Žalgiris" became the sole owner of the academy

2023-09-12 14:01 © fkzalgiris.lt

The football club "Žalgiris" took a new step towards strengthening youth education and became the sole owner of the academy - a contract was signed to acquire the remaining 50% of the children's football academy "Žalgirietis".

In recent years, "Žalgiris" was one of the three shareholders of the "Žalgiriečio" based in Vilnius. This spring, after signing a letter of intent, negotiations began for the acquisition of "Žalgiriečio", which ended on September 13 with a deal - the club became the sole owner of the academy.

"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. This is another goal achieved, which we have been aiming for since 2009, when we were preparing to revive the club. At that time, we had to start almost from scratch, first to restore the name of "Žalgiris" among the country's football elite, later - to become competitive in it, to create a financial foundation for the club," - recalled the beginning of the director of "Žalgiris" Vilma Venslovaitienė.

According to her, the long, difficult, and purposeful work, as well as the achieved sporting results - last year "Žalgiris" became the first of Lithuanian clubs to enter the UEFA group matches - provided the opportunity for "Žalgiris" to fully acquire the academy. The entire process of acquiring academy shares took about a year due to legal procedures.

"Taking into account the financial result of the club's activities last year, it was decided by the shareholders that the earned funds would be used for investment in the academy, negotiators were appointed at the shareholders' meeting. This March, a letter of intent was signed for the acquisition of shares. After conducting a detailed financial and operational analysis of the academy, completing negotiations and resolving various legal issues, a purchase and sale agreement was signed," - explained the process, participant in the negotiations, "Žalgiris" shareholder Mindaugas Kasperūnas.

V. Venslovaitienė pointed out that this agreement is far from a mere formality. "This is a step forward and the beginning of a new development stage. We want to grow and strengthen as a club by improving the integration of youth into men's football, raising the level of children's and youth education to a higher quality level, expanding our community. The acquisition of the academy will allow us to optimize processes, make structural changes, and strengthen ties within the club pyramid."

More detailed club plans in the field of youth education and an updated academy operating strategy will be presented in the future.

About the academy

The children's football academy "Žalgirietis" was founded in September 2008 in Vilnius. In recent years, its shareholders have been the founders of the academy, former "Žalgiris" footballers Žydrūnas Grudzinskas and Gediminas Kontautas, and the restored "Žalgiris" in 2009.

In cooperation with the club, the academy, the Vilnius city municipality, the former Ministry of Education, and the Lithuanian Football Federation, in 2015 a standard-sized football field was installed near Vilnius "Senvagė" gymnasium. The gymnasium and its fields became the home of the academy, providing conditions for young footballers striving for high mastery to combine education with sport.

Creating a football club pyramid, academy talents were given the opportunity to participate in men's championships - from 2014, the "Žalgiris B" team started in the Second League, from 2015 until now, they have been playing in the First League. Since 2020, the C team has been playing in the third division.

Several hundred young footballers attend the academy, they participate in the Lithuanian Football Federation's children and youth competitions, international tournaments. In 2021 and 2022, the senior youth team competed as country champions in the UEFA Youth League tournament.

Youth players belonging to the club and academy structure represent the Lithuanian national teams - in the past, 22 footballers were invited to the youth and junior national teams.

In the certification process of LFF children and youth academies, in evaluating 2022, "Žalgirietis" received a 4-star rating as one of the best football academies in the country.