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Skonto FC was a Latvian professional football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the in . Skonto won the in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Latvia national football team. With those 14 national championships in a row, they set a European record, across men and women's football combined, until the women of club KÍ Klaksvík won their 14th championship in a row in 2013.

Following financial problems, the club was demoted to the Latvian First League in 2016 and went bankrupt in December of that year.

History
Fourteen titles in a row (1991–2004)
Skonto FC was founded in 1991, under the guise of Forums-Skonto, and immediately started to win league championships, 14 in a row, until finishing second to FK Liepājas Metalurgs in 2005. In 2006, Skonto finished third in a close contest with FK Liepājas Metalurgs and . Skonto also won the Latvian Cup on eight occasions, most recently in 2012.

Skonto had to win their early titles in fierce competition with FK Olimpija from Liepāja and . An additional game was required in 1992 season to break a tie and decide the winner. In the same 1992 season, Skonto FC made its debut in the Champion's League by beating the champions Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag. At season's end, Aleksandrs Starkovs took over from Marks Zahodins as coach.

For the next 10 years in the domestic league none of their rivals were able to offer significant opposition to Skonto. For two seasons running the team did not lose a single match, surpassing their closest rivals by more than 20 points in the final standings, ensuring the regular title was awarded long before the end of the season. During the 1998 season, Skonto FC thrashed 15–2, scoring the highest number of goals in a single game in the club's history.

During these years Skonto FC supplied the Latvian national team with most of its players: Māris Verpakovskis, , Aleksandrs Koliņko, Vitālijs Astafjevs, , , Juris Laizāns, Mihails Zemļinskis, Valentīns Lobaņovs, , and others. In 2004, a Latvian squad stocked with Skonto players managed to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2004 championship in Portugal.

Defender Mihails Zemļinskis has made the most appearances for the club in domestic competition (252), and the most in European cup ties as well (52). is Skonto's all-time top scorer with 155 goals in 216 domestic matches, and 18 in 38 European cup matches. In July 2000 Skonto defender Igors Stepanovs was sold to the English club Arsenal for a fee around £1 million. In January 2001 midfielder Juris Laizāns joined the Russian Premier League side CSKA Moscow for £1,57 million, the highest ever transfer fee received by a Latvian club to date.

Skonto's first major victory in the European came in 1994, when they defeated Scotland's Aberdeen F.C., former European Super Cup winners; and in 1999 Skonto managed a 0–0 draw at home with Chelsea in a UEFA Champions League qualifier after losing 3–0 away two weeks earlier in what was Chelsea's first game in the Champions League. Skonto FC also played as Latvian champion against European giants and .

An exciting battle for the Latvian championship title occurred again in the final round of the 2001 season when Skonto trailed by two points as they faced an away match against Liepājas Metalurgs, a team which also had hopes of becoming champions. Ventspils lost their match; Skonto won theirs; and Skonto were Latvian champions once more.

End of the winners' era (2005–2009)
Starting from 2005 Liepājas Metalurgs and FK Ventspils were in a close pursuit of Skonto, with their attempts proving to be successful. In 2004, the head coach Aleksandrs Starkovs – one of the essential pillars of the club – left Skonto FC by accepting a proposal to work at Spartak Moskva, that time champions of . The leadership of the team was entrusted to , his long-term assistant, but after the loss against FK Rabotnički, of the Republic of Macedonia, in the UEFA Champions League qualification tournament, he resigned from the post. Jurijs Andrejevs was replaced by , who had previously worked with and FK Rīga in the Latvian Higher League and in the Russian Premier League.

Champions again (2010)
On 8 July 2010, Skonto lost in the first qualifying round to the Northern Irish club Portadown. In the first leg Skonto drew 1–1 away from home after an equaliser in injury time. They lost 1–0 at home and went out to a team who hadn't won a European tie in 36 years. Consolation came later in the season, when Skonto drew 2–2 at home to win the Latvian Higher League title for the first time since 2004. It was yet again done under the management of Aleksandrs Starkovs.

Financial crisis and bankruptcy (2011–2016)
In 2012 founder of the club and long-term president Guntis Indriksons left the post, as it was incompatible with the president's post of the Latvian Football Federation according to the newly established rules. Former player Vladimirs Koļesņičenko took over and, furthermore, the club's manager accepted an offer to become the head coach of Latvia national U-21 football team. In 2012 Skonto won the for the first time since 2002 and guaranteed themselves a spot in the first qualifying round of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, even though this was later succeeded once again following the league achievements in 2012.

In 2013 Georgian manager took over and under his management Skonto went on playing without a single loss for 26 matches out of the league's 27 regular games. Run down by injuries with a short amount of reserves, they were defeated by in the last round of the tournament losing the title to . Skonto participated considerably well in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League matches, beating Moldovan on aggregate in the first round and being close to knock out the Czech club Slovan Liberec, which later went on to reach Round of 32 of the tournament. In-mid summer Skonto were struck by severe financial problems as their sponsors ended the sponsorship program due to their own financial difficulties. This led to a major loss of income and long-term delays of salaries and other payments.

