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| Founded | 1991 |
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| Country | Lithuania |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | A Lyga |
| Relegation to | II Lyga |
| Current champions | FK Transinvest (1st title) (2023) |
| TV partners | Futbolo.tv, Init |
| Website | www |
The I Lyga, LFF I Lyga, Pirma Lyga, is the second tier of professional Lithuanian football championship.
Organized by the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF), I Lyga is contested by 16 teams, with the top team gaining promotion to A Lyga and replaced by the lowest-placed team in top division. The second-placed team qualifies to a promotion play-off with A Lyga's second to last team. Bottom 2 clubs are relegated to the II Lyga, and 3rd last team plays a play-off with the 3rd placed team in II Lyga. The final list of participants often does not correlate to the final results of the previous season, as the participation is finalized through the Lithuanian Football Federation league licensing process. Number of participants also fluctuate due to frequent club collapses.
There were 15 teams competing in the 2017 season. At the end of this season, three teams withdrew from the league.
In 2018, there were 14 teams that started the championship. However, FK Koralas Klaipėda withdrew in the mid-season. After the end of the season, two more teams have withdrawn from participation in the next season.
The 2019 season saw 16 teams starting the championship. In June FC Stumbras ran into financial difficulties, its license was withdrawn from the A Lyga, along with Stumbras B license in the I Lyga. In July Stumbras B was removed from the league, with all results annulled as the team played less than half of all season games. At the end of the season I Lyga side FC Kupiškis was found to be involved in match-fixing, and subsequently fined and demoted to II Lyga.
Although the 2019 I Lyga winners FC Džiugas Telšiai won promotion to A lyga, the club failed to meet 2020 A Lyga licensing criteria, and had their promotion was forfeited. Only FK Banga Gargždai had advanced to A Lyga.
The 2020 season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and was shortened to 1.5 rounds. 14 teams participated in the tournament, with four teams offered promotion to A Lyga.
2021 season ran in full despite some COVID-19 threats. As four teams advanced to the A Lyga, and one club withdrew, five teams joined from the II Lyga. Previous season winner FK Jonava were denied A Lyga license because of allegations of match-fixing. The league consisted of 14 teams, with an expectation to expand the league to 16 the next season.
2022 season featured stable 16 team tournament and a fierce fight for the promotion to A lyga. Eventually, DFK Dainava secured the promotion, returning to A lyga after one season.
2023 season features 16 teams: eleven clubs and five B teams.
Futbolo klubas Žalgiris, commonly known as FK Žalgiris, Žalgiris Vilnius or simply Žalgiris, is a Lithuanian professional football club based in Vilnius. The club competes in the A Lyga, the top flight of Lithuanian football. The club was founded as Dinamo in 1947. The club's name commemorates the victorious Battle of Žalgiris. Žalgiris has featured many Lithuanian football legends during its history including Arminas Narbekovas, Valdas Ivanauskas, Edgaras Jankauskas and Deividas Šemberas. They have won the Lithuanian Championship 10 times, the Lithuanian Football Cup 14 times, and the Lithuanian Supercup 7 times.
The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Futbolo Federacija).
Martynas Dapkus is a Lithuanian footballer currently playing at FA Šiauliai in Lithuania's A Lyga.
Football Club Stumbras was a professional football club, based in Kaunas, Lithuania, which played in A Lyga, the top tier of Lithuanian football. Founded in 2013 on the basis of the NFA, the club has reached the heights of Lithuanian football in a fairly short period of time. It became infamous for one-sided footballer contracts. The club stopped functioning mid-season in 2019 after the owner pulled out the funds. The club played its home matches at the Darius and Girėnas Stadium and used the NFA stadium in Kaunas as an alternative.
The 2015 A Lyga, also known as SMSCredit.lt A Lyga for sponsoring purposes was the 26th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier association football league of Lithuania. The season started in February 2015 and ended in November 2015. Žalgiris Vilnius are the defending champions.
2016 LFF I Lyga is a Lithuanian second-tier football league season which started on 25 March 2016 and will finish in 6 November 2016. It consists of 16 teams.
The 2016 season is FK Žalgiris 7th consecutive season in the top flight of Lithuanian football and 3rd consecutive as A Lyga title defenders. They also participated in the Lithuanian Cup, the SuperCup and entered the UEFA Champions League at the second qualifying round stage.
The 2017 A Lyga was the 28th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 3 March 2017 and ended on 19 November 2017.
The 2017 Lithuanian Football Cup, also known as LFF Cup, was the seventy-second season of the Lithuanian annual football knock-out tournament. Forty-four teams entered the competitions, which started on 27 April and ended on 24 September in Aukštaitija Stadium, Panevėžys.
The 2017 LFF I Lyga is the 28th season of the I Lyga, the second tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 24 March 2017 and is scheduled to end on 5 November 2017.
The 2018 A Lyga was the 29th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 25 February 2018 and ended on 11 November 2018.
The 2018 Lithuanian Football Cup, also known as LFF Cup, was the seventy-third season of the Lithuanian annual football knock-out tournament. Forty-eight teams entered the competitions, which started on 27 April and ended on 30 September.
FK Be1 is a Lithuanian football team based in Jonava. Before 2019, it was named FK NFA, later – Be1 NFA.
The 2019 A Lyga was the 30th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 2 March 2019 and ended on 27 November 2019.
2019 Lithuanian Football Cup, SHARP LFF Cup was the 31st independent Lithuania and the 74th overall national football cup tournament.
The 2019 LFF I Lyga was the 30th season of the I Lyga, the second tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 22 March 2019 and finished in 27 October 2019.
The 2020 A Lyga was the 31st season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 6 March and was planned to end on 7 November 2020. On 12 March all sports events were postponed for two weeks in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 LFF I Lyga is the 31st season of the I Lyga, the second tier football league of Lithuania. The season was planned to begin in March, but was delayed to June because of COVID-19 pandemic. The season finished on time on 31 October.
The 2021 A Lyga, for sponsorship reasons also called Optibet A lyga is the 32nd season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 5 March and concluded on 28 November 2021.
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