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"If last year before the season there were many questions about whether all clubs would be able to finish the championship, this time the overall atmosphere is completely different," noted Justinas Garliauskas, director of the league's partner company "Pradas Media". "At least seven league teams talk about plans to win medals. So we have two contenders for the medals," smiled Romualdas Jonaitis, president of last year's national vice-champion Klaipėda "Atlantas". The last season's outsider Tauragė's "Taura" in the league will be replaced by two newcomers - the first league champion "Klaipėdos granitas" and "Trakai", which will be coached by Edgaras Jankauskas and whose jerseys will be worn by four Lithuanian national team players - Paulius Grybauskas, Vytautas Lukša, Darius Miceika and Tadas Labukas. The Klaipėda team will also be led by past famous footballers - Robertas Poškus and his assistant Tomas Ražanauskas. Champion Vilnius "Žalgiris" starts the season with a budget that has increased by up to 9 million litas, "Atlantas" retained its core from the previous year, and "Sūduva", which took fourth place, significantly strengthened its lineup. The leaders of "Trakų" also mention ambitious plans. The championship will also include Panevėžys "Ekranas", Pakruojis "Kruoja", Gargždai "Banga", "Šiauliai" and the Alytus "Dainava" which was taken over by sponsors from Western Europe. "We are pleased that the championship is being held according to our football development strategy until 2020 - one of its goals is to have ten teams in the A league," said Edvinas Eimontas, general director of the Lithuanian Football Federation. The new season of the "SMScredit.lt A Lyga" starts with last season's partners - the companies "Nike" and "4finance". "We have extended the agreement with the A league for the second season. This means that the league becomes our strategic partner," said Gediminas Velička, head of "4finance". - Football is the number one sport in the world, we feel that the interest of both viewers and the media in the league is growing, so we are satisfied with the cooperation. "Nike," as last year, provided the official ball for "SMScredit.lt A Lyga". "These balls are used in the championships of England, Italy, and Spain," reminded Milda Monstavičiūtė, a representative of the "Nike" brand in Lithuania. - Last season was a kind of start, this year everything went smoothly - the balls have already reached the teams that play and train with them. The footballers are satisfied with the balls, and I hope that this good product will help them score more goals. Last season, more than 106 thousand spectators attended the league matches. On average - about 700 per match. "By no means," when asked if this was the goal that was sought, said J. Garliauskas. - I think that in this case there is no final goal - we want more and more spectators to come to football matches each time and we strive for people to be able to watch the championship in every possible way. Currently, we are developing a mobile version of our website, which will allow you to watch all the championship matches not only on a computer but also on a phone screen. Like last year, we plan to show no fewer than 20 championship matches on television, and starting from the middle of the season, LRT will give us the opportunity to watch football in high definition format. With spring coming earlier to Lithuania this year than last year, the teams will not have to play their first rounds in indoor arenas, and "Sūduva" is already planning to play matches on real grass. The season starts on March 8, so by mutual agreement of the clubs, women are invited to attend the first round matches for free."
