Lithuania A Lyga

The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. During the period of Soviet occupation, a Lithuanian amateur top division existed, while professional players played in USSR football competitions. The Lithuanian professional top division was restored in 1990. The naming convention changed several times, but since 1999 the league is consistently referred to as A lyga.

The league system and size have also stabilized since 1999. League size varied mostly between 8 and 10 teams, with the exceptions of 2011 A Lyga featuring 12 teams, and 2020 A Lyga record low of only 6 teams. The teams play 4 rounds in regular season. The bottom placed team is relegated, while 9th placed team contests in a play-off with the 2nd placed team from the I lyga. The final list of participants often did not correlate to the final results of the previous season, as the participation were rather finalized through the Lithuanian Football Federation league licensing process.

The season usually kicks off in Feabuary/March and ends in November. Because of harsh climate, there are no games in winter until early spring (April/March) and it depends on the weather/temperature. Games are played in indoor arenas on artificial grass. The winter transfer window opens in early January through to mid March, summer transfer window lasts for the most part of July.

Lithuania sought to participate in the UEFA club competitions immediately after regaining the independence. However, due to political reasons, in 1991 Lithuania was banned by UEFA from continental competitions refusing licensing of Žalgiris to compete as a Lithuanian club rather than a Soviet club. Eventually, Lithuania became affiliated with UEFA in 1992. The A Lyga champion secures the right to play in UEFA Champions League qualification. The runner up and the 3rd-place winner secure right to play in UEFA Europa Conference League qualification.

Best Lithuanian club result in UEFA competitions was achieved in 2022-23 UEFA club competition season by FK Žalgiris. Lithuanian champions reached the group stage in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League. After the 2022-23 UEFA season, FK Žalgiris was the best performing A lyga club in Europe, taking #130 in UEFA Club Coefficients table.