Season | 2023 |
---|---|
Dates | 3 March – 12 November 2023 |
Champions | Panevėžys |
Relegated | Riteriai |
Champions League | Panevėžys |
Conference League | Žalgiris Šiauliai Kauno Žalgiris |
Matches played | 171 |
Goals scored | 403 (2.36 per match) |
← 2022 2024 → |
The 2023 A Lyga, for sponsorship reasons also called Optibet A lyga was the 34th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 3 March 2023 and concluded on 12 November 2023.[1]
The winners (Panevėžys) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round. The runners-up (Žalgiris) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League second qualifying round, with the third and fourth-placed teams (Šiauliai and Kauno Žalgiris) qualifying for the first qualifying round. The ninth-placed team (Džiugas) qualified for the A Lyga play-off, winning to retain their place in the league. The bottom-placed team (Riteriai) were relegated to the 2024 LFF I Lyga.
The league consisted of ten teams, nine of which remained from the previous season. Žalgiris entered the season as defending champions. Jonava were relegated and replaced by Dainava, returning after one year's absence.[2][3] Ninth-placed Džiugas remained in A Lyga after winning the playoff against I Lyga's Neptūnas.[4]
Club | Location | Stadium | Surface | Capacity | Seasons in A Lyga |
Position in 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Banga | Gargždai | Gargždai Stadium | Artificial | 2,323 | 10 | 8th |
DFK Dainava | Alytus | Alytus Stadium | Natural | 3,726 | 12 | 1st in I lyga |
Marijampolė | Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena | Artificial | 2,660 | |||
Džiugas | Telšiai | Telšiai Central Stadium | Natural | 2,320 | 3 | 9th |
Ateitis Progymnasium Stadium | Artificial | 300 | ||||
Hegelmann | Kaunas | LFF Kaunas Training Center Stadium | Artificial | 500 | 3 | 4th |
Kauno Žalgiris | Kaunas | Darius and Girėnas Stadium | Hybrid | 15,315 | 9 | 2nd |
Akademija | VDU Stadium | Artificial | 1,000 | |||
Panevėžys | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija Stadium | Natural | 6,600 | 5 | 3rd |
Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium | Artificial | 620 | ||||
Riteriai | Vilnius | LFF Stadium | Artificial | 5,067 | 10 | 5th |
Sportima Arena | Artificial | 3,157 | ||||
Sūduva | Marijampolė | Marijampolė Football Arena | Natural | 6,250 | 21 | 6th |
Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena | Artificial | 2,660 | ||||
FA Šiauliai | Šiauliai | Savivaldybė Stadium | Natural | 4,000 | 2 | 7th |
Gytariai Stadium | Artificial | 500 | ||||
Žalgiris | Vilnius | LFF Stadium | Artificial | 5,067 | 22 | 1st |
Sportima Arena | Artificial | 3,157 |
Team | Coach | Appointed | Licence |
---|---|---|---|
FK Banga | ![]() |
33 months ago | UEFA Pro |
DFK Dainava | ![]() |
22 months ago | UEFA A |
FC Džiugas | ![]() |
33 months ago | UEFA Pro |
FC Hegelmann | ![]() |
38 months ago | UEFA Pro |
FK Kauno Žalgiris | ![]() |
5 months ago | |
FK Panevėžys | ![]() |
18 months ago | UEFA Pro |
FK Riteriai | ![]() |
8 months ago | UEFA Pro |
FK Sūduva | ![]() |
13 months ago | |
FA Šiauliai | ![]() |
39 months ago | UEFA Pro |
FK Žalgiris | ![]() |
38 months ago | UEFA Pro |
Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FK Sūduva | ![]() |
End of caretaker spell | 30 November 2022 | ![]() |
1 February 2023 |
FK Riteriai | ![]() |
Sacked | 24 March 2023 | ![]() |
1 April 2023 |
FK Kauno Žalgiris | ![]() |
1 May 2023 | ![]() |
1 May 2023 | |
FK Riteriai | ![]() |
22 July 2023 | ![]() |
26 July 2023 | |
FK Kauno Žalgiris | ![]() |
5 October 2023 | ![]() |
5 October 2023 |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Panevėžys (C) | 36 | 26 | 9 | 1 | 64 | 14 | +50 | 87 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
2 | Žalgiris | 36 | 23 | 6 | 7 | 67 | 28 | +39 | 75 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round[a] |
3 | Šiauliai | 36 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 51 | 35 | +16 | 62 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
4 | Kauno Žalgiris | 36 | 15 | 14 | 7 | 61 | 40 | +21 | 59 | |
5 | Hegelmann | 36 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 62 | 43 | +19 | 59 | |
6 | Banga | 36 | 10 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 52 | −30 | 36 | |
7 | Sūduva | 36 | 10 | 5 | 21 | 28 | 60 | −32 | 35 | |
8 | Dainava | 36 | 7 | 10 | 19 | 25 | 40 | −15 | 31 | |
9 | Džiugas (O) | 36 | 4 | 13 | 19 | 25 | 57 | −32 | 25 | Qualification for the A Lyga play-off |
10 | Riteriai (R) | 36 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 26 | 62 | −36 | 25 | Relegation to I Lyga |
The ninth-placed club (Džiugas) faced the second-placed club from the 2023 LFF I Lyga (Be1 NFA) for the final place in the following season's A Lyga.
18 November 2023 | Be1 NFA | 1–1 | Džiugas | Kaunas |
11:00 BST | Wouter ![]() |
Jezdimirović ![]() |
Stadium: NFA Stadium |
Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Žalgiris | 19 |
2 | ![]() |
Hegelmann | 18 |
3 | ![]() |
FA Šiauliai | 14 |
![]() |
Panevėžys | ||
5 | ![]() |
Kauno Žalgiris | 10 |
6 | ![]() |
FA Šiauliai | 9 |
![]() |
Kauno Žalgiris | ||
8 | ![]() |
Hegelmann | 8 |
9 | ![]() |
Kauno Žalgiris | 7 |
![]() |
Kauno Žalgiris | ||
![]() |
FA Šiauliai | ||
![]() |
Panevėžys |
Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Hegelmann | Banga Gargždai | 5–0 (H) | 31 March 2023 | [6] |
![]() |
Hegelmann | Sūduva | 6–0 (H) | 28 April 2023 | [7] |
![]() |
Žalgiris | Kauno Žalgiris | 2–5 (A) | 27 June 2023 | [8] |
![]() |
Kauno Žalgiris | Banga Gargždai | 3–1 (H) | 7 October 2023 | [9] |