The Žemaitijos Taurė (transl. Samogitian Cup) is an annual pre-season football tournament between teams from Samogitia. It is organized by the Telšiai County Football Federation and takes place in early March at the Telšiai Artificial Football Pitch in Telšiai, Lithuania.
 | |
| Organising body | Telšiai County Football Federation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 |
| Region | Samogitia |
| Number of teams | 8–10 |
| Current champions | Pakruojis (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Šilutė Banga Džiugas Pakruojis (1 title) |
| Television broadcasters | Futbolo.TV |
| Website | TAFF.lt |
History
editThe origins of the tournament seeks Samogitian Championship, which was started in the mid-1930s, with Džiugas winning the first three tournaments of 1935, 1936, 1937.[1] The first modern Samogitia Cup was organised by Telšiai County Football Federation in 2015 to mark the 80 years from the birth of original tournament. It's hosted by Džiugas and held on 8–21 March as simple round-robin tournament.[2] Šilutė won the inaugural tournament after defeating Džiugas 2–1 in the last round.[3][4]
The format for later editions was changed a little bit as additional games for 1st, 3rd and 5th places were added after the group competitions.[5] The amount of participating teams has also been expanded from 8 to 10 participants.[6] Banga won the second edition of the cup. Hosts Džiugas finally became champions in 2017 tournament. Pakruojis occurred as the fourth different winner in 2018 beating hosts Džiugas by a goal difference in the overall table as rules of the tournament were reverted to the first year format due to a decline in participating teams number.
The competition was discontinued in 2019, though a U-17 tournament was organized instead.
Winners
edit| Year | Winners | Runners-up | Third place | Top Scorer | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Šilutė | Džiugas | Kražantė |  Cazz Warren (Džiugas)
|
[3] |
| 2016 | Banga | Palanga | Džiugas |  Algimantas Bačanskis (Banga)
|
[7] |
| 2017 | Džiugas | Pakruojis | Palanga |  Maksim Lukashevich (Palanga)
|
[8] |
| 2018 | Pakruojis | Džiugas | Minija | Donatas Strockis (Pakruojis)
|
[9][10] |
Performance by team
editŽemaitijos Taurė hosts Džiugas are the only team that have participated in all four tournaments. Together with Palanga and Minija, they make the only three clubs that have finished as medalists throughout every appearance in the competitions.
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Džiugas
|
1 (2017) | 2 (2015, 2018) | 1 (2016) |
| Pakruojis
|
1 (2018) | 1 (2017) | – |
| Šilutė
|
1 (2015) | – | – |
| Banga
|
1 (2016) | – | – |
| Palanga
|
– | 1 (2016) | 1 (2017) |
| Kražantė
|
– | – | 1 (2015) |
| Minija
|
– | – | 1 (2018) |
References
edit- ^ "Istorija" (in Lithuanian). FC Džiugas. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Telšiuose prasidėjo futbolo turnyras "Žemaitijos taurė-2015"" (in Lithuanian). TAFF. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ a b "Telšiuose baigėsi futbolo turnyras "Žemaitijos taurė-2015"" (in Lithuanian). TAFF. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Atgaivintas "Žemaitijos taurės" turnyras". Futbolo.TV (in Lithuanian). 26 March 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- ^ "FUTBOLO TURNYRO "ŽEMAITIJOS TAURĖ-2016" VARŽYBŲ TVARKARAŠTIS" (PDF) (in Lithuanian). TAFF. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Telšiuose vyks futbolo turnyras "Žemaitijos taurė-2016"" (in Lithuanian). TAFF. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Telšiuose baigėsi futbolo turnyras "Žemaitijos taurė-2016"" (in Lithuanian). TAFF. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "FC "Džiugas" futbolo turnyro "Žemaitijos taurė 2017" nugalėtojas" (in Lithuanian). TAFF. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ "Žemaitijos taurė 2018". TAFF. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Futbolo turnyras "Žemaitijos taurė 2018"" (in Lithuanian). Telšių Apskrities Futbolo Federacija. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.