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]

Vilniaus 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
ManagerDavid Marques Pereira da Silva
LeagueA Lyga
20225th of 10
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
2022 1. A lyga 5.
2023 1. A lyga .

Sponsors

Sponsors

Lithuania Lit-invest
Lithuania Esse
Lithuania Ecoil
Lithuania Compensa
Lithuania 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)
From 2018 (Goalkeeper Home kit)
From 2018 (Goalkeeper Away kit)

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 Faroe Islands HB Tórshavn 3–0 4–1 7–1
2Q Cyprus Apollon Limassol 0–0 0–4 0–4
2016–17 UEFA Europa League 1Q Estonia Nõmme Kalju FC 2–1 1–4 3–5
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1Q Scotland St Johnstone 1–0 2–1 3–1
2Q Sweden IFK Norrköping 2–1 1–2 3–3 (5–3 p)
3Q North Macedonia Shkëndija 2–1 0–3 2–4
2018–19 UEFA Europa League PR Wales Cefn Druids 1–0 1−1 2–1
1Q Kazakhstan Irtysh Pavlodar 0−0 1–0 1–0
2Q Serbia Partizan 1−1 0–1 1–2
2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1Q Faroe Islands KÍ Klaksvík 1−1 0−0 1−1 (a)
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1Q Republic of Ireland Derry City 3−2 (a.e.t.)
2Q Czech Republic Slovan Liberec 1−5
Notes
  • PR: Preliminary round
  • 1Q: First qualifying round
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round
  • 3Q: Third qualifying round

Current squad

As of 4 October 2023

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 Lithuania LTU Armantas Vitkauskas
2 DF Lithuania LTU Nojus Stankevičius
3 DF Montenegro MNE Mitar Ćuković
4 DF Nigeria NGA Olaide Badmus
5 MF Venezuela VEN Francisco La Mantía
6 DF Spain ESP Ian Pinto Soler
7 MF Netherlands NED Colin Odutayo
8 MF Lithuania LTU Mindaugas Grigaravičius
9 MF Serbia SRB Nikola Popović
10 FW Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Haris Handžić
11 FW Nigeria NGA Ebuka Onah
13 DF Lithuania LTU Gustas Gumbaravičius
14 MF Lithuania LTU Armandas Šveistrys
15 MF Lithuania LTU Emil Andriuškevič
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Lithuania LTU Matas Ramanauskas
17 MF Lithuania LTU Deimantas Rimpa
19 MF Lithuania LTU Rokas Filipavičius
22 FW Nigeria NGA Ayomide Adebayo
25 FW Ivory Coast CIV Pierre Okende
27 MF Lithuania LTU Daniel Misiūnas
33 DF Lithuania LTU Valdemar Borovskij
47 FW Georgia (country) GEO Anri Rosiveri
55 DF Ukraine UKR Yevhen Chahovets
71 GK Lithuania LTU Pijus Petkevičius
75 DF Serbia SRB Stefan Filipović
99 MF Slovakia SVK Marián Šmatlák

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
28 MF Lithuania LTU Juozas Lubas (on loan to FC Džiugas)

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 to 2016, nominees were elected by Trakai players. However, since 2017, the award is determined by using InStat data.

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

Staff

Position Name
President Lithuania Jan Nevoina
Sporting director Lithuania Tadas Simaitis
Director Lithuania Vladimiras Buzmakovas
Head coach
Assistant manager Lithuania David Monteagudo[18]
Assistant manager Lithuania Gintaras Rimkus
Fitness coach Lithuania Arnas Juozaitis
Goalkeeping coach Lithuania Mindaugas Malinauskas

Academy

FK Riteriai run their own football academy, which keeps close relationship with AC Milan. The academy is called Talentų futbolo akademija,[19] it was established in 2013.[20]

Managers

Name Period
Lithuania Edgaras Jankauskas Feb 2014 – Nov 2014
Lithuania Virmantas Lemežis Nov 2014 – Dec 2014
Lithuania Valdas Urbonas Jan 2015 – Jul 2016
Belarus Albert Rybak Jul 2016 – Aug 2016
Ukraine Serhiy Kovalets Aug 2016 – Jan 2017
Russia Oleg Vasilenko Jan 2017 – May 2018
Lithuania Virmantas Lemežis May 2018 – Jun 2018
Spain Kibu Vicuña Jun 2018 – Oct 2018
Belarus Albert Rybak Oct 2018 – Dec 2018
Lithuania Aurelijus Skarbalius Dec 2018 – Jul 2019.[21]
Belarus Albert Rybak Jul 2019 – Nov 2019
Lithuania Mindaugas Čepas Jan 2020 – Jun 2020[22]
Poland Janusz Niedzvied Jul 2020 – Aug 2020
Finland Tommi Pikkarainen Aug 2020 – Nov 2020
Belarus Sergei Gurenko Feb 2021 – May 2021
Lithuania Valdas Trakys 9 June 2021 – 3 August 2021 (temporary).[23][24]
Portugal Miguel Moreira 3 August 2021 – 30 November 2021[25]
Sweden Glenn Ståhl January 2022 – 7 May 2022[26][27]
Spain Pablo Villar 24 May 2022[28] – 24 March 2023
Serbia Vladimir Janković 31 March 2023 – 25 July 2023[29]

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. "V.Sabaliauską trenerių štabe keičia specialistas iš Ispanijos".
  19. "Talentų Futbolo Akademija". tfamilanas.lt. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  20. "Italijos grandas "Milan" Lietuvoje atidarė savo futbolo akademiją". 15min.lt/sportas. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  21. "Futbolo Klubas Riteriai » A.Skarbalius traukiasi iš "Riterių"".
  22. "Futbolo Klubas Riteriai » "Riterius" treniruos M.Čepas".
  23. "Laikinuoju "Riterių" vyr. Treneriu tapo V. Trakys | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
  24. "Laikinuoju "Riterių" vyriausiuoju treneriu tapo Valdas Trakys". 9 June 2021.
  25. "Išsiskyrė "Riterių" ir M. Moreiros keliai | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
  26. ""Riteriai" pristatė naująjį strategą | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
  27. ""Riterius" paliko vyr. Treneris G. Stahlis | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
  28. ""Riterių" naujasis strategas – specialistas iš Ispanijos | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
  29. https://www.sportas.lt/naujiena/481378/riteriai-atsisveikino-su-treneriu
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