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This is one of the most interesting and successful seasons in Lithuanian football history. The achievements of this year, accomplishments already achieved or projects in progress, are not only impressive but also have long-term prospects and lasting value. One of the most important achievements is that we have all together prepared and successfully started implementing the Lithuanian Football Strategy for the years 2010 - 2020.
I believe that our collective planning, clear goals, and set objectives will help us achieve our main goal - "to make football the most popular and professionally organized sports branch, recognized by the community as the first choice for active leisure." And our national team and top league clubs will successfully compete in European and world championships. However, as I mentioned - a good start is half the battle.
National Team
We started the UEFA EURO 2012 cycle with a new coach - former national team captain Raimondas Žutautas.
Although there were many discussions and doubts in the public, this decision - as we all see - has paid off. The national team successfully started the qualification cycle: - In the summer, we won the Baltic Cup, in the fall we achieved an impressive victory against the Czech national team, scored against the World Cup champions, and stood firm against our eternal rivals - the Scottish national team. - We hope that the second part of the qualification cycle next year will be no less successful and will help us achieve the second place in the group.
The senior team was not left behind by the rising generation - the U-21 and U-19 youth teams, which fought honorably and became the winners of the Baltic Cup tournaments.
I hope that some players from the U-21 team will join the national team - a promising young generation is growing, and the nineteen-year-olds will mature faster and improve for future battles.
Pleasantly surprising this year was the performance of the women's U-19 national team, which for the first time in Lithuanian history reached the next stage of UEFA qualification tournaments.
UEFA U-19 European Championship in Lithuania
Another challenge facing the entire football community is the UEFA U-19 European Championship taking place in Lithuania in 2013. It gives us a special opportunity not only to demonstrate hospitality but also to prepare our youth to compete with the best European teams.
Club Football
This year in the A League championship, more than ten teams started the competition after a long time - the season was longer, and the intrigue lasted until the last matches, where the resurrected "Žalgiris" club and Marijampolė's "Sūduva" fought for the silver.
Panevėžys "Ekranas" once again proved to be the strongest team in Lithuania, but winning the title was not easy - the leaders changed almost throughout the championship, and the opponents were constantly breathing down their necks.
Unfortunately, we could not avoid losses - we lost one of the strongest clubs in the capital, "Vėtra."
Nevertheless, this loss only confirms the guidelines of our strategy for a European club model - ensuring that such cases do not happen again in the future. Community support and participation in club activities are the basis of successful club operations, as demonstrated by the revival of "Žalgiris."
TV and Viewers
The beauty of football - not only the battles on the field but also the support of viewers, fans. Therefore, I am pleased that after a long break this year, we managed to attract serious media partners - the "Lietuvos rytas" group.
Throughout the season, we had the opportunity to follow A League matches, track national team matches not only at home but also away.
It is gratifying that viewers are returning to stadiums. A League attendance this year was one of the highest in recent years. This was served not only by improving infrastructure, growing community attention to their club, live broadcasts of the top league matches on television but also by fierce battles on the field.
I hope it will continue to grow as next year the top league will be supplemented by the strongest clubs in the I League.
I League
In the I League, the battle for medals was a back-and-forth fight between the teams from Alytus, Kėdainiai, and Jonava throughout the championship, but the team from Alytus showed more experience and delighted their fans not only with a new stadium but also with two trophies.
This year we had two strong Alytus clubs, which shared the third and second places. I want to highlight Alytus "Vidzgiris," which participated for the first time in the LFF I League championship this year and managed to win third place. The team has made a significant leap in a decade - from a regional championship team to a league medalist.
Alytus "Alytis" - a multi-time winner of the LFF I League, consistently shows stable results. "FBK Kaunas" - a multi-time Lithuanian football champion this year became the strongest team in the history of the club's participation in the LFF I League by winning all the matches.
We hope that these teams will join the ranks of the LFF top league and pose a challenge to the strongest teams in the country.
A League Reserves
The future of the top league has been strengthened in the reserves championship for the fourth year, demonstrating fierce competition. Until the last matches, there was intrigue about the name of the first-place winners - after an exciting finish, for the second consecutive year, the champions were the reserves of Marijampolė's "Sūduva," with "Žalgiris" taking second place.
I want to highlight not only the revived "Žalgiris" club, which is chasing prizes but also the "Šiauliai" team, which became the A League reserves champions for the first time. This is a young, promising team. It is gratifying that the club decided to significantly rejuvenate the team and rely only on talents nurtured in their own city. Renewing the team was a good decision by the club's leaders, as evidenced by the third place won in the reserves championship.
Women's Football
Continuing the theme of beauty - women adorn not only our lives but also brighten up Lithuanian football with bright colors.
Šiauliai can be called the Mecca and talent forge of Lithuanian women's football.
Referees
I would like to express my special thanks to Lithuanian referees for their hard work and responsibility. For almost the second consecutive year, we have not received serious complaints from clubs about referees - which, I believe, not only indicates the rising professional level of football in the country but also a higher quality of referee work.
Our referees' professionalism was recognized internationally this year. Lithuanian referees have been accepted into the UEFA Referees' Convention.
Infrastructure
This season, we are delighted not only by the teams' achievements but also by the constantly improving infrastructure. With the help of international partners, the contribution of city communities and partners, quite a lot has been achieved:
Almost all top league clubs' stadiums have been renovated and reconstructed. I want to note that, with the participation of the Lithuanian Football Federation, in almost an 8 million litas project, full-size artificial turf pitches were laid down, and the stadiums in Gargždai, Kėdainiai, Kaunas, Šiauliai were updated - preparatory work is also underway in other cities.
Stadiums in Telšiai and Tauragė are fundamentally renovated, and there are other initiatives.
Thanks again to all of you who have been with us this year, fought for victories, or contributed to them and to the development of this sport in our country.
I believe that the work started this year and the victories won will be a great incentive, and for some, a challenge to achieve even higher results in the future.
Let's not forget that we all together decided that in ten years, football in Lithuania, as in the whole world, will be the king of sports.
Thank you once again to all of you.
