Riga United - Dreaming of Glory
Riga United Football Club is set to make Latvian football history this month by becoming the first multinational side ever to play in the Latvian Amateur Football League.
Established in 2007 following the success of Riga Out There FC, Riga United (RUFC) could give English Premiership side Arsenal FC a run for its money in terms of nationalities on its books. There’s players from Latvia, Germany, England, Cameroon, Spain, Holland, Norway and Turkey – to name just a few.RUFC chairman Austin Nicholas, whose tourism company Out-There.eu sponsors the team, is understandably excited about the team’s entry into the Latvian Amateur League.
"It’s fantastic that we are the first truly international side to play in the Latvian Amateur League. After two years playing touring teams from the UK and local league teams, we’ve managed to build up a pretty strong squad with a mix of locals and players from all over Europe and beyond. We felt the time was right to take the club forward another stage by establishing Riga United and joining the highly competitive national amateur league."
The RUFC club crest has apparently been chosen to reflect the image of Latvia’s beautiful capital, together with the idea of a "united Riga"; while the club’s motto, Vienoti Spelei translates as "United for the game".
"As well as competing in the amateur league, we will continue to play teams from Europe who want to come to Riga and play football against a local side such as ourselves," Austin explains.
There are high expectations for the future of the club:
"We have very serious ambitions to join the Latvian football league pyramid within the next three years. This probably sounds overly ambitious but we have already been in talks with the Latvian Football Federation and, if things progress to plan, we hope to play in the Latvian 3rd Division in time for the 2009 season."
Anybody who lives in the Riga area and is interested in playing for or training with RUFC should contact Austin Nicholas on (+371) 2938 9450. For more information contact www.outthere.eu.
