, the club laid an artificial coverage stadium in Trakai[2] and started to play in the III Lyga Vilnius County. In 2008, they also played in the Sunday Football League. In 2010, they were admitted to the II Lyga South Zone, and in 2011, they were already in the I Lyga (second-tier division in Lithuania). Before the 2013 season, the club submitted an application to play in the A Lyga, as all three top finishers decided against seeking promotion, promising to play games in Vilnius before adequate infrastructure requirements could be fulfilled, but ultimately remained in the same tier.[3] They were promoted to A Lyga after finishing 3rd in the 2013 LFF I Lyga season. The club also reached the semi-finals of the 2013–14 Lithuanian Football Cup, before being eliminated by the eventual winners, VMFD Žalgiris. During summer, the club organizes youth camps with invitees from AC Milan.[4]

2014–present

The club began preparation for the 2014 campaign by strengthening their first team, which included signing Lithuanian national team veterans, Paulius Grybauskas, Vytautas Lukša, Darius Miceika, and Tadas Labukas, as well as unveiling former star Edgaras Jankauskas as their new head coach.[5][6] They debuted in the A Lyga victoriously, beating Klaipėdos Granitas 2–0.[7] Throughout the season, the club's results plateaued, but they managed to climb up to second place around the mid-season break. Trakai continued to strengthen their core and staff personnel through mid-season. On 19 September 2014, another national team star, Deividas Česnauskis, was signed on.[8] Soon afterwards, the club was eliminated from the 2014–15 Lithuanian Football Cup by Šilas. With 7 matches remaining, Trakai was still in 2nd place in the league, but a losing streak followed. On 3 November 2014, Jankauskas was fired by the club.[9] Virmantas Lemežis took over as caretaker and managed to stabilize things. As a result, the team finished in 4th place, qualifying for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. On 27 November 2014, Trakai announced the signing of the former Ekranas manager, Valdas Urbonas, as development director, but during the club's season roundup event, he was announced as new manager for the upcoming season.[10][11] The Trakai reserve team also finished third in the A Lyga's reserves competitions that season.

In 2015, some veteran players left the team. On 2 July 2015, FK Trakai debuted in the UEFA Europa League qualification round against HB Torshavn from the Faroe Islands. Trakai won 7–1. However, it lost in the Europa League's second qualifying round to the Cypriot club Apollon Limassol. In the first leg, Trakai lost 4–0. In the second leg, they drew 0–0. In the 2015 A Lyga season, Trakai became the vice-champion of Lithuania and qualified to 2016–17 UEFA Europa League's first qualifying round. It was the most successful FK Trakai season. Before 2016 A Lyga's season, the top 2015 season defenders, Linas Klimavičius, Edvardas Gaurilovas, Nikolaz Apakitze, Sergej Shevchuk, Marius Šalkauskas, Ronald Solomin and Rokas Stanulevičius, left the team. But the team managed to keep last season's leaders, Yuri Mamaev, Marius Rapalis, and Deividas Česnauskis. Trakai saved the core of the team and signed contracts with a few newcomers. The team signed a legionnaire from Italy, Mattia Broli, and former Lithuanian national football players, Arūnas Klimavičius, and Martynas Dapkus.[12] In 2018, the team saw a change in coaching. In May, Oleg Vasilenko was fired,[13] and Kibu Vicuña was hired as the team's head coach.[14] He worked with the team in the Europa League tournament, but left in October and went to Wisła Płock.[15]

Stadium

LFF stadium's Eastern stand.

Since 2014, the club has played at LFF Stadium in Vilnius. The stadium, formerly known as Vėtra Stadium, was built in 2004 and holds up to 5,500 spectators. After the bankruptcy of the FK Vėtra football club, the Lithuanian Football Federation took control of the stadium. The stadium is under reconstruction in an effort to meet level 3 UEFA stadium status, with the capacity expected to be extended to 8,000.