Before the start of the 2014 season Skonto, initially, were refused the A License necessary to play in the Latvian Higher League due to their long-term debts. However, the license was later obtained after a successful appeal. Sanctions followed from , with Skonto being disqualified from the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, which they had qualified for. On 30 May 2014 the Latvian Football Federation issued a ban on Skonto registering new players during the summer transfer window until all the debts had been cleared. On 6 July, due to long-term non-payment of salaries, Skonto players refused to play the away match against FK Liepāja and the club suffered a 3–0 technical loss. On 14 July, club president Vladimirs Koļesņičenko announced his resignation and the club was taken over by Igors Zaicevs. On 2 September due to non-fulfillment of liabilities in the prescribed terms, LFF took away three points in the championship table, but on 17 September this penalty was reduced to just one point. On 14 October it was announced that Latvia's State Revenue Service had suspended the club's economic activity, with the possibility for an appeal to be submitted within one month. A day later, an additional four points were taken away in the tournament table, with Skonto losing even the theoretical chance to win the 2014 championship. The same day Skonto announced the resignation of its president Igors Zaicevs, but the club was still considering the option to submit an appeal to the State Revenue Service. In November 2014 it was announced that Skonto had finally cleared its debts with that time and previous players, still being indebted to the State Revenue Service.

Skonto did not obtain a license to play in the 2016 Higher League. Skonto appealed the decision, but the appeal was denied. Since 2015 Latvian First League runners-up rejected the opportunity to be promoted to the Higher League, 3rd placed Rīgas Futbola skola (RFS) was promoted instead. The club went bankrupt and left the first league in December 2016.

Since the club was denied a license to play in the Latvian First League, its remnants merged with under the name of Skonto Academy before the start of the 2017 season. The team, now named RTU FC/Skonto Academy, played in the league until 2019, when it withdrew, possibly due to financial reasons.

Stadium
Skonto played their home matches at the , which is also the home ground for Latvia national football team. The stadium was opened in 2000 and has a capacity of 10,000 people. Besides regular football matches this stadium has also hosted concerts of worldwide superstars like , , and . The attendance of the last two was 32,000 and 33,000 people respectively. The record attendance in regards to a football match was reached on 15 November 2003, when Latvia beat Turkey 1–0 in the UEFA Euro 2004 qualification play-offs match and the game was attended by 9,500 spectators. The stadium is now used as the home-ground by the Latvian Higher League club .

==Crest==

Honours
  • Virslīga
    • Champions (15): 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010
  • Latvian Football Cup
    • Winners (8): 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2011–12
    • Runners-up (7): 1991, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2013–14
    • Winners: 2010–11
    • Runners-up: 2008
    • Winners: 2003, 2004, 2005
  • Turkmenistan President's Cup
    • Runners-up: 1996, 2009

Partners
General sponsors Vacant
Kit manufacturer 
[[Jako]]
Other sponsors 
City Real Estate 
  Sportland 
  Sigmen 
  Alfastar 
  Bonmark Tipogrāfija 
  Ķeizarmežs 
  Bērnu Futbola Attīstības centrs 
  Canon serviss 
  Skonto Metāls 
  Venden 
  BETA Tirdzniecības Grupa 
  H-side Skonto fanu klubs 
  SA Football agency

Players and staff
Player of the season (since 2010)
2010
2011
2012Not specified
2013Paulius Grybauskas
2014Vladislavs Gutkovskis
2015Artūrs Karašausks

Managers
Marks Zahodins1991–922 league titles, 1 Latvian Football Cup
Aleksandrs Starkovs1 July 1993 – 2004, 1 Jan 2010 – 31 Dec 201012 league titles, 6 Latvian Football Cups
2004–051 league title
2005 – 31 Dec 2009
1 Jan 2011 – 31 Dec 20121 Baltic League title, 1 Latvian Football Cup
1 Jan 2013 – 14 Nov 2016

League and Cup history
Latvian SSR
>
! Season ! Division (Name) ! Pos./Teams ! Pl. ! W ! D ! L ! GS ! GA ! P !Latvian Football Cup !Top Scorer (League) !Head Coach
19911st (Latvian SSR Higher League)1/(20)362952831563Runner-upJevgeņijs Gorjačilovs – 25Marks Zahodins

