for the club. For some time the club was on the brink of bankruptcy and struggled to stop the best players from leaving the club. However, the club got new funding from the local Metallurgy factory and for the 1997 season at last had a stable budget and ambitious plans again. FK Liepājas Metalurgs: 1997–2013 In 1998 Metalurgs with Jurijs Popkovs as their head coach finished second behind Skonto in the Latvian Virslīga and each season up to 2004 Metalurgs finished second in the championship. In the Latvian Cup they also lost three cup finals. In 2005 Metalurgs finally became Virslīga champions and won the first title for Liepāja in an independent Latvia since the 1930s. In 2006 Metalurgs also finally won the Latvian Cup. The next league title came in 2009. 2013 After the 2013 league season the club was dissolved due to the bankruptcy of its sole sponsor metallurgical plant Liepājas Metalurgs. There were talks held with potential investors about salvation of the club, but due to lack of suitable options a decision was made to end its existence. The club was replaced by FK Liepāja, founded in 2014. Honours Virslīga winners 2005, 2009 Virslīga runners-up 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 Latvian Cup winners 1946, 1947, 1948, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1964, 2006 Baltic League winners 2007 Latvian Soviet league winners 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958 League and Cup history Latvian SSR / Soviet Union Sarkanais Metalurgs Soviet Union Zvejnieks Liepaja Olimpija Liepāja Baltic Liepājas Metalurgs Latvian SSR / Soviet Union Olimpija Liepāja Latvia Olimpija Liepāja FK Liepāja DAG Liepāja FK Liepāja / FK Baltika FK Liepājas Metalurgs {|class="wikitable" |-bgcolor="#efefef" ! Season ! Division (Name) ! Pos./Teams ! Pl. ! W ! D ! L ! GS ! GA ! P !Latvian Football Cup |- |align=center|1997 |align=center|1st (Virslīga) |align=center |5/(9) |align=center|24 |align=center|9 |align=center|4 |align=center|11 |align=center|27 |align=center|32 |align=center|31 |align=center bgcolor=|did not participate |- |align=center|1998 |align=center|1st (Virslīga) |align=center bgcolor=silver|2/(8) |align=center|28 |align=center|17 |align=center|6 |align=center|5 |align=center|62 |align=center|25 |align=center|57 |align=center bgcolor=silver|Runner-up |- |align=center|1999 |align=center|1st (Virslīga) |align=center bgcolor=silver|2/(8) |align=center|28 |align=center|19 |align=center|3 |align=center|6 |align=center|75 |align=center|25 |align=center|60 |align=center bgcolor=#A67D3D|semi-finals |- |align=center|2000 |align=center|1st (Virslīga) |align=center bgcolor=#A67D3D|3/(8) |align=center|28 |align=center|16 |align=center|7 |align=center|5 |align=center|51 |align=center|25 |align=center|55 |align=center bgcolor=silver|Runner-up |- |align=center|2001 |align=center|1st (Virslīga) |align=center bgcolor=#A67D3D|3/(8) |align=center|28 |align=center|20 |align=center|4 |align=center|4 |align=center|60 |align=center|24 |align=center|64 |align=center bgcolor=#A67D3D|semi-finals |- |align=center|2002 |align=center|1st (Virslīga) |align=center bgcolor=#A67D3D|3/(8) |align=center|28 |align=center|15 |align=center|6 |align=center|7 |align=center|56 |align=center|31 |align=center|51 |align=center bgcolor=silver|Runner-up |- |align=center|2003 |align=center|1st (Virslīga) |align=center