„I do not have deep connections with football. Neither a big fan nor a player. I am quite new in this world. I appeared in the club when a broad story about a talented child in Lithuania sounded two years ago.
So the idea came up to help youth, through sports, occupation, especially to help asocial families. I wanted children to have something to do. Football is number one in the world, so I chose this sport,“ - said Petras Narbutas, the owner and founder of the "Vilnius" club.
For many years, the Lithuanian capital has been criticized for having only one serious football club with its resources - Vilnius "Žalgiris". Now, as the new Lithuanian football season approaches, another ambitious club has appeared on the map - "Vilnius".
The new owner admitted that the establishment of the new club took time.
„It took a year to implement the ideas. Everyone agrees that the idea is good, but no one did anything, so I decided that action was needed. Then there will be more like-minded people who want to contribute. A professional club was needed to implement our ideas,“ - said P. Narbutas.
„Vilnius“ set a goal for the club to become a community team, constantly playing local players. Igor Morinas became the main team's coach.
„It was a logical decision to advance in the career from a children's coach, assistant to the ambitious club's coach,“ - said the former long-time national team player.
I. Morinas has already managed to form his team of assistants. Dimitrijus Kartašovas became the assistant coach, and Pavelas Leusas became the goalkeeper coach.
On February 29, it will be clear whether the new club will be allowed to play in the First League, with a budget of a total of 220 thousand euros. 160 thousand will go to the main team, 60 - to youth.
The first players of the team were former "Žalgiris" young footballers Aldas Korsakas and Lukas Valvonis.
The "Vilnius" club was founded on January 8, 2019. A few days later, a strategic agreement was signed with the "Baltic Football Academy". It is still being decided whether the club will play with the double name "Vilnius"-BFA.
For now, the club's leaders set ambitious goals for themselves - to restore the greatness of Vilnius football. Furthermore, "Vilnius" would like to be among the top four strongest teams in five years. In addition, after three years, they would like to sell their first homegrown player.
However, nobody had a clear answer on how to achieve this.
Rokas Suslavičius, lrytas.lt