Latvia
>
! Season ! Division (Name) ! Pos./Teams ! Pl. ! W ! D ! L ! GS ! GA ! P !Latvian Football Cup !Top Scorer (League) !Head Coach
19921st (Virsliga)1/(12)241822511038WinnerAleksejs Semjonovs – 12Marks Zahodins
19931st (Virsliga)1/(10)181701637341/2 finalsAleksandrs Jeļisejevs – 20Aleksandrs Starkovs
19941st (Virsliga)1/(12)222020769421/4 finalsVladimirs Babičevs – 14Aleksandrs Starkovs
19951st (Virsliga)1/(10)282530991578WinnerVitālijs Astafjevs – 15Aleksandrs Starkovs
19961st (Virsliga)1/(10)282341981273Runner-upAleksandr Pindeyev – 17Aleksandrs Starkovs
19971st (Virsliga)1/(9)24204089864Winner – 25Aleksandrs Starkovs
19981st (Virsliga)1/(8)282143982767Winner – 20Aleksandrs Starkovs
19991st (Virsliga)1/(8)282305881569Runner-up – 16Aleksandrs Starkovs
20001st (Virsliga)1/(8)282431861075WinnerVladimirs Koļesņičenko – 17Aleksandrs Starkovs
20011st (Virsliga)1/(8)282224942668Winner – 24Aleksandrs Starkovs
20021st (Virsliga)1/(8)282341951973Winner – 23Aleksandrs Starkovs
20031st (Virsliga)1/(8)28234191973Runner-upMāris Verpakovskis – 22Aleksandrs Starkovs
20041st (Virsliga)1/(8)2822336518691/2 finals – 16Aleksandrs Starkovs /
20051st (Virsliga)2/(8)2817745925581/2 finalsGatis Kalniņš – 15 /
20061st (Virsliga)3/(8)281666552154Runner-up – 15
20071st (Virsliga)4/(8)2816755427551/2 finalsAstafjevs / / Višņakovs – 7
20081st (Virsliga)3/(10)2815754331711/2 finalsVladimir Dvalishvili – 9
20091st (Virsliga)3/(9)322345983073Not Held – 14 / Aleksandrs Starkovs
20101st (Virsliga)1/(10)2722328616691/2 finalsNathan Júnior – 18Aleksandrs Starkovs
20111st (Virsliga)4/(9)3217966221601/4 finalsNathan Júnior – 22
20121st (Virsliga)2/(10)3621114582274WinnerŠabala /  – 11
20131st (Virsliga)2/(10)2718816811621/4 finalsArtūrs Karašausks – 16
20141st (Virsliga)2/(10)3625110773471Runner-upVladislavs Gutkovskis – 28
20151st (Virsliga)2/(7)2413654223451/4 finalsVladislavs Gutkovskis – 10
20162nd (1.liga)6/(15)2816210714042Fourth roundJegors Morozs  – 18

European record
1992–93UEFA Champions League KÍ Klaksvík3–03–16–1
1 Lech Poznań0–00–20–2
1993–94UEFA Champions LeaguePR Olimpija Ljubljana0–11–01–1 (11–10 p)
1 Spartak Moskva0–50–40–9
1994–95PrR Aberdeen0–01–11–1 (a)
1 Napoli0–10–20–3
1995–96PrR 0–21–01–2
1996–97PrR Newtown3–04–17–1
QR Malmö FF1–10–31–4
1997–98UEFA Champions League1QR Valletta2–00–12–1
2QR 0–12–32–4
1997–981 1–00–21–2
1998–99UEFA Champions League1QR Dinamo Minsk0–02–12–1
2QR 1–30–41–7
1998–991 Dynamo Moscow2–32–24–5
1999–00UEFA Champions League1QR 8–02–010–0
2QR Rapid București2–13–35–4
3QR Chelsea0–00–30–3
1999–001 Widzew Łódź1–00–21–2
2000–01UEFA Champions League1QR 2–11–43–5
2001–02UEFA Champions League1QR F91 Dudelange0–16–16–2
2QR Wisła Kraków1–20–11–3
2002–03UEFA Champions League1QR Barry Town5–01–06–0
2QR Levski Sofia0–00–20–2
2003–04UEFA Champions League1QR Sliema Wanderers3–10–23–3 (a)
2004–05UEFA Champions League1QR Rhyl4–03–17–1
2QR 0–31–11–4
2005–06UEFA Champions League1QR FK Rabotnički1–00–61–6
2006–071QR 3–02–05–0
2QR 1–20–01–2
2007–081QR Dinamo Minsk0–21–11–3
2009–10UEFA Europa League2QR Derry City1–10–11–2
2010–11UEFA Europa League1QR Portadown0–11–11–2
2011–12UEFA Champions League2QR Wisła Kraków0–10–20–3
2012–13UEFA Europa League2QR Hajduk Split1–00–21–2
2013–14UEFA Europa League1QR 0–11–01–1 (4–2 p.)
2QR Slovan Liberec2–10–12–2 (a)
2015–16UEFA Europa League1QR St Patrick's Athletic2–12–04–1
2QR 2–22–94–11
*Skonto FC were disqualified by UEFA due to long-term debts, not cleared in the restricted term

UEFA Team ranking 2014–15
3.125
3.100
3.100
3.100
3.075

See also
  • The Invincibles (football)

External links

: , , , , , ,
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