Achievements

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. LFF cup
2006 4 3 Lyga 4 -
2007 4 3 Lyga 8 -
2008 4 3 Lyga 7 -
2009 4 3 Lyga 13 -
2010 3 2 Lyga 4 -
2011 2 I Lyga 4 Fourth round
2012 2 I Lyga 4 Fourth round
2013 2 I Lyga 3 Semi-final
2014 1 A Lyga 4 Third round
2015 1 A Lyga 2 Final
2016 1 A Lyga 2 Round of 16
2017 1 A Lyga 3 Round of 8
2018 1 A Lyga 3 Round of 8
2019 1 A Lyga 3 Round of 16
2020 1 A Lyga 6 Semi-final
2021 1 A Lyga 6 First round

Sponsors

Sponsors

Lit-invest
Esse
Ecoil
Compensa
TFK

Kit

FK Trakai uniform colors are yellow for home games. Away uniforms were black and red (like AC Milan) from 2014 till 2018. Since 2018, away uniforms have been dark blue.

2006–2013 (Home kit)
2006–2013 (Away kit)
From 2014 (Home kit)
From 2014 (Away kit)
From 2018 (Away kit)
Goalkeeper`s kit 2018 Home
Goalkeeper`s kit 2018 Away

Uniform manufacturers

European record

Accurate as of 26 August 2020
CompetitionPlayedWonDrewLostGFGAGDWin%
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 21 10 6 5 26 24 +2 047.62
Total 21 10 6 5 26 24 +2 047.62

Source: UEFA.com
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal Difference. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 1Q HB Tórshavn 3–0 4–1 7–1
2Q Apollon Limassol 0–0 0–4 0–4
2016–17 UEFA Europa League 1Q Nõmme Kalju FC 2–1 1–4 3–5
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1Q St Johnstone 1–0 2–1 3–1
2Q IFK Norrköping 2–1 1–2 3–3 (5–3 p)
3Q Shkëndija 2–1 0–3 2–4
2018–19 UEFA Europa League PR Cefn Druids 1–0 1−1 2–1
1Q Irtysh Pavlodar 0−0 1–0 1–0
2Q Partizan 1−1 0–1 1–2
2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1Q KÍ Klaksvík 1−1 0−0 1−1 (a)
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1Q Derry City 3−2 (a.e.t.) N/A N/A
2Q Slovan Liberec 1−5 N/A N/A
Notes
  • PR: Preliminary round
  • 1Q: First qualifying round
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round
  • 3Q: Third qualifying round

Current squad

As of 27 February 2022

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  LTU Armantas Vitkauskas
2 DF  FIN Akseli Kalermo
3 DF  LTU Deividas Malžinskas
4 DF  NGA Olaide Badmus
7 MF  LTU Artūr Dolžnikov
8 MF  LTU Mindaugas Grigaravičius
9 FW  LTU Gytis Paulauskas
10 FW  BRA Lucas Dias
11 MF  UKR Dmytro Bilonoh
12 MF  BRA Felipe Brisola
15 MF  LTU Emil Andriuškevič
16 MF  LTU Matas Ramanauskas
18 DF  LTU Dominykas Barauskas
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF  LTU Rokas Filipavičius
21 DF  BUL Plamen Dimov
22 DF  LTU Aleksandr Levšin
24 MF  LTU Povilas Kalimavičius
28 MF  LTU Juozas Lubas
33 DF  LTU Valdemar Borovskij
44 MF  LTU Tomas Dombrauskis
50 MF  LTU Justinas Marazas
55 GK  LTU Geraldas Širvinskas
79 MF  LTU Valdas Paulauskas
90 MF  BRA Guilherme Choco
97 GK  UKR Serhiy Melashenko
99 FW  SVK Tomáš Vestenický

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK  LTU Lukas Paukštė (at Šiauliai)

Notable players

Players who have either appeared in at least one match for their respective national teams at any time or received an individual award while at the club. Players whose names are listed in bold represented their countries while playing for FK Trakai or FK Riteriai.

Trakai Player of the Year

Since 2014, a Player of the Year award is presented during an annual season closeup event. From 2014–16, nominees were elected by Trakai players. However, since 2017, the award is determined by using InStat data.

Year Winner
2014 Vytautas Lukša[11]
2015 Yuri Mamaev
2016 Arūnas Klimavičius
2017 Mykhailo Shyshka
2018 Donatas Kazlauskas[16]
2019 Terem Moffi[17]

Staff

Position Name
President Jan Nevoina
Sporting director Tadas Simaitis
Director Vladimiras Buzmakovas
Head coach Glenn Ståhl
Assistant manager Vaidas Sabaliauskas
Assistant manager Gintaras Rimkus
Fitness coach Arnas Juozaitis
Goalkeeping coach Mindaugas Malinauskas

Academy

FK Riteriai run their own football academy, which keeps close relationship with AC Milan. The academy is called Talentų futbolo akademija,[18] it was established in 2013.[19]

Managers

Name Period
Edgaras Jankauskas Feb 2014 – Nov 2014
Virmantas Lemežis Nov 2014 – Dec 2014
Valdas Urbonas Jan 2015 – Jul 2016
Albert Rybak Jul 2016 – Aug 2016
Serhiy Kovalets Aug 2016 – Jan 2017
Oleg Vasilenko Jan 2017 – May 2018
Virmantas Lemežis May 2018 – Jun 2018
Kibu Vicuña Jun 2018 – Oct 2018
Albert Rybak Oct 2018 – Dec 2018
Aurelijus Skarbalius Dec 2018 – Jul 2019.[20]
Albert Rybak Jul 2019 – Nov 2019
Mindaugas Čepas Jan 2020 – Jun 2020[21]
Janusz Niedzvied Jul 2020 – Aug 2020
Tommi Pikkarainen Aug 2020 – Nov 2020
Sergei Gurenko Feb 2021 – May 2021
Valdas Trakys 9 June 2021 – 3 August 2021 (temporary).[22][23]
Miguel Moreira 3 August 2021 – 30 November 2021[24]
Glenn Ståhl January 2022[25]

References

  1. "Oficialu. "Trakai" tampa "Riteriais"". fkriteriai.lt (in Lithuanian). 19 February 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. "TFK.lt".
  3. "Sezono viduryje tikrai nebankrutuosime". sportas.info (in Lithuanian). 15 February 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  4. Futbolo žvaigždžių paieška. // Veidas.lt, 2011-08-09.
  5. "Senosios sostinės riteriai pasiruošę šturmuoti A lygą" (in Lithuanian). A Lyga. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  6. ""Trakų" futbolininkams pristatytas naujasis treneris E.Jankauskas" (in Lithuanian). A Lyga. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  7. "Debiutantų dvikovoje triumfavo "Trakai"" (in Lithuanian). A Lyga. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  8. "Deividas Česnauskis prisijungė prie "Trakų"" (in Lithuanian). A Lyga. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  9. "Oficialu: "Trakai" atleido trenerį E.Jankauską". Eurofootball.lt (in Lithuanian). 3 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  10. "Prie "Trakų" klubo prisijungė buvęs "Ekrano" treneris V. Urbonas". DELFI (in Lithuanian). 28 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  11. "V. Urbonas paskirtas "Trakų" klubo vyriausiuoju treneriu". DELFI (in Lithuanian). 10 December 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  12. "FKT.lt".
  13. ""Trakai" turės naują trenerį. Su O.Vasilenka nutraukta sutartis". futbolas.lt. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  14. "Futbolo Klubas Trakai " "Trakams" vadovaus specialistas iš Ispanijos". fkt.lt. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  15. "FKT.lt".
  16. ""Trakų" sezono uždarymo šventėje – apdovanoti geriausieji, pagerbtas D.Česnauskis" (in Lithuanian). FK Trakai. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  17. ""Riterių" sezono uždarymo šventėje – apdovanojimus rinkęs kapitonas". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). 3 December 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  18. "Talentų Futbolo Akademija". tfamilanas.lt. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  19. "Italijos grandas "Milan" Lietuvoje atidarė savo futbolo akademiją". 15min.lt/sportas. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  20. "Futbolo Klubas Riteriai » A.Skarbalius traukiasi iš "Riterių"".
  21. "Futbolo Klubas Riteriai » "Riterius" treniruos M.Čepas".
  22. "Laikinuoju "Riterių" vyr. Treneriu tapo V. Trakys | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
  23. "Laikinuoju "Riterių" vyriausiuoju treneriu tapo Valdas Trakys". 9 June 2021.
  24. "Išsiskyrė "Riterių" ir M. Moreiros keliai | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
  25. ""Riteriai" pristatė naująjį strategą | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
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