FK Riteriai
Lithuanian professional football club based in Vilnius, formerly FK Trakai.
FK Riteriai, also called FK Riteriai or simply Riteriai, is a professional football club from Vilnius, Lithuania. Before February 21, 2019, the team was based in Trakai and went by FK Trakai. In 2024, they won the I Lyga and returned to the A Lyga after a year away. The name Riteriai means "Knights" in Lithuanian, and the club’s colors are volt green and dark blue, having switched from yellow and blue in 2019. They play at the LFF Stadium in Vilnius, which holds 5,067 spectators.
Quick Facts
- Club
- Riteriai
- Full name
- Futbolo Klubas Riteriai
- Nickname
- Riteriai (The Knights)
- Founded
- 2005 as FK Trakai
- Ground
- LFF Stadium
- Capacity
- 5,067
- League
- TOPLYGA
- Season
- 2025
Facts from the source article.
History
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 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. 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. 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 organized youth camps with invitees from AC Milan. In 2014, the club strengthened their first team, signing Lithuanian national team veterans Paulius Grybauskas, Vytautas Lukša, Darius Miceika, and Tadas Labukas, and unveiling former star Edgaras Jankauskas as head coach. They debuted in the A Lyga victoriously, beating Klaipėdos Granitas 2–0. On 19 September 2014, Deividas Česnauskis was signed. On 3 November 2014, Jankauskas was fired. Virmantas Lemežis took over as caretaker, and the team finished in 4th place, qualifying for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. On 27 November 2014, Trakai announced the signing of Valdas Urbonas as development director, but during the club's season roundup event, he was announced as new manager. In 2015, FK Trakai debuted in the UEFA Europa League qualification round against HB Torshavn, winning 7–1, but lost in the second qualifying round to Apollon Limassol. In the 2015 A Lyga season, Trakai reached second place and became vice-champion, qualifying to the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. In the 2015–16 Lithuanian Cup, Trakai reached the final but lost 0–1 to FK Žalgiris after extra time. They finished the 2016 A Lyga campaign in second place. In 2017, Trakai started with head coach Oleg Vasilenko, reached third place, and reached the quarter-finals of the 2017 Lithuanian Cup, losing 1–4 to FK Sūduva. In 2018, Vasilenko was fired in May, and Kibu Vicuña was hired. Trakai beat Cefn Druids and FC Irtysh Pavlodar to reach the third qualification round of the 2018–19 Europa League, then lost to FK Partizan. Vicuña left in October. Trakai finished third in the 2018 A Lyga. Before the 2019 season, the club moved to Vilnius and renamed to FK Riteriai. Aurelijus Skarbalius became head coach in December 2018. After losing to KÍ Klaksvík in the first qualification round of the 2019–20 Europa League, he left. Riteriai finished third in the 2019 league. In January 2020, Mindaugas Čepas was appointed head coach. In the 2020 season, Riteriai started with a 0–3 defeat against Kauno Žalgiris, then the league was suspended due to COVID-19. On 28 June, Riteriai suffered a 0–7 defeat against FK Žalgiris, leading to Čepas's resignation. Tommi Pikkarainen was appointed on 11 August. Riteriai finished last in the 2020 A Lyga but remained in the top tier due to league expansion. In the 2020 Lithuanian Cup, they reached the semi-finals, losing 0–4 to FK Panevėžys. In 2021, Sergei Gurenko was appointed manager but left at the end of May; Riteriai finished sixth. In January 2022, Glenn Ståhl was appointed manager but resigned on 7 May after 12 games. Pablo Villar took over on 24 May. In the 2022 Lithuanian Cup, Riteriai reached the quarter-finals, losing 1–2 to FK Žalgiris, and finished fifth in the league. After a poor start to 2023, Villar was sacked on 24 March, replaced by Vladimir Janković on 31 March, who was sacked on 25 July. Matthew Silva was promoted from the B team on 26 July. Riteriai finished last in the 2023 A Lyga and were relegated. On 27 January 2026, an agreement was signed to sell parts of the club to the Dutch football education academy “4ThePlayers Academy”.
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. Those listed in bold represented their countries while playing for FK Trakai or FK Riteriai. Lithuania: Valdemar Borovskij, Deividas Česnauskis, Martynas Dapkus, Paulius Grybauskas, Justinas Januševskij, Donatas Kazlauskas, Arūnas Klimavičius, Linas Klimavičius, Tadas Labukas, Vytautas Lukša, Justinas Marazas, Darius Miceika, Marius Rapalis, Vaidotas Šilėnas, Tomas Švedkauskas, Nerijus Valskis, Modestas Vorobjovas. Europe: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, David Arshakyan, Alyaksandr Bychanok, Yury Kendysh, Giorgos Pelagias, Eugen Zasavițchi, Yuri Mamaev. Africa: Oscar Dorley. Asia: Ryhan Stewart.
More in Football Clubs in Lithuania
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced