Origins Until 2003, the nucleus of the future club was a youth team of players born in 1990–91 under
JFK Skonto, the academy of
FK Skonto, coached by Vladimirs Beļajevs. In 2003 Beļajevs and his players left to form Futbola sporta skola Daugava (FSK Daugava). On 19 May 2005, the semi-professional club FSK Daugava 90 was established, built around players born 1989–99. The team entered the
Latvian First League in
2007 and was renamed
FK Daugava the following year. After winning promotion in 2008, they were relegated from the
Virslīga in 2009. Between 2009 and 2011 the club operated as
Rīgas futbola skola (not connected with the Riga Football School academy founded in 1962). The current legal entity, biedrība FC RFS, was registered on 9 September 2009.
Settling In (2016–2017) With limited preparation time, RFS recruited experienced players, including
Ritus Krjauklis and
Aleksejs Višņakovs. The club finished sixth in
2016, narrowly above the relegation play-off. Managerial changes led to
Jurijs Ševļakovs taking charge. In
2017, under
Andrejs Kaļiņins, RFS added
Aleksandrs Cauņa,
Roberts Savaļnieks, and
Lasha Shergelashvili. Young striker
Roberts Uldriķis scored twice on his debut against champions
Jūrmalas Spartaks. The team finished fifth, just short of European qualification.
First Success (2018–2020) Valdas Dambrauskas was appointed head coach in December 2017. RFS placed third in
2018, securing European qualification for the first time. The team’s attacking style featured 57 goals in 28 matches. In
2019, strong transfers included
Tomáš Šimkovič,
Slavko Blagojević, and striker
Darko Lemajič. RFS finished runners-up in the league and won the
Latvian Cup, the club’s first major trophy. Their European debut ended in the first qualifying round against Olimpija Ljubljana. In
2020 Dambrauskas departed for
HNK Gorica, with assistant
Viktors Morozs taking over. RFS finished second again in a COVID-affected season, with Brazilian loanee
Emerson finishing top scorer.
The Double (2021) RFS strengthened with
Emerson,
Tomislav Šarić, and others. In Europe, they eliminated
Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag and
Puskás Akadémia before falling to
KAA Gent. Domestically, RFS won both the
Latvian Cup and their first
Virslīga title, achieving a domestic double.
European breakthrough (2022) RFS debuted in the
Champions League qualifiers, losing to
HJK Helsinki and dropping into the
Europa Conference League. After eliminating
Hibernians and
Linfield, they reached the group stage, only the second Latvian club ever to do so. In the league, RFS slipped to third, and lost the
Latvian Cup final to
FK Auda. In Europe, they drew against
Fiorentina and
Istanbul Başakşehir but finished bottom of their group.
Regaining The Title (2023) RFS legally changed its name to FC RFS in May 2023. Despite an unbeaten start, they trailed
Riga FC for much of the
season. On the final day, RFS overtook their rivals to claim a second Virslīga championship. They were eliminated from European qualifiers by
Sabah FK.
Europa League and domestic dominance (2024) In
2024, RFS defeated
Larne and
UE Santa Coloma in qualifiers, eventually reaching the UEFA Europa League group stage after defeating
APOEL. On 23 January 2025, they beat
Ajax 1–0, marking the first Latvian win in a UEFA group-stage match. == Grounds ==